Vampire Circus
After a spate of murders, the villagers of Schtettel kill the depraved perpetrator, Count Mitterhouse. Fifteen years later the Circus of Nights appeared in the plague-ridden village and its performers include Mitterhouse's mistress, children and cousins. They have come to Schtettel to fulfil the Count's last words, an evil, vicious curse of death and destruction on those who participated in his impaling. The children of Schtettel become the targets for a brutal and devastating revenge as the Vampire Circus rehearses for its most deadly performance.
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- Cast:
- Adrienne Corri , Thorley Walters , Anthony Higgins , John Moulder-Brown , Laurence Payne , Richard Owens , Lynne Frederick
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Expected more
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
The horror is; the money MGM wasted, putting their brand on this, wasted part of my life watching this. It's absolutely garbage as far as..... everything. If the people in this were the best out of all auditioning, wow. Can't even put this in the "B" movie category. This cringe worthy train wreck and waste of celluloid, is the 3rd to list of WTF? To go with; The car (1977) About Schmidt ( Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates) You can't unsee her topless. Can i sue for PTSD? Ugh.
Yet another film I have not seen in years. I recently had a chance to watch it again and I have to say this is a pretty good older vampire film that has some uniqueness to it because they use a traveling circus as a disguise. The movie is better than I remembered it to be. The film is worth watching if you love vampires, creepy circus/carnivals and horror movies in general.I love creepy carnival/circus movies and this group of vampires can put on a show. I love the tiger lady - she is cool! Two vampires turn into bat and one turns into a panther right before the eyes of viewer - good camera tricks - almost looks real. An eerie circus and vampires mix all to well in this movie - well done! I have to say this is an underrated Vampire film.Fun note: The strong man of the circus is our very own Dave Prowse - yes the man who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars Trilogy! This film shows us why he great for the strong man. 9/10
In Nineteenth Century Europe , at a Servian little town called Schtettle and surroundings have been committed several murders and neighbours think the guilty seems to be the count Mitterhaus (Robert Tayman) . When professor Albert Muller (Laurence Payne) watches how his wife Anna and daughter go into a castle , townsfolk (Thorley Walters , among others) enter to rescue them . They get to kill the sinister vampire count but he promises a grisly curse . Fifteen years later the bloodsucker's curse is carried out on descendants (John Moulder-Brown , Lynne Frederick) . Schtettle (same place from 'Twins of evil') people are dieing for strange illness and the place is quarantined . A village is at first relieved when a circus breaks through the quarantine to take the local's minds off the plague . Only the ¨Circus of nights¨ (Adrienne Corri , Anthony Corlan , David Prowse) passes the limits to bring happiness and joy . The circus appears in the isolated location , but early instead of bringing fun and amusement , the circus brings only misery , mutilation and death . ¨The circus has various animals and attractions as 'Hall of Mirrors', and 'Mirror of life' . It seems all the members are bloodsuckers who have the unique ability to become themselves into animals . They intend to take vendetta on the village , whose inhabitants murdered their ancestor several years formerly .This vampire film contains thrills , chills , suspense , creepy events and is quite entertaining . From important production companies as ¨Rank¨ and ¨Hammer Films¨ that took two plots , one about an eerie circus and the other about bloodsucker depredations and cobbled them together enough well . There are some fine scenes , as the dancing of the panther woman and and other fantastic ones as the deeds in a Hall of Mirrors . Enjoyable performance for all casting , Adrienne Corri as a circus ringmaster , she subsequently worked in 'Clockwork orange' ; Anthony Corlan as a panther man , he has a long career as Anthony Higgings ; Thorley Walters , a Hammer usual ; Lynne Frederick who married and inherited to Peter Sellers , though she died early ; David Prowse as a strongman , he posteriorly became famous as Darth Vader's Star Wars . Colorful cinematography by Grant , made at Pinewood studios , Shepperton , London , England . Creepy and frightening musical score by David Whitaker .The motion picture produced by Michael Carreras is well directed by Robert W. Young who has a mediocre career with average titles as ¨Hostage¨ , ¨Scandalous ¨, The world is full of married men¨ ; however ¨Vampire circus¨ is a good yarn and results to be his best film . Hammer film buffs will no doubt recognise this film is one of the best of the Terror House .
By the early 1970s, Hammer's Dracula franchise was definitely beginning to wind down, with such lackluster entries as Dracula A.D. 1972 and the Satanic Rites of Dracula (both ill-conceived attempts to update Dracula to the 20th century). At the same time, however, the studio was releasing a number of more imaginative vampire movies, of which Vampire Circus is a prime example.Hammer returns to its Gothic roots here, with the setting a 19th-century Serbian village. Count Mitterhaus, an evil vampire who has been terrorizing the countryside, gets his just due in the first 15 minutes but lays a curse on the villagers and their children. Fast forward 15 years, and the village is now plagued by a mysterious illness that is decimating its population. And then the circus comes to town.The circus motif is quite imaginative and takes the story in a very different direction than the standard vampire film. The oddball characters, exotic animals, and various circus acts are quite entertaining, while the connection between the circus and the deceased (or is he?) Count soon becomes apparent. There are numerous scary moments and gruesome deaths before the final denouement.I am surprised that this movie received a PG-rating in the United States, because the violence and nudity are abundant. Its major flaw is the absence of a compelling hero in the mold of Van Helsing or a villain of the caliber of Dracula. The acting, however, is first-rate, quite up to the standards expected of Hammer films. The film is handsomely produced, very atmospheric, and thoroughly enjoyable. Vampire Circus has been out of circulation for some time, but it showed up recently in the On Demand section of my local cable station. Although I've known about this movie since its release, and heard many good things about it, this is the first opportunity I've had to view it. It's great to have the Circus back in town!