Freaks

Tod Browning followed Dracula with this, and it destroyed his career and was banned in Britain for thirty years. Set among the real sideshow performers of a travelling circus, it tells of a scheming trapeze artist who marries a wealthy little person for his money, and the community's terrible revenge. Browning cast actual sideshow performers, which is what appalled 1932 audiences.

Its reputation has inverted completely: the film's sympathy is entirely with its performers, and its real monsters are the beautiful, cruel able-bodied schemers. The wedding-feast chant is unforgettable.

A genuine landmark, humane and unsettling, decades ahead of its time.