A woman leads a child into a vampire's home, and her husband rallies the villagers to finally do something about the vampire. They kills the vampire Count, but the vampire swears revenge.
Years later, vampires are mostly forgotten as the village deals with a disease that has them shut off from the rest of the world by roadblocks that shoot at anyone trying to come in or out. A circus arrives "to take the coins from dead men's eyes." "The Circus of Nights! A hundred delights!" shouts the barker/clown little person.
In the circus are male/female psychic twin vampire tumblers who turn into bats in their act (which curiously doesn't revive the villagers' concerns about vampires), a vampire tumbler who can turn into a panther who is the Count's cousin, a gypsy woman, a mute strongman, the little person, a tiger, a monkey, and perhaps a couple others. One act involves a nude bald woman in feline body paint, an odd act for the mixed company with children in this period piece, I thought. There's also a mysterious tent called "The Mirror of Life." Not everyone in the circus is a vampire, but the humans are under the vampires' control. The villagers, of course, don't realize that there are vampires, but we the audience know since the Count mentioned it.
Some people try to leave the town to get medical help, others try to flee but now have the vampires to contend with along with the roadblocks. The vampires prey on the villagers and try to revive the count.
This is a fairly good vampire movie, typical Hammer fare with some nudity, blood and gore, nice colorful sets, and good acting. Nevertheless, it didn't really capture me, perhaps because the story was just too simple and predictable.
Years later, vampires are mostly forgotten as the village deals with a disease that has them shut off from the rest of the world by roadblocks that shoot at anyone trying to come in or out. A circus arrives "to take the coins from dead men's eyes." "The Circus of Nights! A hundred delights!" shouts the barker/clown little person.
In the circus are male/female psychic twin vampire tumblers who turn into bats in their act (which curiously doesn't revive the villagers' concerns about vampires), a vampire tumbler who can turn into a panther who is the Count's cousin, a gypsy woman, a mute strongman, the little person, a tiger, a monkey, and perhaps a couple others. One act involves a nude bald woman in feline body paint, an odd act for the mixed company with children in this period piece, I thought. There's also a mysterious tent called "The Mirror of Life." Not everyone in the circus is a vampire, but the humans are under the vampires' control. The villagers, of course, don't realize that there are vampires, but we the audience know since the Count mentioned it.
Some people try to leave the town to get medical help, others try to flee but now have the vampires to contend with along with the roadblocks. The vampires prey on the villagers and try to revive the count.
This is a fairly good vampire movie, typical Hammer fare with some nudity, blood and gore, nice colorful sets, and good acting. Nevertheless, it didn't really capture me, perhaps because the story was just too simple and predictable.