sideshow

21 movies and shows

The Elephant Man

Thu, 09 Oct 1980

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

Freaks

Fri, 01 Jan 1932

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

The Unholy Three

Mon, 20 Jul 1925

Three sideshow performers form a conspiracy known as "The Unholy Three" - a ventriloquist, midget, and strongman working together to commit a series of robberies.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Fri, 29 Apr 1983

In a small American town, a diabolical circus arrives, granting wishes for the townsfolk, but twisted as only the esteemed Mr. Dark can make them. Can two young boys overcome the worst the devil himself can deal out?

Meridian

Sat, 10 Nov 1990

After her father’s death, Catherine returns to her family’s gothic castle in Italy and gets caught in the web of a mysterious love triangle.

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

Fri, 17 Feb 1939

Fields plays "Larsen E. Whipsnade", the owner of a shady carnival that is constantly on the run from the law. Whipsnade is struggling to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and clearly not paying his performers, including Bergen and McCarthy, who try to coax money out of him, or in McCarthy's case, steal some outright.

Torture Garden

Wed, 01 Nov 1967

A special sideshow torture exhibit has the power, according to showman Dr Diabolo, to warn people of foreseeable evil. One by one, skeptics stand before the Fate Atropos to preview the greed and violence hiding behind their respectable façades.

Big Top Evil

Sun, 25 Aug 2019

Five disparate youths, lost on a road trip to the location of the infamous 'mangrove slasher,' end up being pursued by a cadre of cannibal clowns.

Sideshow

Sun, 18 Jun 1950

A Treasury Department agent on the trail of an international jewel smuggling ring joins a carnival that he thinks the gang is using as a front. He finally locates the jewels hidden as the eyes of wax figures.

Death Mask

Thu, 01 Jan 1998

Wilbur works in an old carnival and shows some gruesome things to the public. He covers his face because he had a sadistic father who burned his face as a child. Everybody makes jokes about his scars and when the new boss fires him, he goes to an old swamp-witch who gives him a peace of wood from a hanging tree. Wilbur makes a mask from this piece of wood and puts all his anger in this mask. When he puts the mask on, everybody who looks at him commits suicide.

The Show

Sat, 22 Jan 1927

Cock Robin is the swaggering ballyhoo man of a Hungarian sideshow known as the Palace of Illusions. The highlight of the show is a reenactment of Salome's dance of the seven veils, replete with the beheading of Jokanaan. The performer portraying Salome is in love with Cock Robin. Jealous, sinister The Greek is determined to eliminate that competition.

Bound by Flesh

Fri, 19 Oct 2012

Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton were once the cream of the sideshow crop. Taught to sing and dance at an early age, the winsome duo ascended through the early 20th-century vaudeville circuit as a side attraction (working alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin as well as a memorable turn in the Tod Browning classic "Freaks") before a cascade of unscrupulous management and harsh mistreatment brought their careers (and lives) tumbling down. This engrossing glimpse into a bygone era is filled with fascinating interviews and rare archival footage.

The Circus

Tue, 09 Oct 2018

Drawing upon a vast and richly visual archive and featuring a host of performers, historians and aficionados, this four-hour mini-series follows the rise and fall of the gigantic, traveling tented railroad circus and brings to life an era when Circus Day would shut down a town and its stars were among the most famous people in the country.