Circus of Horrors (1960)

"Quick, get her to a doctor. And send the clowns in."

This is a mildly obscure but well regarded non-Hammer horror film, one with no supernatural elements and more tension than scares, although the sheer body horror of the opening scene with Evelyn’s face after her plastic surgery disaster, along with her hysterical laughter, is one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever seen.

Anton Diffring is rather good as our plastic surgeon anti-hero, improbably fleeing to the continent and setting up as a circus after reshaping the face of poor little Nicole and the untimely death of her father who, bizarrely, is Donald Pleasance with a French accent. And so a situation evolves where a circus is set up starring wanted and highly blackmailable criminals whose faces have been reshaped, but dastardly Rossiter has all the details. I’m not sure how such a circus should have become successful from its poor beginnings, but let’s roll with it. Let us also roll with the fact that circuses in 1960 were rather cruel places, with lions, bears, elephants, horses and gorillas cruelly whipped and forced to perform to a clapping and unbothered crowd. People in 1960 also seemed to Thing that clowns were funny and not terrifying at all. Weird.

Of course, every now and then a glamorous female artists threatens to leave the circus, and coincidentally ends up suffering a freak fatal accident in her final performance, something which has not gone unnoticed by the authorities. Amusingly, several times we see said artistes declaring that they will leave or reveal something after the final performance, which they always approach without any fear whatsoever. But this means plenty of tension, and in spite of the awkward questions about the plot this is a rather compelling film and a cut above most of its ilk.