Circus of Horrors

Rating:
Summary: Anton Diffring makes a good film even better
Review: One of the best horror films of the 1960s is this entry with its interesting mix of suspense, sex and mysterious deaths that has the benefit of real circus settings and a great performance by Anton Diffring as the outlaw plastic surgeon. The steely, blue-eyed Diffring is perfect as the erudite but flawed medical genius whose past is littered with botched operations but continues his work behind the prop of a circus staffed with female performers whose faces he has restored in exchange for fealty and silence. Diffring's work gives the film its pulse and his Doctor Rossiter/Schueler is the resourceful and controlling renegade who deals ruthlessly with his flawed females who try to leave his circus. The film moves along at a good pace with no filler or wasted scenes. The supporting cast is very good, especially the buxom ladies who are unknowingly at great risk under Doctor Rossiter/Schueler's watchful, evil eye.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing DVD of a cult classic!
Review: The DVD remaster/transfer that Anchor Bay has done for "Circus of Horrors" is amazing, colors are fresh, vivid even in night scenes. The audio is equally stunning for a horror film that is over forty years old. Anton Diffring is scary and Yvonne Monlaur is truly "beautiful". A close comparison to the 1990 HBO/Thorn EMI fullscreen laserdisc release of "Circus" shows just what a wonderful remaster this DVD contains. Anchor Bay, far from being a minor player, is setting the benchmark for quality DVD. The big studios haven't taken this much care on far more recent, more important films, such as "Bladerunner". Lets hope they take note, in the meanwhile treat yourself or a friend to this DVD. It will make a great Christmas/Holiday gift.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing DVD of a cult classic!
Review: The DVD remaster/transfer that Anchor Bay has done for "Circus of Horrors" is amazing, colors are fresh, vivid even in night scenes. The audio is equally stunning for a horror film that is over forty years old. Anton Diffring is scary and Yvonne Monlaur is truly "beautiful". A close comparison to the 1990 HBO/Thorn EMI fullscreen laserdisc release of "Circus" shows just what a wonderful remaster this DVD contains. Anchor Bay, far from being a minor player, is setting the benchmark for quality DVD. The big studios haven't taken this much care on far more recent, more important films, such as "Bladerunner". Lets hope they take note, in the meanwhile treat yourself or a friend to this DVD. It will make a great Christmas/Holiday gift.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful psychotronic movie
Review: This movie was a wonderful surprise. The colors, the acting, the music and the production were all excellent for a movie of this type. A psycho plastic surgeon starts a circus made up of formerly criminal and deformed performers. When they want to leave, he kills them. Many of the actresses were beautiful also. I will watch this one again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimate DVD of sleaze/shock classic
Review: What was it about the years 1959 and 1960 that gave us Horrors of the Black Museum, The Hypnotic Eye, and finally this well-crafted, adult-themed, gruesome and exciting melodrama, all three movies fixated on scarring and facial mutilation? Well let's just be glad for it, whatever it was. This has always been an overlooked gem, a crackling shocker that gives Hammer a run for its money in the sex-and-violence department, and features a terrific Continental cast headed by the deliciously icy Anton Diffring, and including Erika Remberg, Yvonne (Brides of Dracula) Monlaur, Donald Pleasance, Jane (The Manster) Hylton, and Yvonne (Curse of the Werewolf) Romain. The colorful cinematography is by Douglas Slocombe (Fearless Vampire Killers, The Music Lovers, all three Indiana Jones movies), and several incredibly convincing deep scar makeups are courtesy of Trevor Crole-Rees (Dr. Phibes). The plot moves along at a snappy pace and there's plenty of naked flesh and verbal/physical violence to distract one from the occasional implausibility (not to mention that really cheesy gorilla suit). I love the fact that Dr. Rossiter (Diffring), though ostensibly an amoral sociopath, is really the protagonist of the film, and I still find myself hoping he won't get caught. (I always did wonder how this passed for Saturday-afternoon kiddie fare all those years.) Highly recommended for fans of British horror or sleazy shockers, fundamentalist gorehounds, etc. You know who you are.
Anchor Bay's DVD presentation is definitely one of the most impressive I've seen for a neglected film like this (perhaps rivaled only by Allday's The Sadist DVD, another must-have). As stated by others here, the anamorphic widescreen (1.77:1) source print is nearly flawless! Bright, sharp, detailed, with better color than I've ever seen it, and virtually speckle/spot-free. Just stunning. Add to that the trailer, TV spots, still gallery, posters, ads, well-researched Anton Diffring bio, and French language track and you've got an awesome package that it's hard to imagine will ever be topped. The only thing missing is a commentary track. But that's really just nitpicking considering the overall quality of this release. Buy this now.