I honestly have no idea where my fascination with traveling circuses comes from but I always find myself drawn to movies that feature the old style traveling circuses full of gypsies, fire-eaters, freaks and exotic animals. I'm not a fan of the movies that feature terrifying clowns and bloody fun-houses, but the more mysterious and renaissance style, which is where the Circus of Nights fits right in. So after watching the HBO series Carnivale and Santa Sangre over the last year, and when I happened across a trailer for a vampire movie featuring a traveling circus I jumped right to it, without realizing it would my first taste of Hammer Horror.
Now, Vampire Circus is one of the last few movies produced by Hammer Films after they enjoyed enormous success during the 50's and 60's. It is not often considered amongst their best, which are the Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy franchises, but those who have seen enough of the Hammer archive to have seen it all think it is very well done and unappreciated. This being my first Hammer Horror film, I can't compare it to any of the others, but if this is any indicator of what is to come I am very excited. Vampire Circus may have been the last of the dying breed of horror films, but there is a reason Hammer enjoyed over two decades of success, and by the time they got to Vampire Circus, they had perfected their formula.
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| I feel like he's doing an impression of someone. I'm just not sure who. |
The best element about Vampire Circus was how perfectly Hammer captured the Gothic atmosphere, which they had mastered over their last couple decades. Almost of Hammer Horror films are set around the same Gothic period, with Vampire Circus taking place in a 19th Century Austrian Village. At the beginning of the movie, the villagers vanquished a vampire Count who had been praying on the village, and as he dies he vows that their children will die to bring him back to life. 15 years later, the village is suffering from a plague; quarantined by nearby villagers the village elders send the doctor on a search for a cure just as a mysterious circus roles into town.
Vampire Circus balances two ends of the horror scale by keeping both a large air of mystery whilst still racking up a gory and bloody body count. For those of you seeking the blood and gore, you won't be to disappointed. Or am I just confusing this with the Fulci movie I watched before it? Nope, I checked, and Vampire Circus has it's own helping of bitten necks and even a few torn apart corpses. However, while Vampire Circus may flash it's fangs often, so you don't get bored, it doesn't do so blatantly, and manages to keep an air of mystery about it, and while the viewer might piece things together by the halfway point the villagers certainly don't.
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| I wonder if this guy ever went on to act in anything else? If so he was probably typecast. |
In between the violent killings however, the second act is filled with very entertaining circus performances. I, like the villagers watched with delights as the circus folk performed, particularly the dance scene. While no fire-eaters or bearded ladies were to be seen, we still got a man who could transform into a panther, a clowning midget, and a silent strong man among others. At no point during Vampire Circus did I get bored, as the movie is filled with style and atmosphere.
From what I've read since starting this review, it seems that too many horror fans Vampire Circus was a nearly legendary vampire film that only the luckiest would see. A horror gem that somehow emerged from the time when Hammer Horror was on the decline, we can know rejoice that it has been released on blu-ray and DVD, and in my opinion looks great. Luckily in this day and age there are many video distribution companies who are dedicated to unearthing those treasure lost in time, which means I should have no problem getting a hold of the rest of what Hammer Films has to offer.
Sure, Vampire Circus is not for everybody, but if you are looking for a grotesque, chilling, erotic, bloody, suspenseful and loaded with doom and gloom Gothic atmosphere, this is the kind of experiment in terror that will reinvigorate your love of the scary movie artform. Hats off to you Hammer Films and I look forward to delving into your glory days.
Link:
Vampire Circus IMDb
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