I wanted to but couldn't!

Better Late Then Never

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Well now. I'd heard a lot about "Vampire Circus" since it's disappearance back in the early 70s. Now, the blu-ray of this oddity has surfaced and we can all see what the cultists are raving about. Strictly a drive-in movie, which should have been double-billed with something like "Return of the Dwarf Clown Vampire Circus Performers of Evil" or something like that. FREE donuts at dawn for everyone brave enough to stay all nite!!! That's where this flick should be seen. "Circus" isn't all that terrible, but it was filmed and released around the time that Hammer was descending into bankruptcy and a lot of bare breasts were uncovered to pay the bills. The new DVD is nice, clear, and reveals all those things we like about Hammer vampires. Good color,enormous fangs, indifferent pacing, stock dimwitted characters, and those annoying twisted columns from Dracula's castle back in 1958. Hammer really got their money's worth out of that particular set, as it appears over and over in all their vampire films."Circus" opens nicely, with the locals aghast over the peccadilloes of resident castle-dweller Count Mitterhouse. He's a bloodsucker, sex fiend, and a pedophile! His excesses have outraged the locals, who put his reign of terror to rest. Purists here will notice that when the Count is staked from behind in bloody fashion, later shots of him rolling around on his bed show that his shirt is intact and well, pretty clean for a guy leaking blood all over. He succumbs to the stake, but curses the town. Fifteen years pass and a "disease" has come to claim the town. Pity that they never got around to clearing the mess they made by exploding the Count's castle, isn't it? They might have discovered his body lounging around in a snazzy coffin. So, a village with plague is cut off from the rest of the world, but a threadbare circus rolls into town unimpeded. The dimwitted villagers are entranced and end up as the victims of the circus performers, who are all.....vampires!! No one saw that coming, let me tell you. Stock townies are cut down as the undead try to revive Count Mitterhouse. Will they prevail or just slink away to another Hammer flick, like "Twins of Evil" or something that depends on boobs instead of scares to keep audiences awake?This is strictly for Hammer fans, although it's a jazzy take on the vampire mythos. The sets are claustrophobic, as you might imagine. All Hammer films end up feeling like high school plays with a tiny budget. Why do all the stricken townies attend the circus every night? Who cleaned up the litter boxes for the were-panther and the were-tiger? Evidently all the townies are fairly stupid despite warnings from the veterans of Mission Mitterhouse. Absolutely no one seems to connect the past ghoulish goings-on back to Count Mitterhouse and his faithful concubine who was allowed to run away fifteen years earlier. The climax of this tale of terror is a yawner. Everyone tries to best the bloodsuckers, but everyone has forgotten the lore. The dumb townies get knocked down and bitten like falling dominoes. It all takes place in what seems like slow motion.A strange take on the vampire mythos from your friends at Hammer, who tried the sex-and-horror thing long before mainstream studios realized that nudity trumped scares. The rest of us in our cars at soggy Midwestern drive-ins just snoozed and waited for those free donuts at dawn. "Vampire Circus" isn't that bad, but it's not that good either.

Rumour has it that filming was shut down on Vampire Circus with several important sequences still to be shot. The director had gone over schedule and Hammer simply assembled the film from what footage had already been taken. And to be frank, it shows.The film is full of illogical ideas. A plague which turns out to be rabies carried by bats can be cured by "Medicine" from the capital, although the film never shows bats attacking people, and the villages occasionally are to be seen with bubonic-style pustules over their faces. A small plot point but the film is full of such silliness.The main story concerns the revenge of Count Mitterhouse upon said village - he's a vampire staked 15 years earlier in a prologue which allows for nudity, gore, and sadism (the vampire's willing female accomplice is whipped and birched.)Enter the circus, mysteriously dodging road blocks set up by the surrounding villages to keep the plague contained, which turns out to be full of vampires who use their powers to put on a circus act! These scenes are nicely staged but quickly become repetitive as the villages seem to go there every single night, despite mysterious deaths galore and the plague spreading panic.I could point out many other inconsistencies in the plot but I'm trying to keep it short. Unaccountably this film has gained a decent reputation over the years, but in all honesty it's not very good, and not a patch on earlier Hammers such as Dracula, Plague of The Zombies and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.Historical note: this was the last of Hammer's period vampire movies to be shot.

I first saw this movie years ago in a chopped-up edited for television form, although I was recently able to see it in what looks like its complete version.I remember distinctly that Vampire Circus got terrible reviews in the 1970s. Our TV Guide rated it at ZERO stars, but time seems to have softened that harsh criticism of the time, and it's now regarded as a semi-classic.It's got the great look and feel of classic Hammer horror, and it gets by without Lee, Cushing and the rest. David Prowse makes an appearance as the strongman, one of the few times you see him not heavily made up. For what it's worth, the script is actually a little better than some other more highly regarded horror films.While it's not the best thing Hammer ever produced, you'll want to see it at least once if you're a fan of those movies.

For really solid entertainment, Vampire Circus never fails. It is a B movie with a limited budget, but the sheer imaginativeness and verve with which it is told overcomes any deficiencies.The first ten minutes of the movie already give us violence and nudity with themes of incest, pederasty, necrophilia, bondage, promiscuity and sadism all thrown in - a glorious, twisted romp. The movie goes on to leave no perversion unvisited in a story which moves along swiftly but with the trademark Hammer leisurely camera moves. Also trademark is the fine ensemble cast who give the impression of thoroughly enjoying themselves. The movie is modern insofar as one's sympathy lies largely with the vampires. The acting is largely good with occasional naive performances from young players; Lalla Ward is a standout. The story is inventive at every point and consistently surreal.Never an art movie, this schlock horror is one of the most inventive and artistic of all horror films. Unburdened by aesthetic sensibilities, it is one of the most beautiful and imaginative vampire films. Along with 'Captain Kronos, 'The Vampire Lovers' and 'Twins of Evil', it stands as an example of the late Hammer achievement of films that are lasting examples of fine, enjoyable storytelling. Few films are as much fun.