Circus of Fear

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Audience Member Another adaptation of an Edgar Wallace thriller made to cash in on the Wallace revival in Europe in the 1960s, especially in West Germany. Following a well-planned and daring robbery of a security van in London, Scotland Yard manages to trace the missing loot to a travelling circus which is soon plagued by a series of murders. Suspects include a mask-wearing and disfigured lion tamer Gregor (the great Christopher Lee), a blackmailing dwarf caled "Mr. Big" (Skip Martin), an insanely jealous knife thrower Mario (Maurice Kaufmann). and a mysterious Germanic fellow who has been hanging around the circus known as Manfred (Klaus Kinski). Inspector Elliot (Leo Glenn) has his hands full with all the intrigue under the Big Top. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Based on a story by Edgar Wallace, adapted and produced by Harry Alan Towers, who had previously produced Wallace adaptations such as Death Drums Along the River (1963) and Coast of Skeletons (1964). Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, (The City of the Dead (1960), this is a suspenseful thriller, which starts off as crime thriller, then it becomes a whodunnit. It has a good cast moving the film forwards. In London, a group of thieves led by Mason (Victor Maddern), rob an armoured car on Tower Bridge and making off with the money by boat up the Thames. But the trail of the money goes cold after that, and some members of the gang turn up dead. Scotland Yard inspector Elliott (Leo Genn) investigates further, and is surprised when some of the money turns up in the takings of a travelling circus ran by Barberini (Anthony Newlands). But Barberini can't explain how the money got there, but Elliott discovers there's a lot of suspicious characters in the circus, not least the masked lion tamer Gregor (Christopher Lee), who has a lot to hide from his co-workers. It's a good thriller, and the change in tone doesn't affect it one jot, it manages to make for good entertainment, and like many over thrillers like this from the time, it hasn't really dated, plus look out for Klaus Kinski as a member of the gang, who is a nasty piece of work, and there's a few more familiar faces. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Endearing low-budget crime mystery, although the main reasons to watch, Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, and underused, and the latter wears a mask for the majority of his screen time. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Another public domain dreadful, but this was helped immensely by a very enjoyable story with the colorful backdrop of the circus. Christopher Lee is menacing (as always) and Leo Genn is extremely affable (as always) as the police inspector trying to solve a armored car job that ends in murder. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Well worth seeing :-) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member christopher leeeeee! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Circus of Fear

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