Circus of Horrors


Circus of Horrors is a 1960 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. It stars Anton Diffring, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Kenneth Griffith, Jane Hylton, Conrad Phillips, Yvonne Romain and Donald Pleasence.
Film critic David Pirie considered it to be the third entry in Anglo-Amalgamated's "Sadian trilogy" in his book A Heritage of Horror, because the films focus on sadism, cruelty and violence as opposed to the supernatural horror of the Hammer films in the same era. The previous films in the trilogy were Horrors of the Black Museum and Peeping Tom, both in 1959. It was released in the United States by American International Pictures as a double feature with The Angry Red Planet.

Plot

In England 1947, Dr. Rossiter is a plastic surgeon wanted by the police after an operation goes hideously wrong. However, believing himself to have brilliant abilities as a surgeon, he and his assistants evade capture and escape as Dr. Schüler to the Continent. There Rossiter sees a girl scarred in the recent war, Nicole, and befriends her father, a circus owner.
He worms his way into the family, operating on the girl and curing her injuries for "free" and manipulates his way into running the circus, taking it over when the owner dies in a drunken incident with a bear. A decade later, he is running an internationally successful circus, which he uses as a front for his surgical exploits. He befriends scarred women and transforms them for his "Temple of Beauty". However, when they threaten to leave, they meet with mysterious accidents which raise the suspicions of international police, who are soon hot on his trail.

Cast

Development

After the success of Horrors of the Black Museum, Anglo-Amalgamated and AIP tried to duplicate its success with this film.
They wanted to do a horror film set in a circus. Writer George Baxt came up with the idea of a circus run by a plastic surgeon who turns criminals into beautiful people. Baxt says he had to do several drafts of the script before AIP were satisfied.

Filming

The film was shot at Beaconsfield Film Studios, with location filming on Clapham Common in London and in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Billy Smart's Circus provided the big top and some of its performers appeared as extras.

Soundtrack

The score was provided between Franz Reizenstein and Muir Mathieson. Douglas Slocombe was the cinematographer.
The song "Look for a Star", written by Mark Anthony, originated in this movie. In the United States, there were four versions issued at the same time that charted:
The film became a surprise hit in the US.