The Epitome of Bad Taste Horror Cinema Sensationalism
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)
The 1932 Tod Browning film of Freaks was thought of as one of the most disturbing films ever made, a horror movie featuring a cast of genuine human freaks, circus performers turned actors for the film. Considered too disturbing to be exhibited, the film was banned in many countries for decades although finally released as a genuine classic of the genre, one of the most influential horror films of all time. But what remained remarkable was the sheer compassion and honesty with which these human freaks were treated. The treatment of freaks on film remained a taboo subject, however, until these human curiosities were featured in another movie, The Sentinel. The film was again controversial for its use of human freaks but not in the same way that the original Freaks was. For The Sentinel director Michael Winner made himself an effective carnival barker and sideshow huckster of a director when, in what was also a special effects cost-savings measure, he hired freaks and deformed actors to play the denizens of Hell in a final sequence. This equation of freakism with damnation was thought extremely offensive and made Winner the epitome of bad taste. With due irony, the highly disreputable bad-taste director late became a popular restaurant critic.