cult film freak: circus

Showing posts with label circus. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 7/02/2025 / No comments / adrienne cori , anthony higgins , christine paul , circus , david prowse , hammer films , horror , john moulder-brown , lalla ward , lynne frederick , robert tayman , seventies , thorley walters

LYNNE FREDERICK & ADRIENNE CORRI IN HAMMER'S 'VAMPIRE CIRCUS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVblgpgEvPxGJ3s3xmarFly7wwaSbE1vg4q8sQY-aMGNm-iwKgsjUR-3AymVBGfQuSPbfFXIsnN3mdR_yrZzdSNYhT7OGERGAUL_QZtICUTh9igf29NQ3cu8vPQiunnoNLPONGe9vuMUx01IsVwOd4VKpmGLqEDHNGXRoAtyfRdYUF3_K-FdNs-Lbbnft/s2372/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-29%20at%2010.00.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="2372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVblgpgEvPxGJ3s3xmarFly7wwaSbE1vg4q8sQY-aMGNm-iwKgsjUR-3AymVBGfQuSPbfFXIsnN3mdR_yrZzdSNYhT7OGERGAUL_QZtICUTh9igf29NQ3cu8vPQiunnoNLPONGe9vuMUx01IsVwOd4VKpmGLqEDHNGXRoAtyfRdYUF3_K-FdNs-Lbbnft/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-29%20at%2010.00.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lynne Frederick in VAMPIRE CIRCUS Year: 1972 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Hammer's VAMPIRE CIRCUS is like two movies in one, both showcasing different horror sub-genres, each element built into the title... as the first and final acts involve an ominous vampire's castle... Beginning with a creepy intro involving a very young girl facing Dracula surrogate Robert Tayman as Count Mitterhaus, and it's no surprise that Hammer does Victorian horror effectively, looking as elegantly terrorizing as their salad days of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...

adrienne cori, anthony higgins, christine paul, circus, david prowse, hammer films, horror, john moulder-brown, lalla ward, lynne frederick, robert tayman, seventies, thorley walters

LYNNE FREDERICK & ADRIENNE CORRI IN HAMMER'S 'VAMPIRE CIRCUS'

Lynne Frederick in VAMPIRE CIRCUS Year: 1972 Rating: ***1/2 Hammer's VAMPIRE CIRCUS is like two movies in one, both showcasing different...

ROBBIE ROBERTSON IN 'CARNY' WITH GARY BUSEY & JODIE FOSTER

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLb3_nuQxdTlVvtYVuEQVlS-Fy6pq_z1tEuzmQJNpVcyufaDiI3q3ZAtnp5fmFB-Rm7bbadMK_yOANWxu-KOo8MsGEA1ZwQrRxwPKA86U3xVPvdZctNjKcht_hsDaBCuyUjEnmxigVwQV_K8tgu-ZljHC891WFr2H4MT9sJVU9gWguR4X8-eXIlAzL7P26/s2048/365839481_1781921938903641_3983541596328265502_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLb3_nuQxdTlVvtYVuEQVlS-Fy6pq_z1tEuzmQJNpVcyufaDiI3q3ZAtnp5fmFB-Rm7bbadMK_yOANWxu-KOo8MsGEA1ZwQrRxwPKA86U3xVPvdZctNjKcht_hsDaBCuyUjEnmxigVwQV_K8tgu-ZljHC891WFr2H4MT9sJVU9gWguR4X8-eXIlAzL7P26/s16000/365839481_1781921938903641_3983541596328265502_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robby Robertson in CARNY Year: 1980 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Be prepared for freaks and frolic, white trash marauders and by far one of the strangest romances ever to be filmed… And if you can handle an over five-minute scene with Gary Busey’s crazy clown-faced Frankie sitting in a dunk booth, yelling taunts at anyone and everyone to take a turn throwing a ball to bring him into the water… all for a price, mind you… then you’ll really enjoy CARNY co-starring teenage Jodie Foster as freespirited Donna...Saddled with such an uptight and jerky date (Craig Wasson) that anyone would be a better replacement, she takes to Frankie’s charm right away, and soon joins him in the sack and on the road, into the life of the Carnies managed by The Band guitarist Robbie Robertson as Patch, Frankie’s more serious-minded partner: he's the comparably even-keeled metronome that keeps everything under control, distrusting his buddy’s lustful romance with the teenager, who seems to have cursed the outfit by her presence alone...

circus, craig wasson, drama, eighties, elisha cook jr., ensemble, exploitation, gary busey, jodie foster, kenneth mcmillan, robbie robertson, warner archives

ROBBIE ROBERTSON IN 'CARNY' WITH GARY BUSEY & JODIE FOSTER

Robby Robertson in CARNY Year: 1980 Rating: ***1/2 Be prepared for freaks and frolic, white trash marauders and by far one of the strangest ...

VICTOR MATURE, PETER LORRE & KATHRYN GRANT 'THE BIG CIRCUS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglr--JXms8YdA6doIPfXQfC35B-MOHGmCDNk9Y-yKmOCH0Z8VZMU7zXs62MXcImt6F9xHDpSjfMGF8kbczZnZoY3ABYxRliw2Yf8o3tiAbHrpzcZK6UF-PbL66sqkUSsp9V5d9F9cuVS8UyvsVFhA3W7uoJE7qMtH8btPIg4ykDEaI0_HOYoADjwm6ZjjO/s2248/44.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="2248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglr--JXms8YdA6doIPfXQfC35B-MOHGmCDNk9Y-yKmOCH0Z8VZMU7zXs62MXcImt6F9xHDpSjfMGF8kbczZnZoY3ABYxRliw2Yf8o3tiAbHrpzcZK6UF-PbL66sqkUSsp9V5d9F9cuVS8UyvsVFhA3W7uoJE7qMtH8btPIg4ykDEaI0_HOYoADjwm6ZjjO/s16000/44.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE BIG CIRCUS Pictured: Petter Lorre Year of Release: 1959 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Circus movie with the same plot as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/03/RINGofFEAR.html">RING OF FEAR</a> where someone is sabotaging the acts, threatening lives and the entire traveling business, only in THE BIG CIRCUS we don't know who the culprit is... although with so many menacing shots of famously-menacing Vincent Price as the ringleader, one thing's for certain: it isn't him...Run by bigger-than-life promotion king Henry Jasper 'Hank' Whirling, played by a confident, capable <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/victor%20mature">Victor Mature</a>, he's saddled with a sidekick in Red Buttons as an accountant from a bank about to close down the show...

action, charles watts, circus, fifties, howard mcnear, kathryn grant, mystery, peter lorre, red buttons, rhonda fleming, thriller, victor mature, warner archives

VICTOR MATURE, PETER LORRE & KATHRYN GRANT 'THE BIG CIRCUS'

Title: THE BIG CIRCUS Pictured: Petter Lorre Year of Release: 1959 Rating: ***1/2 Circus movie with the same plot as RING OF FEAR where som...

FRANK TUTTLE DIRECTS BARRY SULLIVAN & BELITA IN 'SUSPENSE'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDwgzFCXWWwHdzo8imGd7GV_IuTr_NeKJQkIURtwMcjlp6ftgHRy2Mn8HytSzkrN8uU4HABNXljO4mr0uwBiXveo0jZ8JR8UO8HZADRBpjEwhlW8xpTbz5yWn5NZeZlDTnMEmnq3jpGpmLZh31pH4c7SlaQ8pMZ8v1dtT5BicrOLe65_ap898zCF19gg=s1168" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDwgzFCXWWwHdzo8imGd7GV_IuTr_NeKJQkIURtwMcjlp6ftgHRy2Mn8HytSzkrN8uU4HABNXljO4mr0uwBiXveo0jZ8JR8UO8HZADRBpjEwhlW8xpTbz5yWn5NZeZlDTnMEmnq3jpGpmLZh31pH4c7SlaQ8pMZ8v1dtT5BicrOLe65_ap898zCF19gg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belita and Barry Sullivan in SUSPENSE Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>It's hard living up to such a broad yet existential title as SUSPENSE; but the very beginning does it perfectly... albeit lasting only several seconds as an armed woman, flanked by two goons, aims her pistol at a ratty-looking fella, and then fires... hitting a target and winning the teddy bear prize, handed over by her "victim" working the stand...Who then gives homeless-looking loser Barry Sullivan's Joe Morgan directions to an ice skating rink/auditorium... and what follows are the best sequences as Sullivan talks his way from being a popcorn vendor to security guard to practically running the show by making it more dangerous and thus... suspenseful...

albert dekker, barry sullivan, belita, bonita granville, circus, con man, dewey robinson, eugene pallette, film noir or melodrama, forties, nestor paiva, sport, warner archives

FRANK TUTTLE DIRECTS BARRY SULLIVAN & BELITA IN 'SUSPENSE'

Belita and Barry Sullivan in SUSPENSE Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2 It's hard living up to such a broad yet existential title as SUSPENSE; b...

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06O5OOXEiZnE7u-sMb61FdluV9-weQfKJTF26HEEwj5Som9INA7zsuPng6fwJP2gcIxm2uMnVe8GHH_Ez4JFAZVG6uC7E8ecEw1Oz529JrUtQLGJ1HcEDtnQ0wegYjdWj430kQ5oeeLTz/s922/zzz.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="922" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06O5OOXEiZnE7u-sMb61FdluV9-weQfKJTF26HEEwj5Som9INA7zsuPng6fwJP2gcIxm2uMnVe8GHH_Ez4JFAZVG6uC7E8ecEw1Oz529JrUtQLGJ1HcEDtnQ0wegYjdWj430kQ5oeeLTz/w400-h294/zzz.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really into madly reconstructing once-beautiful women's injured/deformed faces, and winds up running a circus after he and two followers happen upon German drunk Donald Pleasence, who trades his small rural circus for his war-scarred daughter to be Patient X of the big tent spectacle a decade later...And the now successful circus owner/secret doctor Schuler meets his match in Erika Remberg as a lethal, facially-deformed whore... later yearning to be the show's rope-dangling main attraction instead of voluptuous blonde <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">Vanda Hudson</a>, stunt-riding on horseback before spinning against flying knives... Ironically, CIRCUS OF HORRORS is more a body count thriller than horror: the deaths "mysteriously" occur to the doctor's post-surgery beauties who are just about to move on from the "Jinxed Circus", so there's plenty of suspense hindered only by the grownup little girl, now in her beautiful twenties and romanced by an intrusive cop, sniffing around the mad yet never hammy or overboard lead antagonist's schemes far too soon, making even gorgeous British starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/yvonne%20romain">Yvonne Romain's</a> vulnerable and dangerous third act feel both rushed and overlong.

anton diffring, body count, british, circus, conrad phillips, donald pleasence, erika remberg, exploitation, horror, sixties, thriller, yvonne monlaur, yvonne romain

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: **** Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really ...

JOHN WAYNE PRESENTS 'RING OF FEAR' WITH JOHN BROMFIELD

action, body count, circus, exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, john bromfield, john wayne, marian carr, mickey spillane, pat o'brien, sean mcclory, thriller

JOHN WAYNE PRESENTS 'RING OF FEAR' WITH JOHN BROMFIELD

Pat O'Brien, Sean McClory & Mickey Spillane YEAR: 1954 There's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, considered by some the greatest ...

DORIS DAY & STEPHEN BOYD IN 'JUMBO' FEATURING MARTHA RAYE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blu Ray for JUMBO Year: 1962</td></tr>
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In the circus musical JUMBO the actors and actresses playing circus performers are performing so close to the camera, there's no realistic way the parade crowd or the big tent show audience would be able to see exactly or entirely what they're doing. And while not as talented in this particular venue, a surprisingly subdued Jimmy Durante, as the circus director and head clown, is the Clyde Beatty of this picture i.e. the only leading character who does his own stunts, which aren't much. But this movie has hardly anything to do with the show since it's a romance... 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Elephant? RATING: ***</td></tr>
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The mere presence of 1950's sweetheart Doris Day — who already proved herself opposite James Cagney in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME and as the better (smarter) half of James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH — let's us know we're having a good time, even though cleft-chinned BEN HUR baddie Stephen Boyd cons his way into being the show's announcer, and winds up falling in love... They both do... 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doris Day, Martha Raye and Jimmy Durante</td></tr>
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Predictability aside, the chemistry between the guy and girl is worthwhile since they're initially repelled by each other for long enough so their eventual relationship means something: Even more than the giant elephant that Boyd's mogul dad, Dean Jagger, wants to hijack to make his show the best around... 
 
Yet the best stuff occurs on the sidelines as Martha Raye bonds with Doris — the former Bob Hope co-starlet doing her signature blunt and honest thing, here as a fortune teller without a clue to the future — and her lines aren't side-splitting but she's got genuine charisma, and provides someone other than the handsome stranger for the leading lady to play off. So, at the very least, you'll grin at the playful delight of JUMBO despite the hackneyed turnout wherein our conflicted male lead has to choose between bad and good. 
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