Circus of Horrors

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Circus of Horrors

1960

1h 29m

Horror

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7 Reviews

42%

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1,000+ Ratings

When one of his operations results in disfigurement, plastic surgeon Dr. Schuler flees to France. After he successfully operates on young Nicole, her father, Vanet, lets him join the circus he owns. Vanet dies and Schuler takes over, expanding his roster of performers with female criminals he operates on. If the girls try to flee, Schuler arranges for their seemingly accidental deaths during performances, drawing large, morbid crowds.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 19, 2026

3/5

‘…an eccentric, quaint and yet effective slice of Grand Guignol…’

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Sharai Bohannon

A Nightmare On Fierce Street Podcast

Dec 30, 2024

3/5

'Circus of Horrors' had a lot of interesting ingredients, but never figured out how to make them work together. This leads to a movie that is "fun" to watch for the wrong reasons.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 30, 2024

2.5/4

A mostly effective horror yarn.

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Chris Alexander

Alexander On Film

Sep 22, 2018

The movie really works primarily because of Diffring's truly magnetic performance, a complicated turn that sees his Rossiter/Schuler veer between sympathetic and sociopathic.

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MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

Jan 26, 2018

A plot that only a very simple-minded sadist would take seriously sustains an anthology of gory killings and maimings.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Sep 6, 2015

B

Has some brilliant gory Grand Guignol moments during its circus sequences.

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Fumi A

@Lordoflords Apr 6, 2026

Very fun movie. I liked this quite a bit

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Feb 24, 2020

Joel and the Bots riffed this turkey about a Nazi plastic surgeon for the MST3K Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour in Austin, and I think all involved would prefer to be crushed by a man in a bear costume than hear the dull dulcet tune of "Look for a Star" again. Cannonical score: 4.5/5 — "Twas the Temple of Beauty that killed the beast."

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bill t

@Spuzz Mar 23, 2017

Deliciously perverse film about a quack plastic surgeon who finds a cover in an old circus.. and hires deformed women, makes them beautiful, and forces them to work for him! It's ridiculous, bizarre, very colorful, and oh so much fun.

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Jun 2, 2014

Ladies and gentleman, enjoy the horror show.. A Strange Undercurrent Of Sex And Grotesque Mutilation--Anton Diffring at his nastiest!!

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Sep 30, 2012

Ah Circus movies. Did you know one won best picture in 1953? That one was about The Greatest Show on Earth. This one is about the Jinx Circus, where fallen women, given a second chance, thanks to plastic surgery and blackmail, are murdered when the become engaged. Its weird that the ape really hates Dr. Schuler. Really strange. A lot of pre-Twiggy English ladies prance about in their panties. Which is nice.But I could not shake the uncanny resemblance btwn Anton Diffring and Wm. S. Buckley.

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Sep 10, 2012

a plastic surgeon at a circus!??!

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Sidney Hayers

Director

Anton Diffring

Dr. Schuler

Erika Remberg

Elissa Caro

Yvonne Monlaur

Nicole Vanet

Donald Pleasence

Vanet

Jane Hylton

Angela

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Synopsis

When one of his operations results in disfigurement, plastic surgeon Dr. Schuler flees to France. After he successfully operates on young Nicole, her father, Vanet, lets him join the circus he owns. Vanet dies and Schuler takes over, expanding his roster of performers with female criminals he operates on. If the girls try to flee, Schuler arranges for their seemingly accidental deaths during performances, drawing large, morbid crowds.

Director: Sidney Hayers
Producer: Samuel Z. Arkoff
Screenwriter: George Baxt
Production Co: Lynx Films
Genre: Horror
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2018
Runtime: 1h 29m

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