Circus of Horrors

"Spectacular Towering Terror! One man's lust...made men into beasts, stripped women of their souls!"

1960 1h 28m EN

😐

5.8

MID

⭐

IMDB

★5.8TMDB · 79★6IMDB · 2,505

HorrorCrime

Synopsis

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A plastic surgeon and his nurse join a bizarre circus to escape from the police. Here he befriends deformed women and transforms them for his "Temple of Beauty". However, when they threaten to leave, they meet with mysterious accidents.

“Spectacular Towering Terror! One man's lust...made men into beasts, stripped women of their souls!”

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Cast

Anton Diffring
Dr. Schuler
Erika Remberg
Elissa Caro
Yvonne Monlaur
Nicole Vanet
Donald Pleasence
Vanet
Jane Hylton
Angela
Kenneth Griffith
Martin
Conrad Phillips
Inspector Arthur Ames
Jack Gwillim
Supt. Andrews

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sidney Hayers
Writers: George Baxt
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

66 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sidney Hayers, shot by Douglas Slocombe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Muir Mathieson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Reginald Mills shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anton Diffring and Erika Remberg and Yvonne Monlaur carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Spectacular Towering Terror! One man's lust...made men into beasts, stripped women of their souls!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0053717 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sidney Hayers directs. Douglas Slocombe behind the camera. Muir Mathieson scores. Reginald Mills cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
266 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Sidney Hayers, shot by Douglas Slocombe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Muir Mathieson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Reginald Mills shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Anton Diffring and Erika Remberg and Yvonne Monlaur carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Spectacular Towering Terror! One man's lust...made men into beasts, stripped women of their souls!".
8IMDB entry: tt0053717 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 79 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe
Original score: Muir Mathieson
Editing: Reginald Mills
Costume design: Morris Angel
Makeup / hair: Maude Onslow
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Circus of Horrors (1960)
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 2,505 votes
MPAA: Approved

Also by

Sidney Hayers

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-03-24
★ 7/10
Lurid, comic booky circus flick with stunning women, wild animals and devious murders A couple years after WW2 an English plastic surgeon (Anton Diffring) flees to France with his two cronies (Kenneth Griffith & Jane Hylton) and ends up going into the circus business. A decade later he has a successful traveling show that’s notorious as 'The Jinxed Circus,' which draws the suspicions of an inspector (Conrad Phillips). “Circus of Horrors” is like a thriller comic book version of “The Greatest Show on Earth” from the early 50s. It’s similar to the later “Circus of Fear,” aka “Psycho-Circus” (1966), which reportedly borrowed some of its circus footage, but this one’s more entertaining. While some of the animals featured are real (lions, horses and a bear) others are glaringly fake (a gorilla and a bear). The story is decidedly comic booky, but the film’s luridly compelling entertainment and recommended for fans of circus flicks and Hammer-esque horror. On the female front it scores off the charts with Colette Wilde (Evelyn), Vanda Hudson (Magda), Erika Remberg (Elissa), Yvonne Romain (Melina) and Yvonne Monlaur (Nicole), all featured in alluring apparel. Donald Pleasence even shows up for a bit part (with hair). It influenced "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies" from four years later, as well as Joan Crawford's ""Berserk!" So, if you favor those, you'll appreciate this. It runs 1h 28m (or 1h 32m), and was shot Oct-Nov 1959 in the London area at Clapham Common, Old Amersham and Beaconsfield Studios. Billy Smart's Circus provided the tents, accouterments and background performers. GRADE: B
Sierbahnn2026-05-10
★ 6/10
Old timey glory There is a lot one could say about a movie that is over 60 years old, to put it down compared to modern blockbusters, but as far as being a movie this is a good one. Its production value is high (despite some of the hokey animal props/costumes) and the acting is rock-solid. The music is repetitive, which goes with the circus theme, and there are hooks for subplots that never go explored, leaving you with a sense of a bigger world than just the runtime of the movie itself.