Vampire Circus (1972) Reviews

• Strong contender for the most underrated vampire movie of all time!

  Infofreak2002-09-20

  Not sure why 'Vampire Circus' isn't mentioned when people talk about the best Hammer movies, because it certainly deserves to be. As usual the studio manages to create a lot of period atmosphere and chills on, one assumes, not a very large budget, and like most of their movies the acting is uniformly good. The story concerns a village being attacked by a mysterious lethal plague which may or may not be connected with a dark episode in the small communities past concerning an evil Count who once terrorized all and sundry. The village is cut off from the outside world, and while they anxiously await some outside medical attention, a strange traveling circus arrives. The villagers leap upon anything to tale their minds off their awful predicament, but as you can tell from the title, the circus folk aren't exactly what they appear to be and have secret plans of justice and revenge. The performers themselves are much more interesting and sensual than the uptight villagers, and this creates an unusual tension in the viewer compared to many vampire movies, where good vs. evil is black and white with no troubling ambiguities. This is a very unusual twist on the familiar subject matter, and in my opinion one of the most underrated and overlooked vampire movies ever made. Trainspotters note: the supporting cast includes David 'Darth Vader' Prowse as the circus strongman, and Lalla Ward (who replaced Mary Tamm as Romana in 'Dr Who') as a pretty sexy vampire.

• A freaky and unique Vampire film

  spacemonkey_fg2005-06-10

  Title: Vampire Circus Director: Robert Young Cast: Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters, Anthony Higgins Review: Vampire Circus is one of those hard to find, elusive Hammer Vampire flicks. I had been looking for it for the longest time having heard nothing but good things about this uncommon vampire movie. I finally got my hands on it and I feel that I have somehow found the holy grail or something. It starts out like many vampire flicks. The towns people storming the castle of a vampire who has been feeding on the towns young women and children. They decide to take justice into their own hands and rid the world of Count Mitterhouse. When I say that this movie starts out like many other vampire flicks, I don't mean that in a bad way. This opening is a very fast paced one, filled with lots of confrontations...somehow you get the feeling that you are walking in on the ending of the film. Count Mitterhouse is a very vicious vampire, he seems almost more fierce then Lee's Dracula in many scenes. Great way to open a movie! In the first 12 minutes you get a couple of towns folk slaughtered full frontal nudity and a little girl killed by Mitterhouse. But when the towns people finally do get to kill him, he says he will one day come to life again and just before he dies he curses the town with a plague. Fast forward fifteen years later...and people are dying from a horrible curse, the town is quarantined and no one is allowed to leave. If you do try to leave the town...you get shot down! Anyhows in comes the "Circus of Night" a circus that the towns people welcome with open arms...something to take their minds away from all the death that the plague has brought upon them. The "circus of night" has their own little plan under their sleeves but that is for you to find out when you see the movie. Well people thats the set up for what was surely one of the strangest vampire flicks I have ever seen. I mean...come on....vampires and a weird circus in the same movie, how can you go wrong with a mix like that? Does the movie manage to be interesting after a fast paced action packed opening sequence like that? It sure does. Like many films with the circus/carnival setting one of the main attractions on this movie were the circus performers. This "circus of night" is filled with your usual circus folk. The Strong Man, The Twins Who turn into bats, The Midget Clown and The Panther who turns into a man, The Body Paint Dancers, Um...OK, maybe they are not your usual circus folk, but they sure do make for an interesting and freaky film. All the characters in the circus are very intriguing simply because of their freakishness, they are certainly more likable then the towns folk. This Hammer production has more boob shots then usual. The nudity was very abundant in Vampire Circus. Another really cool thing about the flick: the vampires have huuuge fangs. I mean when they open their mouths you get to wondering how they are ever going to close them again with fangs that big. Cool image. The movie is accompanied by a feeling of surrealism. Be on the lookout for some really freaky performances during the show. Specially those scenes involving "The Mirror of Life". Also those scenes with the naked/body paint/dancing lady. Add to this that the ring master is a midget clown and you have a night of weird bizarro cinema assured. Oh, and it also has one of the coolest and most original vampire death scenes I have seen! Not gonna spoil it for you guys but be on the look out for that. As you can see, I don't have a great many bad things to say about this one. Maybe they screwed around with the vampire mythos a little too much, I mean a were-panther/vampire dude? Maybe that was a little too much. But I guess it just adds to the bizarre feeling this movie has. Also some of the acting wasn't so good, mainly from the young guy who plays the son of the doctor in the film. He delivers his lines with a lot of overacting. But thats just a minor flaw, it was an all around good Hammer flick. So, in conclusion. I'm glad I finally got to see Vampire Circus its a film that was fun because its weird freaky carnival feel and its likable villains. Too bad this film is often times ignored and doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Why release films like "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" which are just plain hurtful to look at, and then just completely ignore a gem like this? Sadly this film isn't even available in the United States. It certainly is one of the most unique vampire films to come out of Hammers House of Horror, and one that any Vampire/Hammer lover should not miss. Rating: 4 out of 5

• Extremely creepy and vastly underrated Hammer film

  Coventry2004-08-16

  People are always mentioning the Dracula series when talking about Hammer's best Vampire flicks and, every once and a while, `The Vampire Lovers' and `Twins of Evil' are named. But I never heard anyone praising Vampire Circus before… And yet this is one of the greatest vampire movies I've seen so far. A very structured and ingenious story with frightening characters, nasty gore and constant action. The most fantastic aspects about this film are the genuine strangeness and fairytale-like atmosphere. Yet, the solid tension-level of this film depends on a simple principle: circus people are eerie, and the idea of a travelling bunch of circus freaks is ominous. The legendary director Tod Browning already knew this back in 1932 and the overlooked chiller `Circus of Horrors' also follows this principle closely. Personally, I get a lot more uncomfortable at the sight of a painted-face midget than when seeing aliens, bogeymen or whatever other overblown horror characters. Vampire Circus is terrifically set in 19th century Serbia. 15 years after the townsfolk of a little community killed an evil count, they live in complete misery. The Plague has isolated them from the rest of the world and they live under the believe they're cursed. A travelling circus finally seems to bring some diversity into the lives of the poor townspeople with their amusing tricks of changing into nightly animals back and forth. But, there seems to be an horrific connection between the eerie circus and the destroyed count… Most members of the circus are vampires too, coming to avenge the Count's death and to make him rise from his tomb. For once in your life, look beyond the poor production values! Vampire circus looks laughable and cheesy, but it really does have a compelling story to tell. A story with all the necessary horror ingredients: tension, gore (surprisingly much), great music, good-looking girls and even a bit of nudity. The more Hammer movies I see, the more I think this production company rules!! Even their most underrated ones, like it's definitely the case for Vampire Circus, must be seen by every horror fan. Highly recommended!

• Great Vampire Flick!

  grantch2004-04-10

  I gave in to my desire to resee Twins of Evil and check out Vampire Circus & Countess Dracula which I had never seen and ordered the "Hammer Vampire Collection" from UK. (If you're considering purchase, the discs are coded Region 2, so you can't play them on a lot of USA-sold DVD players. I watch Region 2 on my computer.) I loved Twins of Evil but the real winner was Vampire Circus, an intelligent and fun treatment of a curse upon a village which had the temerity to call an abrupt halt to the fun of the local feudal lord. It's suspenseful and fast moving. I agree with previous commenters that the villagers are so pompous that they earned their fates. Unlike most other posters, I welcomed the opportunity to see John Moulder-Brown in a (for me) new movie, albeit 32 years old. VC is beautifully photographed and the special effects are terrific. Clearly the folks at Hammer Studios did not need computers to create stunning visual images. If you can view Region 2 discs, go for it! You'll get a great thrill out of VC, probably their best vampire flick after Taste the Blood of Dracula!

• One of the best vampire movies of all time

  evilskip1999-09-29

  A small village uprises against Count Mitterhouse, their vampiric lord. He vows a curse upon the town as he is being destroyed.Years later the town is struck by an outbreak of disease. Among this horror a travelling circus comes to town. As we slowly find out most of the circus performers are vampires.Some of the animals are vampiric humans! They begin to wreak vengeance upon the village slaughtering indiscriminately. There is a rousing finish to this as vampires and villagers square off to do battle.Who will survive? I was lucky enough to see an uncut foreign laserdisk of this film.Plot confusion stemming from the cut video is cleared up. The colors are lush.The direction is tight and there really isn't a wasted moment in this classic.The acting is top notch as well.This is even better than Horror Of Dracula in my opinion. Sadly this is only available on laserdisk in the USA at this time. Hopefully Anchor Bay will release a complete version of this film to the video market.All you can do is wait...