A village in Nineteenth Century Europe is at first relieved when a
circus breaks through the quarantine to take the local's minds off the
plague. But their troubles are only beginning as children begin to
disappear and the legacy of a long-ago massacre is brought to light.
When thoughts come to mind of Hammer classic horror films, what usually
pops up is the Dracula or Frankenstein series. Lost in the shuffle is
this gem of a film Vampire Circus. Hammer creates a
stylish period piece here with a modest budget and an above average
story. It's erotic, chilling, grotesque and most of all, bloody. It's
one of the last great horror films Hammer created.
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| Count Mitterhaus |
The film starts off showing us how the townsfolk have finally had enough
of their children disappearing and storm the castle of Count
Mitterhaus. They manage to stake the evil count and with his dying
breath curses the town and promises to bring death to them all. Jump
forward 15 years and the plague has struck the town and they are cut off
from the rest of the world. Gunmen circle the outskirts of town and
keep anyone from entering or leaving so the plague can be contained.
Somehow a traveling circus manages to get access and their purpose of
arriving is not only to entertain the sick. They are instead a group of
vampires intent on resurrecting Count Mitterhaus and dealing revenge.
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| The blood flows freely in Vampire Circus |
This film holds up even to today's modern viewer. Even though there is
lots of gore, violence and nudity, the film creates a surreal mood and
atmosphere with the circus's creepy characters. The clown midget stands
out as he leads some towns people on the way out of town, only to have
them ripped to shreds by the circus panther. His evil laughter and
delight over the carnage actually sent a little chill up my spine.
Anthony Higgins steals the show with his performance as the shape
shifting vampire even though all the villains do an excellent job of
portraying menace. David 'Darth Vader' Prowse makes an appearance here
as the circus strongman. He would later show up in more Hammer horror as
the monster in "
Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell".
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| Evil lurks at the circus. |
The film was directed by Robert Young and was his directorial debut. The
film was written by Judson Kinberg and it would certainly fall under
the term "sexploitation film". It has has hints of pedophilia,
bestiality and incest all wrapped up in one package. It offers an
unusual twist that most vampire films don't have. If you haven't seen
this film, and few have, then head to Amazon and get the Blu-ray copy.
Fans of vampire films or horror films in general will be entertained and
delighted on what they find here.
Trivia:
According to various books on Hammer films, this film went over schedule
and some key scenes were never filmed. Ironically Rank called it
Hammer's best film in a decade.
Shot in six weeks.
Three of the cast – Laurence Payne, Adrienne Corri and Lalla Ward – would be reunited in the 1980 season of the British sci-fi/fantasy series
Doctor Who in the serial
The Leisure Hive. The film also heralded the screen debut of Lynne Frederick, who would later marry comic Peter Sellers.
AllMovie called the film "one of the studio's more stylish and intelligent projects". PopMatters
also called it "one of the company's last great classics", writing,
"erotic, grotesque, chilling, bloody, suspenseful and loaded with doom
and gloom atmosphere, this is the kind of experiment in terror that
reinvigorates your love of the scary movie artform."
