Vampire Circus - 50th Anniversary Limited Edition [Blu-ray]

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bad guys, but in a broader sense, the picture's at-times lavish but ultimately low budget feel and rather uneventful plot. Gallery of Grotesqueries: A Brief History of Circus Horrors (HD; 15:17) is another Ballyhoo production from 2010 giving some

Synapse has concurrently licensed Twins of Evil and Hands of the Ripper, both 1971, and plans to eventually release those to Blu-ray as well. Hands of the Ripper has many of the same problems as Vampire Circus and overall is quite disappointing but Twins of Evil is one of the best latter-day Hammer films and features an excellent performance by actor Peter Cushing. All three were previously released to DVD in Britain under the Carlton label but this Blu-ray + DVD combo marks their U.S. debut in either format. sturdy. A bit of grain is retained over the image, accompanied by some unwelcome but not particularly bothersome pops and scratches on the print, response might be focused on some of Hammer's now legendary output beginning in 1957 with The Curse of Frankenstein, and continuing at least through both some of the subsequent include Hammer Documentarian/Producer Ted Newsom, Director/Critic Joe Dante, Actor David Prowse, Author/Film Historian Philip Nutman, andTHE BLOODIEST SHOW ON EARTH' documentary featuring interviews from renowned director Joe Dante and actor Dave Prowse There are a few names that will immediately command the attention of the underground Horror movie fan, those who appreciate the finer, smaller Yes, yes, I know about the region-free Blu-ray release of Hammer's Paranoiac (1963) in Great Britain, but most consider that a suspense-thriller, not a horror film. To me this is pure and simple lazy money making exercise to take money from the fans with zero effort made with the disc and it's presentation. The Bloodiest Show on Earth: Making Vampire Circus (HD; 32:29) is a fun overview from Ballyhoo Motion Picture and

entertain, but give it some props for originality, at least in the way it cobbles together some well-worn elements and mixes them together in what is Thus, we find that Synapse provide fans with a few things that they never thought they would see. Not only have we now got one of Hammer's most outlandish and controversial titles on Blu-ray, but we've also got an honest-to-goodness making-of for it, as well, entitled The Bloodiest Show On Earth: Making Vampire Circus. Now, granted, a lot of those involved with the film are no longer with us, or possibly disinclined to discuss their contribution but, with the extensive aid of Philip Nutman, Ted Newsom, Tim Lucas, Joe Dante and Dave Prowse, this still delivers lots of goodies in the process of telling us how Vampire Circus came into being, and how Hammer was forced to accept new blood and a new style if they wanted to survive into the seventies, and not merely rehash former glories and eventually wither away and crumble to dust like the Count, himself. Well, okay, they did still wither away and crumble do dust, but, just like the Count, himself, they would return with the great TV series, Hammer House Of Horror, and then, finally, against all the odds, be resurrected with Let Me In in 2010.We also get a selection of stills and posters and promo material from the film in a montage set to the score, as well as the original theatrical trailer.

a dreadful transfer of the extras(or is it just my disc)They have been ported over from the US Blu ray which looked great on the US disc. and a few odd moments that may be due to either problematic elements or some glitches in compression, where what almost look like tiny vertical lines There is a undercurrent of eroticism here too, but is presented in a way that accentuates the other- worldly nature of the circus performers. writing or the occasional bout of overacting, Vampire Circus works as a straightforward but off-kilter spook movie that's got just the right things in life and indulge in little low-budget treats that maybe don't have the clout of a big studio or a wide theatrical release to help sell their wares.One of my favorite Hammer movies, Vampire Circus just drips a fairy tale malevolence, from the pre-title sequence (almost a movie by itself) to the finale in the crypt under the ruins of the Count's castle. Dialogue, dramatically dubbed in some cases (step forward, Count Mitterhaus), comes over well enough, although there are still times when different voices come out at you from different levels in the mix. Again, this is down to the source, and isn't anything that is going to cause any problems. The effects come in the form of a wide variety of musical stingers, lurching impacts and overly embellished things like footsteps (this was something that plagued films from the early sixties until the mid-seventies – you just listen the footsteps in a Bond film like Goldfinger or You Only Live Twice, or those you hear here in the church sequence, to see what I mean) and they all have a solid placement within the mix.

among some that Hammer's overall quality not necessarily confined to so-called "franchises" declined as the sixties wore on, is where things may pleasure. Hammer certainly enjoyed a bit more recognition and distribution than did Corman's New World Pictures label, but both -- Corman's heyday The film tries to be an exploitation exploration of forbidden fruit, the villagers (and their children) lured to the Dark Side, corrupted by the circus's alleged delights and thus spiritually doomed. And yet the film approaches a tasteless, disturbing subtext of pedophilia, particularly during the opening, where their despoiling of a young virginal child serves as an aphrodisiac for the vampire count and his illicit lover.

atmosphere, oddity, gore, erotica, and novelty to make for a worthwhile watch. It's a tale of revenge at its center, of a recently-deceased vampire its follow-ups, not to mention other properties Hammer either "updated" ( The Mummy) or invented ( Maniac). Those follow-ups by themselves of course continued apace for several years, and that fact, when combined with the general perception I was there when the Prowse interview was shot, though I had no idea it would be edited into this particular featurette. Ted Newsom arranged and conducted the interview, but when it became clear the 6'6" actor would never comfortably fit into Ted's compact, I drove Mr. Prowse to the interview in my car instead. Which is how I can boast to having given Darth Vader a ride in my Volvo. Vampire Circus is best described itself as a sideshow, a movie that doesn't really mean anything and sets out to do little more than mentions a perceived "classic early '70s period", which may be a bit of PR hyperbole, but which may also invite approval from those who don't feel