The plot follows the scheming mission of a beautiful trapeze artist named Cleopatra, who, on learning of the inheritance of the sideshows midget, decides to marry him and ultimately run off with her lover Hercules, the sideshows strong man.
On a stormy night, all the freaks join forces and transform Cleopatra in the Feathered Hen. Although not shown in the DVD, which has the commercial alternative version, in the original story Hercules is castrated and becomes a soprano singer.
The true freaks in this movie are the 'normals' who mock and abuse the previously accepting, welcoming freaks.
This movie has some highly memorable, grotesque imagery and has had an immeasurable influence on the horror genre, in 1994, it was selected for the National Film Registry's archive of cinematic treasures.
Carnival Barker: "We didn't lie to you folks. We told you we had living, breathing, monstrosities. You laughed at them, shuddered at them. And, yet, but for the accident of birth, you might be one as they are. They did not ask to be brought into the world. But, into the world they came. Their code is a law unto themselves: offend one and you offend them all."
