Vampire Circus

Vampire Circus Poster Available DVDs Poster Art Fun Facts

Also Known As

• Les Cirque Des Vampires (France)

Taglines

• The Carnival comes to town!

• The greatest blood-show on earth!

• Human fangs ripping throats - no sawdust can soak up the torrent of blood!

Main Details

• Released in 1972

• Color

• Aspect Ratio: (1.85:1)

• Runtime:87 min / USA:84 min

• Rated: R

• Distribution Co: J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors

• Production Co: Hammer Film Productions

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Robert Young

• Written by Judson Kinberg, Wilbur Stark

• Produced by Wilbur Stark

• Cinematography by Moray Grant

• Art Direction by Scott MacGregor

• Editing by Peter Musgrave

• Music by David Whitaker

• Special Effects by Les Bowie

• Starring: Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters, Anthony Higgins, John Moulder-Brown, Laurence Payne, Richard Owens, Lynne Frederick, Elizabeth Seal, Robin Hunter, Domini Blythe, Robert Tayman, John Bown, Mary Wimbush, Christina Paul, Robin Sachs

Film Review

After a mob vanquishes a child-killing vampire named Count Mitterhaus (Robert Tayman), The Count's last words not only predict a curse upon the town, but that the children of his killers will all die to make way for the return of The Count. Fifteen years later, the prophecy looks to have come true. A rampant plague has been killing off much of the inhabitants in the English town. It's gotten so bad that the entire town is quarantined. Complete with roadblocks on which sentry men are ordered to shoot deserters on sight! These poor people are overdue for some enlightment! And that enlightment finally happens to appear in the form of a traveling circus, led by a Gypsy (Adrienne Corri) The townspeople are in awe of the wonderous accomplishments of the troupe, which include a trapeze sibling act and a shape-shifting panther, who's human incarnation is the suave Emil (Anthony Higgins)

Though the crowd assumes that the act is all done by incredible illusions, it should'nt be too much of a surprise to know that the supernatural is involved with this circus act. So now if the plague wasn't bad enough, the bodycount is now multiplied by the deaths of the sons and daughters of specific family members. Who are led to their death by vampires (The circus performers) once they gaze into a certain attraction called "The Mirror of Life". Before their deaths, the victim gets a glimpse of Count Mitterhaus coming back to life. And The Count will come back to life as he recieves enough fresh blood. Only the local schoolmaster (Laurence Payne) knows the secret of the circus and will try to finish off the vamp clan one last time.

It's good to know that this being one of the later vampire entires in the Hammer-Horror library, it doesn't disappoint. Although it's not to say that it's perfect because (As noted in the Fun Facts) certain scenes didn't make it to the final cut. I'm assuming the "Key scenes" had to involve the identity of the circus troupe who are related to Count Mitterhausm, but it's only touched upon lightly in this surviving result. Yet, in no way did this minor tidbit derail my enjoyment of this movie. The plot still managed to be quite original and the visual style (Along with the constantly-moving direction) managed to turn this one into yet another visually exciting horror flick (But what can I say, I just love movies that feature circus/carnival material)

Another thing I want to point out is that this is one of the more bleak films to be found from Hammer. Though (And I hope I'm not giving away much) that a happy ending will occur, I actually found sympathy for many of the doomed townspeople who have to face the curse. Especially the poor burgermeister (Thorley Walters) this guy goes through some hell and his fate isn't as kind. This goes to show that this one did it's job in striking a nerve the way good horror film should often do. Recommended.

Reviewed by Laydback - 4/20/08