favorite Tod Browing flick?

As much as I love Dracula, Freaks is a more potent film to me.

FREAKS !!!!!!
I had to wait YEARS to see that film !!!! And it was worth every minute, and THEN some !!!
And the new DVD has all three endings !!!!!

Definitely Freaks.

Karl Freund was a better director, so I went with Dracula.

I'm surprised at the number of people who have picked Freaks over Dracula... and I'm also going to have to agree with them. I think Freaks is one of those movies which changed the genre and served as a guiding force for horror movies, although it seems like that only happened a few decades after its debut. Don't get me wrong, I love Dracula too. But the lack of a soundtrack and some of the leaden acting performaces drive me to distraction.

Freaks all the way. It's Browning's only film that feels urgent and visceral. Dracula, etc. all feel like staged plays.

I went with The Unknown. Like all self-respecting horror fans I love Dracula, but it's not without its directorial flaws (see the Legacy set commentary to point out several pieces of shooting equipment left in shots, not to mention the staginess that naturally came from filming a stage play). Though most are overcome by the acting, that's to the actors' credit, not Browning's.

Freaks is a sentimental favorite, but apart from the taboos it broke and its status as the "lost" and "shocking" grail for so long, it's really kind of a novelty-laced melodrama. Plus Harry Earles grates on me. A great film, don't get me wrong, but not imo Browning's best.

The Unknown, on the other hand--wow. If you haven't bought the Turner Classics Lon Chaney Collection and seen this little piece of silver screen gold (?), you NEED to check it out. You've got the carnival setting that obsessed Browning, the poetic physical deformities and psychoses of the characters (both faked and real, in Alfonso's case), some great camera work and trickery, some really disturbing tableux and situations, and an ending that still had me on the edge of my seat, nearly a hundred years after the fact. Browning's imprint is very strong here, and you can see his amazing skill as a director much more clearly than in the other films listed, the way he tells the story with images and cuts, just fantastic stuff.

Of course, Lon Chaney's astounding performance doesn't hurt--one scene, I swear, you could almost HEAR his pain, despite the silent film. And a shockingly hot young Joan Crawford to boot. Check it out.

The Unknown, on the other hand--wow. If you haven't bought the Turner Classics Lon Chaney Collection and seen this little piece of silver screen gold (?), you NEED to check it out. You've got the carnival setting that obsessed Browning, the poetic physical deformities and psychoses of the characters (both faked and real, in Alfonso's case), some great camera work and trickery, some really disturbing tableux and situations, and an ending that still had me on the edge of my seat, nearly a hundred years after the fact. Browning's imprint is very strong here, and you can see his amazing skill as a director much more clearly than in the other films listed, the way he tells the story with images and cuts, just fantastic stuff.

Of course, Lon Chaney's astounding performance doesn't hurt--one scene, I swear, you could almost HEAR his pain, despite the silent film. And a shockingly hot young Joan Crawford to boot. Check it out.

-"scottstandridge"

The Unknown does indeed kick some major ass... if anyone is missing this collection, they really should run out and get it... it also has Ace Of Hearts, Laugh Clown Laugh (another classic, and I mean classic, heartbreaker) and a documentary on Chaney. Essential stuff.

This was difficult. It was between "Dracula" and "Freaks" and I went with "Dracula" by the narrowest of margins. I liked "Dracula" more for the atmosphere and mood than for the performances, whereas I like "Freaks" for the story and characters.

Freaks. It was not an easy choice. Dracula (Bela) is such a great film (I have to agree about the atmosphere and mood). I'd just as easily watch both of them back to back instead of picking just one to watch.

It has to be Freaks, although like many on here I gotta give my props to Bela for Dracula, even if the Spanish version is better.
There's just something about Freaks. The first time I saw it I had heard a lot about it, but I don't think it was enough to prepare me for just the pure visceral shock the movie has the first time around. Instead of creating a monster of pure imagination, he tried to make us see the ugliness that resides in each of us "normal" people.
Pretty powerful stuff for cinema of that time.
In addition, some atrocious acting aside, it's a pretty entertaining flick.

It's hard to choose from this list, but I'll go with "The Unknown".

I'd like to be able to pick London After Midnight.

I'd like to be able to pick London After Midnight.

-"Sour Sugar"

Yes! many of us here (including me) would love to see (and own) that one.

All of them are excellent, but I actually like Mark of the Vampire better than Dracula...if you read the background, Tod Browning wasn't all that happy with how Dracula turned out, so when he made Mark of the Vampire he added the touches that he wanted to put in Dracula.

Dracula

I'd like to be able to pick London After Midnight.

-"Sour Sugar"

You'd probably have to watch it first. We'll just have to settle for the remake, Mark of The Vampire.
It does look better than Drac, but the story is weak.

I'd like to be able to pick London After Midnight.

-"Sour Sugar"

You'd probably have to watch it first. We'll just have to settle for the remake, Mark of The Vampire.
It does look better than Drac, but the story is weak.

-"BobClark"

Yeah, that's why I said I'd LIKE to be able to. I think I will settle for the reconstruction though.

'Freaks' for me. The whole movie is just completely unnerving.