CAST: Dr. Schuler/Rossiter (Anton Diffring), Erika Remberg (Elissa Caro), Yvonne Monlaur (Nicole Vanet), Donald Pleasence (Vanet), Jane Hylton (Angela), Kenneth Griffith (Martin), Conrad Phillips (Inspector Arthur Ames), Jack Gwillim (Superintendent Andrews), Vanda Hudson (Magda von Meck), Yvonne Romain (Melina), Colette Wilde (Evelyn Morley Finsbury). Directed by Sidney Hayers.
SYNOPSIS: In 1947 England, plastic surgeon Dr. Rossiter has disfigured the face of Evelyn Morley in an operation gone horribly wrong. Rossiter flees the house and runs down a police officer with his car before veering off a cliff and crashing to avoid a fallen tree blocking the road. Mangled with his face all cut up, Rossiter makes it back to his house, where his assistants Angela and Martin operate on his disfigured face. Rossiter then assumes the new identity of Dr. Schuler and takes Angela and Martin with him to France, where he hopes to start over with his work. While in France, Schuler meets a disfigured girl named Nicole on the roadway and after seeing her father Vanet (Donald Pleasence) who operates a run-down circus, Schuler decides to offer his services as a surgeon to operate on the girl’s face and remove all of the scars. A successful surgery delights Vanet who then signs over his circus to Schuler as a way of thanking him. Vanet then proceeds to get drunk and mistakenly frightens a dancing bear that mauls him to death as Schuler stands by and does nothing. Now as the sole owner of the circus, Schuler decides to incorporate it with thieves and murderers who need his services in order to hide from the law, figuring they would never turn him in to the police. Ten years later, Schuler’s circus is one of the top draws in Europe. Schuler’s success goes to his head and he rules over his performers with an iron fist. Not content with just continuing his operations, Schuler becomes obsessed with creating the perfect example of beauty and keeping her for himself. The female performers who refuse Schuler’s advances or simply wish to leave the circus meet with “accidental” deaths, courtesy of Schuler with Martin doing all of the dirty work. As a result of these “accidents,” Schuler’s production becomes known as a jinxed circus and soon attracts the attention of the authorities. After learning of the latest death of one of Schuler’s beautiful performers, Inspector Ames goes undercover as Arthur Desmond, a freelance crime reporter writing a story on Schuler’s “Circus of Horrors.” His investigation is aided by Nicole who innocently betrays some facts about Schuler’s past which then allows Desmond to makes the Rossiter/Schuler connection with the help of Evelyn Morley who lived through her botched surgery helping to positively identify Dr. Rossiter. Now on the run again, Schuler attacks his two assistants, fends them off with a rampaging gorilla, and proceeds to elude the police, only to be run down and killed by the vengeful Evelyn Morley.
COMMENTARY: Circus of Horrors is a colorful and entertaining horror film. It flows along quickly from beginning to end and holds the suspense of the audience as to what Schuler will attempt next. As Dr. Rossiter/Schuler, Anton Diffring makes a great villain. With his charismatic manner, he smooth talks the women, but can turn into a raging murderous fiend. A perfect example is when Schuler convinces Angela that he will marry her if she and her brother Martin help out with his plastic surgery front. But she is rewarded by watching the man she loves seduce prostitutes whom Schuler turns into objects of beauty. When Angela and Martin finally confront Schuler and tell him that they are leaving, he assaults Martin and stabs Angela. Career-wise, Diffring became typecast by playing similar villains and especially Nazis, due to his German background and aristocratic manner.
Circus of Horrors also boasts a bevy of beauties like Erika Remberg, Yvonne Monlaur, Vanda Hudson, and Yvonne Romain. Dr. Schuler certainly was not starting out with any ugly ducklings for his operations. The best of the female performances goes to Erika Remberg who portrays a former prostitute and murderer for whom success must be measured at the top of the circus’s billing at any cost. An amusing storyline has Inspector Ames making out with one of the women so he can detect her previous facial surgery, and then later, he becomes romantically attached to Nicole as he questions her. Here’s a man that certainly goes all out for his job.
As Vanet, Pleasence has only a small role in Circus of Horror, but he does make the most of it by expressing the concerns of a father for his daughter’s well-being and happiness. The happiness on Vanet’s face when Nicole’s bandages are removed is also quite touching. But Vanet is not a simpleton, for he quickly realizes that Schuler must be in some kind of trouble with the law to want to remain with the circus. Pleasence also adds some subtle touches to his character by speaking bits of French, venting his frustrations about the ruinous effects of World War II, and even lisping when drinking too much wine. For this effort, Pleasence was singled out with some other actors in Circus of Horrors for a New York Times review for giving such a good performance. But Pleasence’s most impressive acting in this film might have been convincing audiences that his character was actually in danger from a very unconvincing man in a bear suit masquerading as Bosco the bear.
Circus of Horrors is made a bit more credible through the use of the real Billy Smart’s Circus, a popular attraction in England at the time. Intercut footage shows acrobatic trapeze acts, clowns, and animals which helps the overall look of the film. Other producers must have been impressed with this because some of the same footage was later used in Circus of Fear (1966). Unfortunately, Bosco the bear’s attack on Vanet and a similar attack by a man in a gorilla suit on Schuler leaves a lot to be desired. Circus of Horrors also features the hit song “Look for a Star,” written by Tony Hatch under the pseudonym of Mark Anthony and as sung by Garry Mills made its way up the charts in England. Released shortly after the horror juggernaut that was Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Circus of Horrors still managed to do well and garnered some favorable reviews. As Howard Thompson writes, “Circus of Horrors turns out to be the crispest, handsomest and most stylish shocker in a long time.” [87]