Horror Double Feature: Circus of Horrors & She Freak

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be rattled by a jinxed circus, knife throwing, a carnival full of mutants, and a Joni Mitchell look-alike! It’s Circus of Horrors and She Freak!

CIRCUS OF HORRORS (1960)

Potential viewers of the 1960 British thriller Circus of Horrors should not be put off by its cast of relative unknowns; it is a real winner, despite that. This film tells the fascinating story of Dr. Rossiter, who, after performing a botched plastic surgery operation in post-War England, flees to France with his two associates, changes his name to Schuler, acquires a seedy circus, and supplies it with War-scarred women who he’s made beautiful using his surgical skills. Those uppity women who get the itch to leave their performing berths soon suffer unfortunate ends, inevitably giving Schuler’s show the nickname of “the jinxed circus.” The picture features some suspenseful and mildly grisly deaths for several of the female performers – the knife-throwing bit is particularly nail biting – and builds to an extremely exciting finale in its last 20 minutes or so. Though the only name I knew in the cast going in was that of Donald Pleasence, I also soon recognized Kenneth Griffith and Peter Swanwick from one of my favorite TV programs of all time, The Prisoner; welcome presences, indeed. But this film certainly belongs to Anton Diffring, as the crazed and unethical Rossiter; he is truly excellent in the lead role, giving his completely unsympathetic character depth and even some pathos by the end. Many viewers who speak of this film can’t seem to resist mentioning the “Look For A Star” tune that permeates it. This song is schmaltzy and cheesy as can be, and yes, will annoyingly stay with you for days afterwards. Still, the film itself, directed by Sidney Mayers, is well plotted, colorful, moves along briskly, and has a strange undercurrent of sex and grotesque mutilation that must have made it really stand out in 1960. I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would, I must say!

SHE FREAK (1967)

Opening as it does with an encomium for Bobby Cohn, one of the leaders of the North American Carnival Industry, 1967’s She Freak at times comes off more as a tribute to life on the midway than a grisly horror film. In it, we are introduced to Jade Cochran (lamely portrayed by Claire Brennen), whose waitressing job in a jerkwater greasy spoon is so dispiriting that her new gig cleaning tables at a traveling carnival seems like a step up. Jade soon sets her sights on the owner of the carnival’s freak show, despite her aversion to those poor people, and with her curvy figure, toothy smile and blonde good looks (indeed, Brennen here looks very much like the young Joni Mitchell), has no trouble roping him in. But anyone who has seen Tod Browning’s 1932 masterpiece Freaks and knows of Olga Baclanova’s fate in it (or who has seen the trailer reel that precedes every movie from Something Weird) can guess what happens next. She Freak is only 83 minutes long, but at least half its running time consists of padded footage of roustabouts setting up the carnival or tearing it down, or of customers walking around or Jade wandering about. Unlike Freaks, which shocked and amazed audiences with its large cast of real-life biological sports, She Freak offers basically only one of “Nature’s mistakes” in the form of Shorty (!), a Stetsoned little person. Still, somehow, the picture manages to barely hold one’s interest, and features beautiful color photography (well captured on this surprisingly pristine-looking DVD from those miracle workers at Something Weird) and even some interesting directorial touches from Byron Mabe. Basically, though, the film is junk. Viewers interested in seeing a superior updating of Freaks would be better off checking out the British film The Freakmaker (1973), which is much more, uh, freaky and a lot more fun.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Nicole Kidman … X2! A murderous weathergirl! Jersey ghosts! Photosensitive children! It’s To Die For and The Others, in the Shocktober Double Feature #15…