Vampire Circus- Cult Film Review

My love for old horror films started in my formative teen years. The BBC would show cult horror films late on Friday and Saturday nights in the early to mid-90s and, when we got Sky, late 90s/ early 2000s Bravo Channel. Some were the more salacious films of 60s and 70s European cinema, often in the horror genre but not always-  some were experimental pieces which had a deeply ethereal feel and long moments of quiet where the gorgeous scenery and silence would wash over you. It was here I first saw Circus of Horrors, Vampiros Lesbos, The Witchfinder General and many, many more.

Whilst flicking through the ITVX app, I saw the image for Vampire Circus. I vaguely remembered the film so decided to revisit it for the first time in 30 or so years.

Vampire Circus was produced in 1971 which was the start of the period of decline for Hammer. Hammer had risen to prominence in the two decades before with its gothic top tier b-movie films which were rich in detail and storytelling. However, by the 70s the audience’s tastes were changing and the drop in production quality led to a glut of poorer Hammer movies that seemed to be poorer imitations of what had come before. Luckily, Vampire Circus is not one of these films as it still stands as a great film- maybe one of the last great Hammer films before its decline. Taking inspiration from post-modern European films, it is an erotic dreamlike venture with lashings of gore thrown in for good measure.

The film is about a small town in a forest which is beholden to the evil Count Mitterhaus (played in bohemian Byronesque fashion by Robert Tayman). He feasts on the blood of children and preys on the beautiful women within this community. When the people rise up and kill him he curses them, saying that they and their children, and their children’s children etc will die. Cue the title card and the beginnings of an intriguing story.

We fast forward 15 years and see that the village is in decline as the neighbouring villages know about the curse and do not want the isolated village to spread the curse further. However, a travelling circus troupe, The Circus of Night, visits the village and performs for the people whilst secretly exacting revenge by killing the children of the families and dripping their blood onto the corpse of their cousin Count Mittterhaus. Will the village discover what is happening or will all the children of the village die and the Count resurrect?

I throughly enjoyed the film. Even though any film with child death is challenging to watch the overall plot of the story and the sheer sense of place in this Germanic town is well realised. Sure, there are bare bodies aplenty and lots of gore but the story at its heart of a class battle between the aristocratic class against the poorer and middle classes is still a relevant one even today. This film is not for the faint of heart but is well worth your time.

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Murrain- Cult TV Review

It's no secret that I’m a big fan of Nigel Kneale, writer of such works as ‘Quatermass’, ‘The Stone Tapes’ and ‘Beasts’ (a series I am currently watching). I've been working my way through his works over the past several years and it was whilst falling down the YouTube rabbit hole I discovered an hour long short film called ‘Murrain’, which he wrote for ITV when he had a falling out with the BBC over something (what, I don’t know).

It’s a lesser known Kneale work and formed part of the 'Against the Crowd' series which were short anthology collections that were all the rage in the 70 and early 80s after the success of the ‘Play For the Day’ and ‘Armchair Theatre’ series. The anthology is not well regarded as it was pretty lacklustre apparently but this is one of the standout pieces.

The story is quite simple, a vet visits a small town which is blighted by a mysterious disease that is killing their livestock. The locals blame old lady Clemson who lives in a ramshackle cottage, accusing her of being a witch. The rational ‘man of science’ vet visits the old lady and sees that she is living in terrible conditions and endeavours to help her. However, when the mob get angry they attack the cottage with dreadful results.

The production is very cheap and there is very little cinematographic flair on show, it is all very bread and butter but then it's a simple story where special effects don’t matter as they are not needed- the story is king. Over the course of the hour, I had a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach as I feared for the old lady and thought it wasn’t going to end well. The conclusion is ambiguous but that's all part of the charm that’ll have you thinking about the story long after the viewing. Director John Cooper does a great job creating an effective atmosphere with obviously limited resources, there is an unsettling claustrophobic, insular feeling to proceedings.

The actors themselves are solid with no-one I recognise apart from M from James Bond (Bernard Lee) who has a key role as the landed gentry leading the witch hunt, whilst Una Brandon-Jones (someone I’m unfamiliar with but who is quite well known apparently) is riveting as the accused witch.

Murrain is no ‘Quatermass’ or ‘Stone Tapes’ but for a short 60 minute films with a tiny budget it is simple, effective and worth your time.

The Clifton House Mystery- Cult TV Series Review

I have an affection for cult and offbeat TV shows and films from days of yore as consistent followers of this blog know. I've found that many still stand up to today's scrutiny and often they are full of great ideas which are earnestly acted. Usually I pick up DVDs at random from CEX but in this case it was whilst I was browsing through Amazon, checking through the recommended links for 'Children of the Stones’, an atmospheric and eerie series that I'd picked up earlier and loved, that I came across 'The Clifton House Mystery'. The series was produced by HTV, the production company that had made ‘Stones,’ and so, based on the strength of that series I took the plunge and bought the DVD set for £4.99. It has sat on my pile of shame for a couple of years but sans WiFi and access to premium channels, I thought I'd finally work my way through this series.

The story is about the Clare family, who move into a mysterious old townhouse in Bristol. The previous family had lived in the house for generations but decided to leave under mysterious circumstances. The contents of the house are auctioned off but there are secrets attached to the items and the abode that haunt the new occupants. When they find a skeleton in a sealed room the mystery deepens and they hire an eccentric ghost hunter Milton Guest, to put the spirits to rest.

The series was aimed at school children so don't expect anything too ghoulish or scary but it is effective in its own way. The economy of sound and set design adds to the slightly unnerving nature. The story is quite straightforward and a lot of Bristolian history is thrown into the mix, which I found quite good as I’m a bit of a history buff.

The cast are relatively unknown, at least to me, however, they all play their roles with surety and earnestness. The only recognisable face is Peter Sallis who plays Guest. He would later go on to voice Wallace in 'Wallace and Gromit' and find fame as one of the old codgers riding a bathtub down many a hill in 'Last of the Summer Wine'.

Overall, the series is not as enthralling as 'Children of the Stones' or as scary as 'Moon Dial' but it is still worth a watch and, at just under 2 and a half hours, it's a nice way to while away a lazy afternoon.

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