It's tough when a film is constantly compared with another. Often, the reference will serve as a valuable tool for fans, helpful in making choices at the local video store. In other cases, viewers expectations of what a film should and could be are unfairly tarnished by the type of coupling that most of us engage in when describing movies (and other forms of entertainment).
Unfortunately, NIGHTMARE ALLEY suffers dearly as a result of the constant comparisons to the 30s horror classic FREAKS.
Although both NIGHTMARE ALLEY and Tod Browning's FREAKS are set in the sad, desperate and often creepy demi-monde of the traveling carnival, NIGHTMARE has very little of the vicious emotional impact of its "sister" film.
The first half hour is absolutely fantastic, a tantalizingly real set-up of the carnies and their milieu. From there, the story is just a hair above average -- and certainly a little protracted; To their credit, Colleen Gray and Tyrone Power are nearly perfect, and the rest of the cast close to that quality.
But the film loses some of its teeth along the way. After it leaves the carnival setting, it settles into a fairly rote noir-esque story of betrayal, and it manages to retain precious little of the verisimilitude that made FREAKS a heartbreakingly realistic portrayal of perhaps the most disenfranchised creatures of our world.
The finale is somewhat gripping, but telegraphed to a point that will leave you wishing this one was 20 minutes shorter.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY is nonetheless a worthwhile film (if you can find it), but it fares a whole lot better when it is not held up against the yardstick of FREAKS.
Unfortunately, NIGHTMARE ALLEY suffers dearly as a result of the constant comparisons to the 30s horror classic FREAKS.
Although both NIGHTMARE ALLEY and Tod Browning's FREAKS are set in the sad, desperate and often creepy demi-monde of the traveling carnival, NIGHTMARE has very little of the vicious emotional impact of its "sister" film.
The first half hour is absolutely fantastic, a tantalizingly real set-up of the carnies and their milieu. From there, the story is just a hair above average -- and certainly a little protracted; To their credit, Colleen Gray and Tyrone Power are nearly perfect, and the rest of the cast close to that quality.
But the film loses some of its teeth along the way. After it leaves the carnival setting, it settles into a fairly rote noir-esque story of betrayal, and it manages to retain precious little of the verisimilitude that made FREAKS a heartbreakingly realistic portrayal of perhaps the most disenfranchised creatures of our world.
The finale is somewhat gripping, but telegraphed to a point that will leave you wishing this one was 20 minutes shorter.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY is nonetheless a worthwhile film (if you can find it), but it fares a whole lot better when it is not held up against the yardstick of FREAKS.