Circus of Fear

Plot synopsis:
Clarification:- This is a plot summary for the English language version of Circus of Fear / Psycho-Circus only. The German language version may have a different ending.In London a gang of criminals carry out a daring, armed robbery of an armoured car - during which one of the security guards is shot dead. Scotland Yard assign Police Inspector Jim Elliott (Leo Genn) to the case but there initially seem to be few leads. However, just when the trail seems to have gone cold a curious potential lead comes to Elliott's attention from a rural area of southern England. Some of the stolen bank notes from the robbery seem to have turned up at businesses in the vicinity of the winter quarters of Barberini's travelling circus - which Elliott remembers were performing in London at the time of the robbery.Elliott initially goes undercover as a photographer to visit the circus and speak to owner Barberini (Anthony Newlands) but soon has to dispense with his cover when the body of one of the armoured car robbers turns up inside a sack at the circus. The robber has been murdered with a throwing knife with a diamond-shaped design on the handle. Elliott begins to find out that the circus is riddled with petty rivalries and some darker secrets. A short time after circus starlet Gina (Margaret Lee) is also killed.Elliott identifies a number of potential suspects - Gregor (Christopher Lee), the circus lion tamer, who wears a black mask to conceal his mutilated face. Mario (Maurice Kaufmann), the knife-thrower, who was insanely jealous of Gina's suitors. Carl (Heinz Drache), the circus ringmaster, who believes that his father was killed by Gregor's twin brother. Mr Big (Skip Martin), a dwarf circus clown, who it is discovered has been blackmailing Gregor. Eddie (Eddie Arent), the circus' bookkeeper, who has never been allowed to realise his life-long ambition of being a circus performer. Natasha (Suzy Kendall), Gregor's niece, the daughter of the man Carl thinks is responsible for his father's death.Elliott eventually establishes that Gregor found the missing money from the robbery and hid it beneath one of the lion cages in an old suitcase. Gregor tries to escape with the money but is murdered by a masked figure. Following Gregor's death it is discovered, when his mask is removed, that he has an un-mutilated face and is in fact Natasha's father. It is then also revealed that Carl's father died in an accidental fall. Elliott is convinced that although Gregor had the stolen money he was not responsible for the two murders and that the murderer is still at large. Acting on a hunch, he arranges for Barberini to finally give Eddie a chance to assist Mario in his knife-throwing act. When Mario switches weapons and uses the knives identical to those used in the murders, Eddie breaks down and admits that his envy of the circus performers drove him to commit the murders.

Tags: murder

Review:
As almost everybody has already noted, "Circus of Fear" is not a horror movie, despite the title, the advertising and the presence of Christopher Lee (in a secondary role).
this movie proved to be a surprisingly effective spin on the then popular german genre of the "krimi": a series of films, often from edgar wallace source novels, which tend to defy the generic conventions of crime dramas by moving into horror, espionage, even sci-fi at times.beginning with an energetically directed heist sequence, the film soon shifts gear and location, focussing on the machinations of circus folk, in particular the various affairs and double-dealings of a handful of seemingly innocent and not so innocent clowns, midgets, knife-throwers and lion tamers.
(note, for example, the way the loop of gregor's whip hovers around mr big's head to symbolise his attempts to psychologically ensnare his blackmailer.)performances are generally quite solid, including from the imported german cast (there presumably to keep west german krimi fans happy), and there are definitely a couple of standouts.
christopher lee is the only crashing disappointment, as he doesn't appear until act two, he's in a mask for most of the film, and his russian accent wavers a little.
"Circus Of Fear" is a pretty classic-style whodunnit full of red herrings and characters with skeletons in their cupboards.It starts with a very dramatic and almost silent armoured car heist which goes terribly wrong when a security guard is shot and killed.
Christopher Lee makes a startling appearance as Gregor, the lion tamer, who wears a black hood at all times to hide the horrible scars he received when he was attacked by a lion.
The film was written and produced by Harry Alan Towers, for whom Lee made the series of Fu Manchu pictures, and directed by John Moxey, for whom he had made the 1959 occult chiller "City Of The Dead".
Truth be told, a few weeks prior to this I had watched the other Christopher Lee/John Moxey film - THE CITY OF THE DEAD (1960) - by way of VCI's exemplary DVD edition, and perhaps I compared it unfavorably to this minor horror classic.
It's still nothing great, I guess (Lee certainly made many better films where his talents were more immediately in evidence; the hood and the fairly ridiculous accent hamper his performance here somewhat) but it's easily the best film from BU's "The Christopher Lee Collection" Set - and in fact it and the restored edition of THE BLOODY JUDGE (1970), not forgetting the plentiful and wonderful supplements, save this relatively expensive purchase from being a wasted opportunity (considering the low profile of all four titles in the Lee canon)!
The plot is pretty convoluted (I can certainly believe Jess Franco here when he said that Harry Alan Towers is a very good writer, not evidenced by the two Fu Manchu films): while the identity of the killer could have easily been established if one had thought about it for a while (considering it follows the Agatha Christie maxim that the least suspicious-looking character is indeed the guilty party) but, frankly, the film provides red herrings and new twists at every turn that when the final revelation is made, it still comes as fairly surprising (it's perhaps harder to swallow that the buffoonish if clearly ambitious Eddie could be the delicious Margaret Lee's secret lover!).
The music score is very atmospheric and the circus scenes consist mainly of stock footage but the lion-taming and knife-throwing acts inject a measure of excitement at appropriate moments.Casting is certainly above-average for this type of film; there are some pretty good performances here: Leo Genn's above all as the amiable yet dogged Police Inspector; Margaret Lee is more than a radiant beauty - despite her sluttish character, she was fairly sympathetic (especially after having been threatened by a lion) and I think that the film loses something with her sudden, tragic exit; I liked Skip Martin a lot, amusingly named "Mr. Big" - he is a pretty interesting character to begin with (sort of a cynical Chorus to the proceedings), and even more so for being involved in some shady business on the side, for which he gets his just desserts in the end!; Klaus Kinski is eminently watchable despite his limited role (at least he does manage an effective death scene); Cecil Parker added some nice but not overstated British humor; Heinz Drache made for a pretty engaging hero; Suzy Kendall, on the other hand, was more decorative than anything else - though, in all fairness, she could only do so much with her thinly-written role.
As I've already mentioned, it's disappointing that Christopher Lee was not involved at all with this release; an interview would have been nice.The gloved killer of this film brings up comparisons with the giallos being made contemporaneously in Italy, though it's nowhere near as violent (in fact, this one is pretty tame in the scares/gore department).
Also, Lee's death comes as a surprise: he is not the villain and if it was done because it was deemed 'obligatory', it was certainly a silly move!I only saw the film for the first time a couple of years back but, for the life of me, I have no idea what constitutes the 'new' 8-minute sequence which was supposedly unearthed for this release?
Enjoyed this film which starts off with a very neat robbery on the London Bridge, in England and then the picture takes you to a Circus Community that has lots of wild animals and very creepy people.
Circus of Fear is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace; the same writer who spawned the German "Krimi" style of film-making.
That's possibly why this film is not easy to come by; as despite the fact that it stars Christopher Lee in an interesting role as a circus lion tamer, Circus of Fear, at times, isn't all that easy to get along with as the plot is really quite messy and the horror that goes along with the central mystery often gets in the way.
There we are introduced to a whole host of shady and mysterious characters...The film is directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, who previously directed Christopher Lee in the excellent, fog-soaked, City of the Dead.
The film also features a small role for the great Klaus Kinski, as well as sound performances from British performers Anthony Newlands, Leo Genn and Margeret Lee. The film presents a lot of suspects and it soon becomes easier to just watch it rather than try and guess who the killer is.
I would say that the true perpetrator was a pretty good choice, as it took me by surprise--making the film a better than average film.By the way, although the film gives top billing to Christopher Lee, you barely see him in the film.
This certainly must have made the plot confusing to audiences of the time.In its full 91 minute incarnation, it tells the story of a daring daytime robbery of millions of bank notes, and how the money eventually makes its way to a circus run by Barberini (Anthony Newlands).
While a dedicated police inspector named Elliott (the great Leo Genn) works the case, performers in this particular big top begin to be knocked off.
Heinz Drache as ringmaster Carl, Eddi Aren't as comedy relief character Eddie, lovely ladies Margaret Lee & Suzy Kendall, and Victor Maddern as robbery participant Mason round out a sterling group of actors.A good, solid film overall that I would easily recommend to others.Eight out of 10..
Christopher Lee is the hooded Gregor, masked in mystery also kept by his lovely niece Natasha (Suzy Kendall) who fancies Heinz Drache; the attractive circus ringmaster with a secret edge to him.
Maurice Kaufmann is Mario, the controlling jealous boyfriend of the beautiful playgirl Gina, played by a beguiling Margaret Lee. Add to the mix Klaus Kinski, the oddly affected criminal trying to tie up ends; Mason, the imperfect money deliverer; hard boiled crime leader Jackson; Manley, the sweet local police lieutenant; Cecil Parker as the incredulous eye-popping Sir John; Skip Martin as the conniving midget Mr. Big; and the idiotically sweet Eddie (Eddi Arentt), the circus owner's right hand man and clown wanna-be.
A robbery goes awry leading to murder,double crossings, mistaken identities, blackmail and revenge.You've got a great cast, an involving plot and...video distributors that butchered the film.There is at least one reel missing from this print that has some important exposition.Not to mention 15 minutes as well.This print only runs 74 minutes.
The best parts are when we see the circus, performers and animals and yes the murders and heist.Christopher Lee is great as usual - same with Kinski - parts of it is a dull story and nothing to spice it up a bit on screen part of the film, while the other part of the story is fairly interesting.6/10.
Circus of Fear, in the Original 91-Minute Version, is a Good Movie.
To get a true sense of the film one has to have the uncut version.Despite the advertisements of the time, which played up the film as a horror movie (cashing in on the fact that horror icon Christopher Lee was the star of the film), this is not a horror film.
The slight "horror" tinge to the film (with its hooded lion- tamer, murders by skillfully thrown knives, screaming circus starlets, vicious circus lions, etc.) add atmosphere, but the story remains a whodunit.It's also a caper film, insofar as it opens with a well-filmed money truck heist in broad daylight on the Tower Bridge in London.
(It was filmed on location for that part.) But there ends up being some kind of sinister and unclear connection between the heist and goings-on at a circus, and it takes the whole film to make clear exactly what the connection is.Leo Genn is brilliant as the Scotland Yard detective.
The movie also has good performances by a number of very good British and German actors of the 1960s (it was a German-English co-production).Christopher Lee is good in the part of the hooded lion-tamer with an ambiguous past.
He shows his ability to act in non-horror parts here.The opening and closing theme music is good, with a 1960s British flavor, but the film itself has only incidental music, with many parts of the story unaccompanied.
He has a number of suspects to choose from including the hooded lion tamer Gregor (CHRISTOPHER LEE) who for some mysterious reason is determined to conceal his face.
While I'm heartened that Christopher Lee is currently enjoying something of a career renaissance (thanks to his imposing presence in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" films), the truth is this talented performer has lent himself to an astounding number of unworthy projects over the course of his fifty-eight years on screen.
Perhaps, but not in the way you might think; I tend to believe Mr. Lee has lost too many bets to too many bad filmmakers."Circus of Fear" is typical of the projects Lee involved himself in during the early to mid '60's when not working on English horror films; drearily shot on bad film stock, sloppily dubbed (even when performed in English!), poorly financed and apparently edited with a chainsaw.
As Lee has often done, he has accepted a role that is more an extended cameo than a lead part; he plays a disfigured lion tamer who hides his face beneath a heavy black hood (which clashes with the beige tweed jacket he wears throughout the film).
After being hoodwinked, into thinking I would be watching Christopher Lee (who spends most of the time under a black hood) and Klaus Kinski in a circus-themed horror.
However I got a more than capable b-crime-thriller turned who-dunnit murder mystery by Harry Alan Towers all centred around the daring daylight robbery of stolen loot, which afterwards is hidden away by the mysterious mastermind who works for a travelling circus carnival.
A circus becomes the location for stolen loot and murder.This film stars Christopher Lee as a disfigured lion tamer and Klaus Kinski as a man looking for work in the circus, as well as the lesser-known Suzy Kendall (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage).
Proving once again that talent need not stand in the way of making a bad movie, Christopher Lee strikes again.
He does not seem to know that he's making a mystery/suspense movie, not a horror one.It all begins well enough.
The rest of the movie centers on the cash, which the dead accomplice delivered to the mystery man who killed him, and how it makes its way to Lee, who plays a lion tamer (!).
A clever robbery on Tower Bridge, which was unfortunately removed from American versions, begins this tale of the search for stolen money, hidden somewhere on the grounds of a circus, the largest in the world, filled with a suspicious group of lion tamers, midgets, et al.
Christopher Lee is fun to watch, as always, as Greogor, a knife-thrower at the circus masquerading as his own twin to hide from an old murder he committed years earlier.
1st watched 6/23/2002 - 4 out of 10(Dir-John Moxey): Overly-emphasized as being a horror movie, but instead is a murder mystery with a horror film star getting top billing(Christopher Lee).
Sure it has your typical twists and turns in the plot but it's pretty obvious that the man in the mask(Christopher Lee) will be revealed and be a part of what's going on and that the midget is involved somehow and the unlikely killer is just that(made out to be unlikely, but having a good motive).
Christopher Lee playing the hooded Russian lion tamer Gregor comes upon this suitcase of some 250,000 pound sterling in the deserted farm, where he keeps his wild animals caged.
The rest of the film "Circus of Fear" has the unseen and unknown killer try to murder anyone who has any idea of who he is.
That includes the cheating partner of the jealous and hot headed circus knife-thrower Mario (Maurice Kaufmann) Gina, Margaret Lee, as well as the not to on the ball and creepy person who's supposed to smuggle the stolen cash out to the country for the armored car robbery gang Manfred Hart, Klaus Kinski.
This makes knife-thrower Mario the number one suspect.Going undercover as a news photographer Scotland Yard inspector Elliott zeros in on lion tamer Gregor and his pretty assistant Natasha, Suzy Kendall.
Cranky Sir John (Cecil Parker) sends police Inspector Elliot (Leo Genn) undercover as a professional photographer to investigate a string of murders at "Barberini's Circus." Among the suspects are Christopher Lee as a hooded lion tamer who never shows his face, Suzy Kendall as his assistant, Anthony Newlands as the cigar-chomping owner, Heinz Drache as the ringmaster, Maurice Kaufman as a bad-tempered knife-thrower with an unfaithful girlfriend (Margaret Lee), Skip Martin as a sneaky, blackmailing dwarf, Eddi Aren't as the prank-playing book keeper and many more.
Klaus Kinski (one of the robbers from the opening sequence) also shows up acting weird and 'looking for work' (actually the loot that was stolen at the beginning).
This latter happens to be one of my all time favorite suspense films and even though "Circus of Horror" isn't as unsettling or astonishing, it still definitely is a very good movie with an interesting plot and an original setting.
Scotland Yard inspector Elliot investigates the case and encounters many potential culprits, such as a masked lion tamer (horror veteran Christopher Lee), a blackmailing dwarf and an emotionally frustrated knife-thrower (quite a danger in his profession).
The cast is excellent with yet another strong performance of Christopher Lee and a curious role for Klaus Kinski as Manfred.
Mason is stabbed in the back by the person, who must be a professional knife thrower, and the suitcase somehow winds up in the possession of lion-tamer Gregor(Christopher Lee), a stern-voiced and serious circus star whose head is covered by a balaclava to protect his facial scars.
After one murder attempt on her life, the killer succeeds in silencing her the second time, right under the police's nose, with Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Elliot(Leo Genn)working with Manley(Lawrence James)of local police to find the stolen money and solve the mystery as to who is behind the series of killings.
Other characters include Barberini(Anthony Newlands), owner of the circus, Eddie(Eddi Aren't), his assistant who desperately wants to have an act as a clown, and dwarf, Mr. Big(Skip Martin), another who works as a hand, blackmailing Gregor in keeping mum over an important fact unknown to the rest of the group.Very plot-driven crime thriller, with quite a gallery of interesting suspects and a terrific cast.
The setting of a circus only adds an extra dimension to the mystery and seeing an early crime thriller featuring the likes of Lee and Kinski certainly provides CIRCUS OF FEAR with an extra allure.
Christopher Lee is Gregor, a lion tamer with a secret ringmaster Heinz Drache is trying to unravel.
Lee is great, hiding his face behind a black stocking for most of the film.
CIRCUS OF FEAR is typically a disappointment to many fans expecting a horror movie as this is more of a thriller with a few horror elements (brutal deaths, sinister characters) thrown in.
Victor Maddern appears as a short-lived murderer, Leo Genn is great as the chief Inspector on the case, while familiar Eurobabes Margaret Lee and Suzy Kendall are on hand to supply glamour and wear leotards.
Underrated dwarf actor Skip Martin (memorable from HORROR HOSPITAL) is great as Mr. Big, a circus performer, although sadly he is relegated to the background for much of the film.
A heavily-accented Christopher Lee gets top-billing but actually only appears for about ten minutes of screen time.
Although most definitely a B-movie or supporting feature, CIRCUS OF FEAR is great fun to initiated fans who know what to expect and offers up the right amount of thrills and surprises.