SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
bournemouthbear
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up for the greatest show on Earth! It's 1947. England. Witness as naughty old plastic surgeon Dr. Rossiter (Anton Diffring) changes his identity to hide from the police following a bodged, illegal operation he has performed! Gasp as he starts a new life in France under the name of Dr Bernard Shuler with his too-keen-to- please assistants (Griffith and Hylton). And scream as he takes ownership of a failing circus after watching its previous owner Vanet (Donald Pleasance) be mauled by his own bear!Using the circus as a means to continue his plastic surgery he takes criminals (deformed or otherwise) under his wing, altering their visage and turning them into circus performers. However whenever one of them threatens to leave, Shuler / Rossiter arranges for them to die via an arranged 'accident' which brings the circus to the attention of a reporter and Scotland Yard.With Hammer enjoying some success by upping the gore and sexual content in their movies, other film companies were keen to eat into that box office pie. Director Sidney Hayers' Circus of Horrors was one such product. Indeed so extreme was the content considered at its time of release that the movie was one of three British horror movies produced by Anglo-Amalgamated that was dubbed by film critic David Pirie as the 'Sadian Trilogy' (the other two movies are Peeping Tom and Horrors of the Black Museum - both 1959). The content may have been taboo at the time but its all old hat now, although none-the-less entertaining for it.Circus of Horrors moves at a nice pace and proves a lot more fun than Hayers' rather overwrought Night of the Eagle. There is much fun to be had with some of the more dated aspects of it, such as the dancing bear that ends up killing Donald Pleasance's character Vanet. It is so obviously someone wearing an ill-fitting costume, when it is not an inanimate prop that any possible gasp of shock that the scene may have intended to illicit gets lost under a barrage of sniggers. Even worse than the dancing bear is the ape thing we see permanently angry in its cage. It is wisely shown in brief shots or in shadow, but warrants a chuckle nonetheless.Anton Diffring (The Man Who Could Cheat Death) anchors the picture, making for a satisfying lead / villain. He brings to mind the actor Paul Freeman, best known for his role as Belloq in the first Indiana Jones movie. He is well supported by Kenneth Griffith and Jan Hylton as brother and sister, Martin and Angela. The characters in the movie are better defined than normal, although Yvonne Monlaur (Brides of Dracula) seems a little old to be playing the naive teenage Yvette Vanet.Circus of Horrors plays the odd surprise such as showing a knife in a girl's neck, which naturally would have been seen as more explicit or shocking on its original release, but still pleases now. There are also effective circus audience shots and trapeze performances to weigh up the absurdness of the basic plot.There is some fun to be had from seeing people tell Rossiter that they will leave after their next performance, when they know from past experience that anyone that tries to leave ends up dead during their last show. Wouldn't you just keep quiet and sneak off into the night rather than announce how dumb you are before being killed off? Also how Rossiter thinks he will not be recognised when his circus returns to London ten years later, regardless of whether people believe he is dead or not, also begs belief, with or without the earlier beard and moustache.The song used throughout called 'Look for a Star' is OK to begin with but begins to grate the more it is heard and it gets heard a lot. Funnily enough, the song went onto become a chart success on both sides of the Atlantic and was written by Mark Anthony, real name Tony Hatch - the same bugger that gave us such joys as the ancient TV series Crossroads theme. "Shudder".
Mr_Ectoplasma
"Circus of Horrors" follows an ethically questionable plastic surgeon who manipulates his way into performing an operation on the scarred daughter of a circus owner, only to gerrymander his way into taking over the traveling big top. What follows is a decades-long practice of transforming disfigured and corrupted women whom are recruited into the circus— but if they decide to leave, they die. An effective riff on "Eyes Without a Face" as well as elements of "Freaks," "Circus of Horrors" is surprising in that it manages to walk a line between inhabiting the space of big top circus entertainment and the realm of true horror; that is to say that its cheery scenes of circus performance are shot with a colorful, family-friendly flair that is dazzling to behold, and yet there is a sinister and macabre subtext that underpins the entire film, leaving the picturesque, Technicolor-y (almost even Disneyesque) circus scenes feeling unsettling and even perverse.The film makes a point to toy with its audience's notions of aesthetics in this way, and in some sense acts as an almost exposé on the dark undercurrent of the big top (because, let's face it— there is something inherently weird about the circus). The power of the film hinges entirely on this interplay, and the dynamic is weird and unnerving enough to never really lose its steam. It's beautifully shot, and the performances are at times dated but overall still effective (we also get a younger Donald Pleasance as the circus's original owner). Anton Diffring has the appropriate look that screams "sadist" and "potentially psychotic," and he works this to the hilt. The conclusion to the film is shocking and fantastically presented.Overall, "Circus of Horrors" is an underrated offering from the crop of '60s British horror films. It is a visually dazzling film that is rich in visuals and colors, an element which is completely off-set by the twisted content and subtext of the plot. Sweet and sour, beautiful and ugly; all great things seem to be a bit of both, don't they? 8/10.
mbmnow
I first saw this movie when it was released in 1960. I was 16 at the time and have always remembered the film. At the time I thought the movie was the most interesting one I ever saw. It had pretty sexy girls, horror and one of the best movie songs I had ever heard. I am watching now as I write this review. It still has all those things and it has held up all these years. The acting was very good for this type of movie as well as a good script. The movie is in color which also was very impressive. I can say for a movie that is thought as a horror film it has plenty to offer. The Circus of Horrors title may be a little misleading to some, it is much more that the title suggests.
dbdumonteil
Anton Diffring is the reason why you would like to watch this average horror movie.Plus a bevy of beautiful women.Diffring was a character actor and he succeeds in portraying a circus manager as well as a scientist even with his aristocratic looks.The story is implausible from start to finish ,but in this kind of flick,does it really matter?As soon as they are in France ,the threesome runs into a disfigured young girl (there are plenty of them there,as anybody past infancy knows) .The surgeon (plastic surgery) suggest father Donald Pleasance he give her a beautiful face in return for an occupation in his circus.Dr Schuler (=Schoolboy)soon owns the circus where he takes on disfigured shady persons he "cures" and puts on the bill of the show.It's not difficult:the first time the surgeon has taken a walk through the dark city ,he finds a disfigured whore (there are plenty of them in France ,as everybody knows).What is downright disturbing is that we never see the thespian operate. The circus background is smartly used: snakes,bears,lions,acrobats ,moving targets,and clowns who are very useful when an "accident" happens.A lovely song ,very very early sixties/late fifties ("look for a star" ) adds to the acrobatics scenes.Like this?try these...."Berserk" (O'Connolly ,1967)"Les Yeux Sans Visage" (Georges Franju,1960)
