FANTASIA OBSCURA: A Hammer Horror That Shows the Circus isn’t Dead… It’s Undead
There are some fantasy, science fiction, and horror films that not every fan has caught. Not every film ever made has been seen by the audience that lives for such fare. Some of these deserve another look, because sometimes not every film should remain obscure.
Sometimes, be careful how hard you bite when you’re trying to make a good first impression…
Vampire Circus (1972)
Distributed by: Hammer Films via the Rank Organization
Directed by: Robert Young
Yeah, yeah, we know, the circus is dead. But once upon a time there were more than one troupe out there trying to bring a little something to audiences, add something to brighten up the audiences’ drab lives.
And occasionally, the performers’ not-quite drab un-lives…
We begin cold as we watch a young girl be led through the forest by Anna (Domini Blythe in her first feature) into the castle of Count Mitterhaus (Robert Tayman). The count, a vampire, feasts on the young girl, and Anna, who gets really turned on as she watches, offers herself to the count; he says, “One lust feeds another,” and then proceeds to feed her hungers, ifyouknowwhatImean…
This does not go down well with Albert Muller (Laurence Payne), who in addition to being the town schoolmaster is also Anna’s husband, so of course there’s plenty of issues here… In any event, Muller gets the town folk riled up to go after the Count, who manage to put a stake in the vampire’s heart, but not before he gives Anna instructions on how to carry out his threatened revenge, which she starts on just as the town folk use gunpowder to blow the Count’s castle to ruins, to help meet the Gothic quotient herein…
Fifteen years and one credit roll later, we’re still in the village Shtetl…
…and yeah, we do need a minute here: We’re calling this village in the middle of nowhere Shtetl? Really? Considering everyone here does the sign of the cross and uses that as a means to define their beliefs despite the meaning of the word “shtetl”? Really…?
…so yeah, the village of Shtetl is suffering from a plague, which is killing off everyone and forcing their neighbors to go for a “shoot on sight” policy regarding anyone trying to leave the place. It’s not what you’d call a highlight among the Rick Steves’ tours…
And yet, the Circus of Night manages to find its way through the blockade, wanting to entertain the residents of the little burg of murder.
The gypsy ringmaster (Adrienne Corri) and her advance man/street crew Michael (Skip Martin) bring the crowds to see such acts as the strongman (David Prowse), the acrobats Heinrich (Robin Sachs) and Helga (Lalla Ward in her feature debut), and Emil (Anthony Higgins, aka Anthony Corlan) who’s act consist of making people believe that he can turn into a panther…
…which he can’t, can he…?
And what about the Mirror of Truth, where John and Gustav Huaser (Roderick Shaw and Barnaby Shaw) encounter fateful visions…?
Not to give too much away, but these are the folks Mitterhaus sent Anna to find to avenge his death. These circus freaks start to chomp their way through the townsfolk and their kids, including Rosa (Christine Paul), the daughter of the Burgermeister (Thorley Walters), and Anna Muller (Lynne Frederick), the schoolmaster’s daughter, who we find has a more direct connection with people who are and were in town before, which helps to overly complicate things with a point that tries to be more dramatic than melodramatic…
Speaking of trying, of all the films Robert Young could have taken on as his first project, he picked a doozy. Making his premiere as a director, with a tale where some characters make long plays over the course of the film, while others make short work of getting out of their clothes (so no, this is not a film for the kids, even if there is a circus on screen), could well have been a disaster for most first timers.
It’s no slam dunk, but Young manages to hold his own against a potentially tough shoot. There are a few instances where incorporating the effects work needed is a bit slapdash, and some of the pacing gets lost as the film tries to wind down, but overall for a first time effort the man who’d go on to do the pilot for The Worst Witch and episodes of Jeeves and Wooster would hold his own.
Mind you, it helped that he had under him a cast whose comfort with working in genre made them destined for great things later on. With 
Ward as a vampire and Prowse as an underling in thrall with this clique of vampires, even the least experienced of directors who would have problems with the script penned by Jud Kinberg at least had some help with a Time Lady who had a Sith Lord in service…
And that may be the best way to look at the film. Silly in parts and certainly a bit racier than most films with vampires seeking revenge, it is if nothing else an interesting early stop in the careers of many folks who’d go on to do other better-known works. There’s no shame attached to being part of this ride, and spending some of the film’s run time going, “Hey, didn’t he/she go on to…?” makes for a pleasant enough idyll.
Just because the circus may be dead, doesn’t mean you can’t watch an old one for old time’s sake…
NEXT TIME: With Carnivale coming up in a few weeks, it’s time to go down to Rio; from there, we’ll go even further down…
