Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Robert Young
Starring: Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters, Anthony Higgins, John Moulder-Brown, Lynne Frederick
From: Hammer
Another film that’s going to leave Arrow’s streaming site soon… then again, it’s a movie I’ve known of for years yet never seen despite interest & its presence on the site. I now feel like a fool for not pressing “play” much, much sooner. The 12 minute opening before the credits was awesome. A vampire Count who was all Roger Daltrey (to borrow a phrase from a Letterboxd mutual) has caused all sort of havoc to a local German village: someone’s wife is now under his spell and the village has had enough once a little girl is taken. They kill him AND burn down his castle, but not before he casts a curse. The opening also features both blood AND boobs.
A decade and a half later, there’s now a plague in the area; if that wasn’t miserable enough, the lady under his spell has returned, this time leading a circus which features David Prowse as a strongman, shapeshifting vampires (including Lalla Ward for you retro Doctor Who fans), acrobatic arts, portal mirrors… what a wildly entertaining film which has some great deaths to boot. The film gives no F’s when it comes to the villains wishing to punish the individuals who were responsible for the Count’s death; children die, after all. A plot point I still don’t fully understand: the villains’ plan to revive the Count using the blood of those that they kill. It doesn’t really work, so it is something I just ignore, instead reveling in the misery that happens to the town of Stetl. It is particularly cruel to present a circus to entertain an otherwise downtrodden town when in actuality you plan on finishing the town off in a fit of revenge.
It's a stylish film where I could still laugh at times despite the nature of the plot. For example, the entertainment that families saw included a naked woman who wore animalistic bodypaint! Then again, the targets of the revenge are hypocritical fools; at least their youth are portrayed better. Anyhow, Vampire Circus does feel fresh in presenting its take on vampirism while having the typical Hammer style—this includes a cast that has several pretty faces. Ahhh, Lynne Frederick… but yes I know why the British press was its typical savage self against her, being the much-younger last wife of Peter Sellers and all.
As the film also has one heck of a climax which caps off a story that hints (or sometimes boldly suggests) at some dark themes, shame on me for not viewing this long ago.
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