Nightmare Circus (film)
| Nightmare Circus | |
|---|---|
 Nightmare Circus poster when the film was re-released as Terror Circus | |
| Directed by | Alan Rudolph |
| Produced by | Shirlee F. Jamail |
| Written by |
Alan Rudolph Roman Valenti |
| Starring |
Andrew Prine Manuela Thiess Sherry Alberoni |
| Music by | Tommy Vig |
| Cinematography | E. Lynn |
Production company |
CMC Pictures Corp. |
| Distributed by | Twin World |
Release dates | August 1974 (USA) |
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Nightmare Circus (also known as The Barn of the Naked Dead or Terror Circus) is a 1974 horror film directed by Alan Rudolph (under the pseudonym of Gerald Cormier), and co-written by him and Roman Valenti.
Plot
Three showgirls head to Las Vegas for work when their car breaks down. Andre (Andrew Prine) offers to help them and takes them to his place where he keeps women confined in chains and makes them perform circus tricks in his barn. His father, who has become a homicidal mutant because of the homestead's proximity to a nuclear power plant, lives next to them in a shed.
Cast
- Andrew Prine as Andre
- Manuela Thiess as Simone
- Sherry Alberoni as Sheri
- Gyl Roland as Corinne
- Sheila Bromley as Mrs. Baynor
- Gil Lamb as Mr. Alvarez
- Al Cormier as Sheriff Stanford
- Chuck Niles as Derek Moore
- Jeane Manson as Jean
Reception
DVD Verdict panned the film, commenting that it was "just dull and dumb".[1] In the book Cult Horror Films Welch Everman criticized the movie's attempt to contain what he saw as "phony feminism", as he felt that it was added as a way to allow viewers to enjoy the movie's violence against its female protagonists and "not feel guilty afterwards".[2] AllMovie gave the film a negative review complimenting the film's premise, but criticized the film's failure at delivering the "kinky delights" it promised, slow pacing, and lack of character development, calling the film an "amateurish mess of sex fantasy and nuclear horror".[3]
Home media
The film was first released on DVD by Legend House LLC on January 29, 2008. It was later re-released by Shriek Show and Code Red on March 31, 2009 and September 27, 2011 respectively with Code Red releasing the film as a double feature alongside the 1981 horror film Scream.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ "Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Scream / Barn Of The Naked Dead (Review)". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
- ↑ Everman, Welch D (2000). Cult Horror Films: From Attack of the 50 Foot Woman to Zombies of Mora Tau. Citadel Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0806514256.
- ↑ Beldin, Fred. "Barn of the Naked Dead (1973) - Alan Rudolph". AllMovie.com. Fred Beldin. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ↑ "Barn of the Naked Dead (1973) - Alan Rudolph". AllMovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
External links
- Nightmare Circus at the Internet Movie Database
- Nightmare Circus at AllMovie
- Nightmare Circus at Rotten Tomatoes