Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

CIRCUS OF FEAR aka PSYCHO-CIRCUS

CIRCUS OF FEAR (1967/British). Director: John Moxey. AKA Psycho-Circus.

The American title of Psycho-Circus tried to make this sound like a horror film even more than the original British title, but this is actually a big top mystery based on a story by the prolific Edgar Wallace. Police trace a member of a gang that robbed an armored car to Barberini's circus, but it turns out there are already a number of other suspicious characters there, including a lion tamer named Gregor (Christopher Lee) who is supposedly disfigured and constantly wears a black hood over his head. There are a couple of mostly off-screen murders, assorted histrionics, and a fair amount of tedium. Aside from Lee, Klaus Kinski and Suzy Kendall (Torso) are the best-known names in the cast. Like a low-grade TV production for the most part.

Verdict: You can skip this one. *1/2.

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