Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Fete of Death
"Circus of Horrors" has always been one of my favorite horror films. From its very beginning when the disfigured woman confronts her face in the mirror and belts out a deranged scream of "Rossiter! Rossiter!" it grabs you by the throat in an outrageous meolodramatic way. The entire movie has an off-kilter nightmare quality to it, reaching its zenith at the eponymous circus of horrors that Rossiter, Anton Diffring, creates in France. Tame by today's standards compared to horror fare like "Saw," it nevertheless ratchets up the suspense when members of the circus start dying horribly. Anton Diffring has a field day as the psychotic plastic surgeon Rossiter who becomes progressively more psychotic as he has to commit more and more murders to protect his true identity.

I'm too young to have experienced it firsthand, but the late 50's and early 60's must have seemed like a Golden Age to horror movie fans. And I can't think of many films of the era that deliver the goods more effectively than Circus of Horrors. While cinematic horror was still mainly suggestive by today's standards, Circus throws in a few graphic shocks that compare with the best of Hammer Films' output of the period.

But the real joy of the film is in the casting. Anton Diffring gives Peter Cushing a run for his money in the "Mad Men of Science" category (if the comparison really intrigues you, be sure to catch Diffring as Dr. Frankenstein in Tales of Frankenstein). And in the short-lived "scream queen" career of Yvonne Monlaur, her performance here is rivaled only by her leading role in Hammer's BRIDES OF DRACULA (available with 7 other Hammer horrors in Hammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein).

With today's anything-goes attitude in movie horror, Circus of Horrors may be a hard-sell. But for those of us who enjoy (slightly) more refined scares, it's still a treat.