Is Tod Browning's Freaks a Horror Film?

While Freaks (1932; depicted left) is not anywhere near the same kind of film as Nightmare on Elm Street or Hellraiser, it still qualifies as a horror film.  It is a...different kind of horror.

From what I understood, the intent of the film was to show that "ugliness" and "freakishness" comes from the inside, regardless of one's outer appearance.  This is explicitly shown via the beautiful Cleopatra's mistreatment of the dwarf Hans, who is considered a "freak".

However, the course of the story reveals a different side to that moral.  Bringing in some spoilers, at the end of Freaks, Cleopatra gets mutilated by the "freaks" as an act of revenge, thus becoming one of them.  While that may read to some as, "Her inner monstrosity has shone through," what does that say of the other "freaks"?  Did they really have to act with violence and cruelty?  To me, the ending reads as, "We all have a monster inside us; some just wear the monstrosity like a badge", making the film a pretty cynical one.

For those who have not seen this movie: they are staring at his third arm.

Films like this can also cause the audience to react with "monstrosity"; I caught myself enjoying the fact that Cleopatra "got what was coming to her".  Freaks is similar to films such as The Dark Backward (1991; depicted right) and The Devil's Carnival (2012), in which the audience sympathizes with the underdog protagonist and eventually feel the effects of the negativity that is aimed at said character.  The audience then responds with such intense animosity towards any other characters that are cruel or violent towards the protagonist.  Personally, I think that a film that can bring that kind of attitude out of an audience is definitely "horrifying".  What are your thoughts?