Vampire Circus (1972)
Directed by Robert Young

Film Review

It's a curious thing but from the mid-1960s the best of Hammer's vampire films are those in which the most famous vampire of them all, Dracula, is noticeably absent.  Unlike the Frankenstein tale, which Hammer was able to go on reworking successfully for many years, Dracula offered limited scope for reuse, and it was by dispensing with this habitual blood sucker that Hammer was able to deliver some of its most inventive vampire films, of which one of the best is undoubtedly the 1972 classic Vampire Circus.

Plotwise, it's the usual set up.  A village somewhere in central Europe of the mid-1800s is menaced by vampires.  The villagers attack the vampires, the vampires fight back, a lot of people get bitten and impaled, and they all live happily ever after (or at least until it all happens over again, usually three or four years later).  In narrative terms, Vampire Circus offers very little that hasn't already been seen, but artistically it is in a league of its own, one of the more visually inventive of Hammer's late horror films.  Robert Young (not to be confused with the American actor) was one of the beneficiaries of Hammer's policy in the early 1970s of hiring fresh new talent, and he certainly gave good value on this, his first directing job.  Although he didn't quite live up to the promise of this remarkable debut, Young would enjoy a prolific career on British television, working on such shows as Minder (1982-1984), Bergerac (1983-1987) and Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986).  Young's direction on Vampire Circus is brisk, precise and stylish, and the action sequences (of which there are many) expertly choreographed.

Hammer's leading performers Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are conspicuous by their absence but the lively ensemble that we are offered in their place more than makes up for this cruel omission.  Adrienne Corri, the star of Hammer's previous The Viking Queen (1967), dominates the proceedings as a gypsy woman who is clearly far more than she seems, leading a menagerie of freaks and creepy doll-like characters that includes Dave Prowse (for once without a mask), Anthony Higgins and Lalla Ward.  Thorley Walters and Laurence Payne are the heavyweights on the side of vampire-slaying virtue, their efforts undermined by John Moulder-Brown who is unceasingly irritating as the cocky young hero who (to our constant annoyance) survives everything that is thrown at him.  Robert Tayman makes a suitably decadent head vampire ('One lust feeds the other'), a more than adequate replacement for Christopher Lee's long-in-the-tooth Dracula.  If there was ever proof that a film can cope without an overpaid superstar it is to be found here.  A great ensemble, led by an inspired director, can be just as good, if not better.  Compare Vampire Circus with Hammer's subsequent vampire film, Dracula A.D. 1972, released in the UK five months later, and you'll see what I mean.

Film Synopsis

For too long the inhabitants of the village of Schtettel have suffered at the hands of the vampiric Count Mitterhaus.  They take their revenge by storming his castle and driving a stake through his heart.  Before he dies, the Count swears that everyone in the village will perish.  Fifteen years later, Schtettel is being slowly decimated by an outbreak of plague.  A cordon has been set up around the village to prevent anyone from leaving.  A travelling circus arrives and brings a welcome distraction for the surviving villagers.  Little do they know that the performers are vampires who have come to fulfil Count Mitterhaus's curse...