Next Film/Video | Classics

Freaks | Dracula

(Tod Browning, 1932) | (Tod Browning, 1931) 

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35MM Print | Double Feature

A woman descends the steps of a circus wagon. A little person and a man without legs are looking up at her. Close up of a vampire gripping the wall in front of him.

Two horror classics by Tod Browning, one of early Hollywood’s masters of the macabre!

Simply one of the most notorious films ever produced by Hollywood, Freaks follows the members of a traveling circus, with many real-life sideshow performers in the cast. Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) is a conniving trapeze artist who seduces Hans (Harry Earles, known for his appearance as one of the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz) into marriage to steal his large inheritance. When his friends learn about her scheme, it leads to one of the most horrific endings in cinema history. Heavily edited and banned in many areas for decades, the film is often praised for portraying the sideshow performers’ humanity. (64 mins., DCP)

Not the first vampire film by any means, but perhaps the most influential to this day, Dracula stars Bela Lugosi as the infamous Count, maintaining his boyish good looks by feeding on the blood of his victims. The success of Dracula launched a series of horror films at Universal that all became icons of the genre. (75 mins., 35mm)

See the entire The Sound of Screaming: Early Horror Films lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
Freaks, courtesy of Warner Bros; Dracula, courtesy of Universal Pictures.

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FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
Greater Columbus Arts Council
 
The Wexner Family 
Institute of Museum and Library Services
 
Mellon Foundation 
Every Page Foundation 
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts 
CampusParc 
Nationwide Foundation 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation 
Axium Packaging

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Ohio State Energy Partners 
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman 
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle

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Freaks | Dracula