Freaks

 First of all, Freaks was certainly different than most movies I have seen. After watching the film, I can see elements of both the horror and melodrama genres. Dictionary.com defines horror as a “motion picture calculated to cause intense repugnance, fear, or dread. Horror films may incorporate incidents of physical violence and psychological terror; they may be studies of deformed, disturbed, psychotic, or evil characters; stories of terrifying monsters or malevolent animals; or mystery thrillers  that use atmosphere to build suspense.” In contrast, the online oxford dictionary defines melodrama as “a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions”.

With that being said, Freaks could be considered a horror film because it does indeed involve scenes of physical violence, in particular towards the end of the movie when the freaks seek out their revenge on Cleopatra, and turn her into a freak. This movie does examine deformed and evil characters as well. While in the beginning, the freaks come across more as normal people, than misfits, they become evil as the film progresses. Only characters who are truly evil would exact the kind of revenge that the freaks exacted on Cleopatra. I wouldn't consider the freaks to be monsters necessarily. I also wouldn't them to be purely evil. They have a sense of humanity and at the start of the film, they behave like the other, non-deformed members of the troupe. They came across as just normal people who happen to suffer from a disability, not terrifying monsters who are capable of violence. Lastly, I do feel that the movie used the atmosphere to build suspense. In various scenes, especially ones involving Cleopatra and Hercules discussing the murder plot, elements of the atmosphere including lighting and the soundtrack created a feeling of mystery. The viewer was unsure what would happen next, despite what was being said in the dialogue.

As for being a melodrama, Freaks contains many exciting events that often appeal to the emotions. However, the characters are not exaggerated. Events such as Cleopatra poisoning Hans do come across as “exciting” in that it grabs the audience's attention and leaves them riveted. The scene towards the end, when Hercules and Cleopatra are trying to run away together, but the freaks catch up with them and attack, in very exciting. At first the audience thinks Cleopatra and Hercules are going to get away with it, but then the screen shows the freaks lurking nearby, and the audience is left to wonder what the next move will be. Overall, the characters all behave with normal emotions that the audience would expect, there is nothing exaggerated about the characters, their actions, or their emotions. No one character stands out as being over the top or farfetched. Based on the evidence and the definitions, I would conclude that Freaks actually more closely resembles a horror film.