Terror Circus (1973) User Reviews

Decent 'backwoods' B-horror trash...

[gorepump · 5/10 · 15 January 2015]

aka. "The Barn of the Naked Dead". There were quite a few interesting ideas at play in "The Barn of the Naked Dead", only their execution seemed a bit too clumsy and misdirected to completely "grab" me. That said, considering it's mean, misogynistic and just plain weird content, I can't chalk it up to a total loss.

Three young showgirls are on their way to Vegas. They make the mistake of turning off onto a dirt road "shortcut" where their car breaks down in the middle of the desert. The next morning, a seemingly helpful guy shows up to take them to his isolated place to use his phone. It doesn't take long before the gals notice that his barn is full of chained women that he ends up using as the "animals" in his deranged circus act, for which he plays the sadistic ringmaster. While this is going on, the girls' agent is trying his damnedest to track them down...

There's some back story involving the guy's mommy issues and there's some kind of Anthropophagus-looking freak tucked away - a result of the military's H-bomb testing years ago. That part - while making for a reasonably gruesome ending - seemed kind of awkwardly wedged into the film, while I thought the whole circus angle was an amusing concept. Andrew Prine (from "The Town That Dreaded Sundown") pulls off his role very well and the movie doesn't shy away from astringent cruelty towards women. That f*cker LOVED his bull whip! It's an entertaining enough 'exploit'/B-horror flick, but, like I said, it could have used a little more direction and 'flow' with some of it's elements. Still giving it a rec.

More of my horror/exploitation reviews @ http://swinesewage.blogspot.com/

Terrible exploitation garbage

[The_Void · 3/10 · 20 November 2006]

Well, I actually thought that this film would be about zombies, but instead the lacklustre plot follows a deranged young man who keeps women locked up in his barn in order to use them for some kind of circus trick. The film is yet another entry in the already full to the brim seventies exploitation cannon, and while a lot of these sorts of films are very good - this one has very little going for it. The film is, frankly, boring, and since the plot has very little in the way of originality; this film makes for very miserable viewing because you know that nothing is going to come of it. There's another sub-plot involving the young man's father who has been mutated by radiation. This is potentially interesting, but it's not handled well at all and not even that manages to change the tedium of the rest of the film. The acting is horrible as well, and director Alan Rudolph isn't able to get anything out of his cast. Films like this really need to be rather 'nasty' to succeed, and that's one of the most annoying things about this film; it all feels very tame, and therefore its pointless watching. Overall, Barn of the Naked Dead is a film that fully deserves its terrible reputation, and I recommend not watching it.

Trashy precursor to Bloodsucking Freaks

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 14 February 2018]

Once again Code Red have done an exemplary job in releasing the best-quality version of an old B-movie horror flick and giving it a new lease of life for the 20th century. Having watched TERROR CIRCUS - perhaps best known under its exploitative title BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD - you wonder why they've bothered when the end result is so trashy. Long-running actor Andrew Prine plays the usual psycho guy living out in the desert with a mother fixation. He likes to kidnap young women, chain them up, keep them as slaves in his barn, and occasionally have them perform as part of his own private circus. The film is fairly well put together for what is obviously a movie made entirely on the cheap, but the end result is merely silly and mean-spirited. Nudity and some bloodshed are thrown in to keep the horror fans pleased, but the only time this entertains is at the very end with the zombie twist. In its focus on the humiliation of women it seems to be a precursor to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS.

From the acclaimed director of "The Moderns" . . .

[lazarillo · 6 November 2004]

From the acclaimed director of "The Moderns" and "Choose Me" we have a timeless, heartwarming tale of a deranged man living in rural Nevada who kidnaps stranded female motorists (which there seem to be an inordinate amount of for rural Nevada) and, bullwhip in hand, trains them to perform in his private circus, all the while his father who has been turned into deformed monster by radiation from nuclear tests runs amuck.

As other reviewers have noted there is a definite lack of nakedness in this movie alternatively titled "Barn of the Naked Dead", but a lot of bare breasts and female buttocks would only distract from the real (and perhaps only) reason to see this movie--Andrew Prine. Andrew Prine was second only to David Hess when it came to portraying sick psychopaths in 70's drive-in movies, but where Hess's psychos were just flat-out creeps, Prine's could be hilariously funny (even though it wasn't always clear whether the actor himself was in on the joke as he always seemed to take these roles VERY seriously). While this is far from his best work, Prine is always fun to watch.

This movie might also have a bit of "car wreck" appeal considering that it is loudly rattling skeleton in the closet of esteemed director Alan Rudolph. It has an incredibly ridiculous ending that can perhaps only be explained by Prine and the three female leads all walking off the set before the final scene leaving Rudolph to completely pull something out of his. . .well, see it and tell me where it came from. It's hard to believe that anybody would make a movie like this, let alone the otherwise respectable Rudolph.

Addendum: this movie was recently re-releaesed on DVD by Johnny Legend with brief nude scenes of overweight actresses that (partially) justify the alternate title.

I KNOW A REALLY NEAT SHORT CUT

[nogodnomasters · 2/10 · 9 June 2019]

Three showgirls on their way to Vegas break down in the desert. They are aided by Andre (Andrew Pine) who imprisons them by chaining them in a barn along with other beautiful girls whose car broke down nearby. Andre doesn't have a full deck and forces the girls to do things like walk in a circle. There is really no circus or show. The film has other titles such as "Nightmare Dead" and "The Barn of the Naked Dead." All of which are misleading.

It was interesting to see people smoke in a restaurant and eat breakfast where half the plate is bacon. This film is most fitting as the third film of a Drive-in presentation. Starts out with promise, but fizzles.

Brief nudity.

Weird, Disturbing Garbage

[Steve_Nyland · 2/10 · 26 November 2003]

Weird, Disturbing Garbage

One axiom is true about any given art form: It did not exist before a person made it. One of my primary interests in evaluating art forms in a critical manner is to contemplate the motivation behind the decision to execute the work. I have no idea why anyone would have made a movie like BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD, though after seeing it I can understand why folks want to see it: Great title.

Existing these days as scummy old rental tapes [including a preposterous version called NIGHTMARE CIRCUS, that is worse if possible] and the occaisional underground re-record, I managed to snag one of the original rental tapes by Ariel Entertainment, whoever they were, and was able to assess an "uncut" 87 minute print of the film. I was not prepared for what it had to offer.

I love low rent "B" grade horror, especially European 1970's stuff, and have just begun delving into some of the American made examples beyond DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT or COUNT YORGA. I was enticed by the name Andrew Prine, a magnetic veteran actor of many a B exploitation movie romp -- his role in SIMON KING OF THE WITCHES might be one of the great overlooked performances of the 1970's. His role in BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is one that I hope he eventually got over, because films like this can wreck a career especially when an actor throws himself into the role, something that he was not apparently able to resist. I wonder if he got to view his daily rushes, or even if there were any daily rushes -- My thought is that the entire film was shot in about a week & a half, and exposed/edited only afterwards when nobody could stop the cinematic car wreck that unfolds onscreen.

THE PLOT: Man has lived in near isolation on former Army nuclear testing grounds in Nevada [interesting premise], family having long since deserted or otherwise been rendered ioperable. Prine compensates his lack of company by sitting up in a duck tower with a rifle and putting a bullet through unsuspecting car engines.

These cars are all driven by skanky looking 70's B supporting actresses, whom he cons into coming back to his farm. There they are taken prisoner and chained inside of a large barn. The majority of the film consists of footage of the girls chained up to these little posts and cowering with fear, trembling with cold, and discussing their situation. Between conversations Prine lurches in [sometimes dressed as a big top circus M.C.] and drags one of them off to be abused -- verbally, psychologically, physically, and in the movies sole moment of true interest [though the outcome was cut], by a snake. Ahem. He also talks to himself and plays with a toy windup bigtop. He is not a person but a mannerism -- weird behavior for a movie plot with legs attached. I doubt if he was allowed a single 2nd take.

At the end of the film a not too secret horrifying secret is revealed, and everyone dies except the two girls that went crazy during their ordeal, which I guess is to make you think, "Gee ...". The End. How they all die I will leave to be a discovery for those stupid enough to seek it out: Don't let my description of a thirty second clip of Snake Sleaze tempt you: BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD just plain sucks.

The "cinemetography", on all levels of considerations, sucks. The script sucks, apparently an attempt to adapt the Ed Gein story to a contemporary "issue", though just what that issue would be remains undefined ... Be angry at the Army for atmospheric atom testing, maybe. Don't take the long scenic route when you can fly, perhaps. Watch out for maniacs that have been exposed to nuclear fallout? Nahh -- too easy. Maybe it will come to me at some point, but like I said this film seems to have been made without any real intent, unless that intention is to disturb.

And rest assured, BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is disturbing. Folks may have some bondage romp in mind but BE WARNED: this film lacks even the slightest touch of erotic charm. There is sleaze, but it is not arousing sleaze, unless wondering how the girls go to the bathroom when chained up gives you a rise -- that was the only thing that the film made me wonder about. Then again I guess they didn't need to, since all of the barn scenes could have been shot in one afternoon, so maybe nobody had to go before they were finished.

Avoid this film. Avoid it like you would a burning car at a gas pump.

Avoid it like you would avoid an open cesspit. Avoid it like you would avoid someone with a bad case of bubonic plague. Don't be suckered in by a kinky box cover or descriptions of unspeakable horrors. They are unspeakable, allright -- so awful that I can't manage one more word.

Quite possibly one of the worst movies ever created

[slm1998 · 1/10 · 21 January 2004]

I honestly see no reason why this movie should exist, it does not benefit anybody in any way. You can see a summary in the other reviews, but I will just say that I agree with what everyone else has said...this movie is truly awful. The cougar is amusing because it is more than likely just stock footage of a cougar that is poorly edited in. I saw this movie under the title "Barn of the Naked Dead" which is quite misleading. There is a barn, but I don't recall any naked dead people at all. This movie did teach me a valuable lesson, never rent a video that has an index card with an amusing title in a plastic case instead of an actual box, nothing good can come of it.

Mean and Ugly

[bensonmum2 · 2/10 · 4 May 2006]

My, oh my! I feel like I've entered one of the seven layers of Hell. Barn of the Naked Dead is one of the worst examples of "filmmaking" I've run into. A serious critique of the movie would be ridiculous and making fun of the technical aspects of the film or much of the acting is so easy that I'll not even bother. Instead, I'll limit this to a brief comment on the plot – or lack thereof. Barn of the Naked Dead literally has no coherent plot. A few story ideas pieced together with scenes of unnecessary violence do not make for a plot. Take a look at the kind of films I like and you'll quickly see that I'm not squeamish when it comes to violence on screen, but it needs a context. Otherwise, it's just mean and ugly. Without a plot, the violence in Barn of the Naked Dead feels like that – mean and ugly.

If Barn of the Naked Dead has one saving grace that keeps it from sinking to the absolute bottom of the heap, it's Andrew Prine. While I'll never understand some of his professional decisions, he always comes across to me as a very capable and interesting actor. I've yet to be disappointed with him, just some of the movies he made.

Literally the worst movie of all time

[byght · 1/10 · 25 November 2002]

This movie. Wow. This movie.

"Worst Movie of All Time" is a pretty tough thing to decide. Do you give it to the greatest of all "worst" movies? ("Plan 9 From Outer Space") Do you give it to the most poorly put-together movie ever? ("Red Zone Cuba") Or do you control for budget differences and give it to the artistically worst movie ever? ("Batman and Robin")At the end of the day, I think you have to give it to the most unwatchable movie ever, for what are movies if not...um...things for watching? Anyway, this is it.

I remember a barn and some girls. I remember a tool with a whip saying "raise them, lower them." I remember an outhouse with a jacked-up wookie living in it, and maybe something about a cougar, but I might be making that up. The rest of the movie is basically unintelligible because the dialogue was recorded by a microphone buried 30 miles into the earth's crust. Even if you could hear it, there are no words that could soothe this awful pain as it emanates from the bleak landscape of Midwestern scrub-brush. Here's a fun game: have a competition with your friends to see how long you can go without looking at the clock. The longest we got was about five minutes, and that was only through concentrated willpower. Okay, I lied, it's not a fun game at all, but it's a way to help get through the movie. Other possible solutions: heroin, suicide, blindness or a lobotomy.

I normally love bad movies and recommend them to my friends, but this is an exception. I am not kidding here. To you bad-movie amateurs out there, take it from someone who has been to film hell and back more than once: this is not "so bad it's funny," it's just bad. In fact, it's the worst. DO NOT SEE THIS.

Step Right Up, Ladies And Gentlemen...

[Flixer1957 · 6/10 · 23 August 2002]

Andrew Prine stars as yet another mother-fixated maniac who runs his own carnival in the Nevada desert. His star attractions are females held captive in the aforementioned barn. Whenever things slow down he marches them around the homestead to the tune of his cracking whip or sics his pet cougar on them. The action takes place near a former nuclear test site which gives the filmmakers an excuse to throw in a badly made-up mutant toward the end.

This has a reputation as an early splatter flick. Many video versions are tame and short on blood; there is more gore in the recent Code Red/Shriek Show release. In any case, the scenery-chewing Prine manages to keep things moving along. It's always a pleasure to watch this performer at work, even in a geek show like this. Alan Rudolph, since praised for directing numerous mainstream hits, would probably like to buy up all prints of BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD and burn them.

Barn of The Naked Nightmare Circus?

[saint_brett · 4/10 · 15 December 2023]

'The Barn of the Naked Dead.' Gee, I really know how to get in the spirit of the festive season.

Two hitchhikers are picked up around the Area 51 zone.

Hold it! 'Terror Circus?' That's what it's called? Why does the DVD cover call it 'The Barn of the Naked Dead?'

Three chicks drive a rust-infested time bomb that withstood atomic testing and laughed in the face of registration checks. The clunker runs perfectly fine on bald tires out among the Joshua trees.

Meanwhile, what looks like the sheep slayer from 'God Monster of Indian Flats' thinks he's in a Bronson movie and has dressed the part for a snow adventure.

Running out of atomic rods, the rusted war machine breaks down, and the snow savior comes along looking like Jim Morrison. He bags himself a catch of groovy chicks and sleighs them off in his snowmobile.

They're brought back to Ed Gein's farm house and head straight for his shed, where a harem of slaves are all chained to the ground.

Didn't I watch something similar the night before?

I haven't seen this before, so I can't predict any preemptive spoilers and ruin it for you.

That's not The Doors lead singer; it looks like Mark Metcalf from those Twisted Sister music videos who keeps blowing himself up like Wile E. Coyote.

Oh man, not more of this "women held against their will business." The girls are all chained up like huskies and march out into the desert, and I counted twelve of them. At gunpoint, they're made to frogmarch ring a rosy to drill for oil or generate turbine wind power. So, his farm is run by girl power.

Elsewhere, the old man who drove sausage around in 'Repo Man' and his offsider meet the invisible man and become main course as they forgot to use the scrambler.

Kept out in the naked dead barn like pigs, the girls are fed the repo man, who was slow-cooked for nine hours as a casserole. A game separatist, with her belly full, finds a means to escape but doesn't get far. She's right-crossed, whipped like a horse, and then strangled for disobedience.

I'm still trawling through the dozen captured girls, undecided as to which one's the pick of the litter, as most of them are pretty vanilla and not to my liking.

In fact, I don't like any of the cast. Maybe the sheriff? He looks like Ice T.

All these chicks are dressed like Fred Flintstone.

One cave girl is soaked in cow's blood and used as a lure for a mountain lion. Outrunning the wild cat, she then encounters the invisible man, who's now taken on human form and has pointy fingers. When do we get to see that thing?

I must say that for a 1970's movie, my DVD is very clear. Most DVD transfers from that era are grainy analog porno quality.

The sheep slayer from the Bronson movie thinks it's Halloween and wears his ringmaster costume. He reminds me a tad of Peter Fonda, with a touch of Carradine at a glance.

I hate to bring this up, but at the 50-minute mark, the girls are all relatively clean and haven't soiled themselves once in six months.

Not being able to settle on one of the dozen himself either, the ring master opts for one to be his mother instead of his lover and chains her with neck restraints, and as that British TV show used to say, some mothers do 'ave 'em.

Imagine being female and watching this degrading scene of the poor lady being made to slither on her belly. It's humiliating and hard to watch.

The numbers start to dwindle as the girls run the gauntlet after finding a key and breaking free like Queen in a mad dash for freedom.

In all the madness, the Invisible Man is let loose and roams the plain to cause more havoc as the escaped girls are running around like crazed chickens without direction.

The sheep slayer and his mother are finally disposed of at the hands of the invisible man, and it finally shows its face, and it's just a 70s Rod Zombie with poor quality makeup. Actually, it reminds me of Fred Olen Ray's silly movie monster from 'Scalps.' That killer just had an extremely large fried egg over his face. Very poor.

A subplot involved a pimp in search of his three working girls, and he looks like Buddy Kupfer at times. That branch of the movie failed to hold my interest. He hooks up with the Ice T sheriff, and somehow they play detective and locate Ed Gein's farm house. Don't ask me how.

Only two of the twelve survive at the end, and it's a very unsatisfactory ending that seemed rushed and quick to conclude.

You wanted the sheep slayer from the Bronson movie who looked like Wile E. Coyote and double-dipped as either Fonda or Carradine to experience a more revolting death than what he did. He got off easy.

Again, it's not a movie you could watch any time soon after you're done with it.

I doubt I'll ever revisit it.

Andrew Prine and his circus harem.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 8 September 2010]

Three young dancers Simone,Corine and Lisa are stranded in the Nevada desert after their car breaks down.A young man named Andre drives them to his ramshackle farm in the middle of nowhere.Unfortunately Andre is a dangerous psychopath and misogynist,who keeps women chained in a barn.He quickly becomes convinced that Simone is his long dead mother..."Barn of the Naked Dead" aka "Terror Circus" is a neglected classic of 70's horror.I can't believe the low rating this film has-it certainly deserves more positive reviews.It's sleazy and grimy horror film with several truly terrifying moments.The desert setting is completely barren and moody.The female victims of Andre are weak and utterly broken.The central performance of Andrew Prine is genuinely unsettling.There is also Prine's father,a repulsive freak deformed by atomic radiation.9 out of 10.A cult classic.

Pretty good stuff.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 27 December 2011]

Veteran cult favourite Andrew Prine excels here in one of his wonderfully warped 70's leading roles. He plays Andre, a sick, twisted freak living in seclusion in the desert, who comes upon a trio of aspiring showgirls trying to make their way to Vegas and who have had car trouble. He seems to be benevolent, but in reality is about to add them to his captives - a group of women he keeps chained up in his barn. The misogynistic Andre views these women as no more than (performing) animals, yet to add to his quirks he has a Norman Bates style mother fixation (he comes to believe that one of these girls actually *is* his long dead mother) and keeps his dear old dad, who mutated as a result of H bomb testing, confined on his large amount of property. Meanwhile, there's a concurrent story of the girls' agent (Chuck Niles) desperately trying to find them. Some exploitation fans can certainly take issue with a movie that they may feel really doesn't go far *enough*; for one thing, the nekkid-ness promised by the DVD cover is in actuality quite fleeting! That's not to say there isn't some fun to be had from the premise and some of the scenes. Our macabre ringmaster is fond of whipping the girls, will sometimes drench them in blood and sic his big cat on them, and in one deliciously creepy scene, introduces one of the girls to his pet snake. And when we finally get a look at the deformed dad (makeup effects by Byrd Holland, who also plays a small role, and Douglas White), he's a hoot to behold. The girls are all pleasing to look at (there's also a small role for busy 70's era exploitation actress Jennifer Ashley, as the flower child), but the one to watch here is clearly Prine, who, as can be expected, acts the Hell out of his role; even if he does indeed regret making this movie, one wouldn't know it from the performance he gives, the mark of a true professional. The movie is admittedly quite a gritty and rough little production - perhaps the single most fascinating aspect is realizing that it's an early directorial effort for Robert Altman protégée and independent auteur Alan Rudolph, one that it's all too easy to believe he would want left off his resume. But it's reasonably enjoyable for exploitation buffs, right down to the downbeat ending typical of so many other A *and* B movies of the 1970's. Somewhat disappointing but not too bad. Seven out of 10.

Any old thing becomes magically watchable when ANDREW PRINE is in it.

[EyeAskance · 28 October 2003]

The woefully underrated Andrew Prine struts through this lousy but shamefully likable mess with a casual and unaffected "yeah, but at least I'm working" charisma. In BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD aka NIGHTMARE CIRCUS, he portrays a mother-fixated psychotic who keeps a private zoo of captive women at an off-road Nevada desert property...a ruinous, weather-beaten old ranch in precarious proximity to a government nuclear testing site . The girls are a stock of resistant performers used in Prine's sadistic circus-themed psychodramas, and if that's not weird enough to win you over, there's also a radioactive mutant and a hungry black panther added to the cuckoo mix.

As addle-brained 70s shockers go, this can be pretty enjoyable if expressly accepted as the unrefined trash that it is. The overwhelming dearth of professionalism will likely be met with disapproval from a mainstream viewership, but trash-curious types and those of lax standards should find it quite embraceable.

5.5/10

Never take the shortcut!

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 4 March 2018]

Three showgirls driving to Las Vegas decide to take a shortcut, only to experience the inevitable: car trouble. Assistance arrives the next morning in the form of Andre (Andrew Prine), who drives them to his remote home in the desert. But rather than help the girls, Andre forces them to become part of his human menagerie - a group of unlucky women that he has abducted and chained up in his barn, and who he severely punishes should they step out of line.

It would take something REALLY special to live up to a wonderfully trashy title like Barn of the Naked Dead. This film doesn't quite cut it, despite a premise that promises plenty of deviant behaviour and violence. Yes, there is a barn. Yes, there is some nudity (albeit brief). And, yes, people die. But those looking for an outrageous slice of '70s exploitation will probably come away a little disappointed. The minimal gore is of the 'bright red paint' variety and is wholly unconvincing, the mistreatment of the women is less unsettling than one might imagine, and the sleaze is rather tame.

However, although for much of the running time the action is likely to leave exploitation fans wanting, the unexpected ending, in which all but two of the captive women are brutally killed by Andre's horribly disfigured father, actually proves very effective. If only the rest of the film had been as bold, we'd have a film that would get talked about a lot more often.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

A choice scuzzy chunk of hardcore nasty 70's psycho exploitation horror sleaze

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 31 January 2008]

Simone (Manuela Thiess), Sheri (Sherry Alberoni), and Corrine (Gyl Roland) are three showgirls en route to Las Vegas who find themselves stranded when their car breaks down in the middle of the remote Nevada desert. They run afoul of Andre (a truly inspired portrayal of full-tilt intense insanity by the one and only Andrew Prine), a severely deranged Oedipal wreck misogynistic psycho who abducts lovely young stray ladies so he can use them in a menagerie for his own personal circus. Meanwhile, Andre's grotesquely disfigured mutant father occasionally gets loose and murders folks. Director Alan Rudolph, who went on to helm such acclaimed art-house hits as "Welcome to L.A.," "Remember My Name," "Choose Me," and "The Moderns," does an expert job of creating and maintaining a grim, sordid, and unpleasant tone of seething madness and depravity. The raw, unflinching violence against women is genuinely brutal and ugly stuff; this picture reaches its skin-crawling nasty peak when Andre has a large boa constrictor wrap itself around one hapless lass. Moreover, we also get a decent smattering of tasty nudity and a handy helping of grisly gore. E. Lynn's rough, but fairly accomplished cinematography astutely captures the dingy, dusty, and desolate aura of the isolated desert location. Tommy Vig's wonky, spacey, droning score likewise adds considerably to the overall harsh and unnerving quality of this resolutely foul-minded trash. Jennifer Ashley pops up as a traumatized mute hippie chick; she was mistreated by Prine some more in the even sleazier and hence better "The Centerfold Girls." The groovy theme song "Evil Eyes" and the nihilistic bummer ending totally hit the slimy spot as well. A satisfyingly mean'n'grungy serving of vintage 70's grindhouse junk.

Oh Andre, you're such a big "animal" lover!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 3 September 2019]

The people who made these raw and gritty 70s exploitation movies were a strange bunch. Lead actor Andrew Prine, for instance, indicated that "Terror Circus" was the only film he ever regretted making. And yet, he starred in equally odd and shlocky titles ("The Centerfold Girls", "Simon King of the Witches"), as well as in trashy guff that is far inferior than this film ("Crypt of the Living Dead", "Eliminators"). The people who watch these raw and gritty 70s exploitation movies are possibly an even stranger bunch, though! The majority of reviews I encountered on "Terror Circus" are negative and severe, but I honestly can't fathom why...

As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the most enjoyably straightforward efforts if rancid 70s exploitation is what you seek. Of course it's cheap, misogynic and repulsive, but you only have yourself to blame if you take offense to that. "Terror Circus" is the tale of the young and handsome, but deeply disturbed, Andre who rescues women that are stranded in the Nevada desert (usually because they got lost on their way to Las Vegas), but then subsequently chains and treats them like animals, and trains them to perform as acts in his imaginary circus show! One of the three girls that he captured recently happens to look a lot like the mother who abandoned him when he was still a boy, so Andre becomes even more obsessed with the idea of proving to her that he's a capable circus ringleader. Oh, and if you think Andre is a monster, just wait until you meet his father who lives in a minuscule tool shed in the garden! By the way, did I mention that the US Military uses these parts of the Nevada desert for nuclear bomb testing? See, what's there to complain? "Terror Circus" has everything: a psychotic protagonist with a mommy-obsession, beautiful girls in chains being whipped, bloodthirsty redneck freaks and a delightfully cheesy country soundtrack! Naturally the script is full of goofs and improbabilities. How to explain that Andre behaves like a perfectly reasonable man when he saves the girls, but then transforms into a total nutcase who genuinely believes these women are circus animals? Also, how unlikely is it that the Sheriff never bother to check out the only inhabited farm in the entire desert despite all the missing person cases. "Oh, people get lost all the time around here". There, case closed. But hey, plot holes and continuity errors only make grindhouse better. "Terror Circus" is never boring, the performances of Andrew Prine and most of his female victims are more than adequate, the script at least attempts to insert suspense and plot twists and the finale is fantastically deranged!

Or perhaps certain folks are angry and disappointed because the most prominently used title ("Barn of the Naked Dead") promises sleaze and nudity that the film largely fails to deliver. Well, first of all, misleading titles are the most common thing in the world in the cult cinema industry. You must accept that the producers did everything they could to attract more viewers. Secondly, however, the lack of bare female flesh is really justified in this case. The fact that these women remain clothed and don't get repeatedly raped by their captor only epitomizes that Andre genuinely considers them to be dangerous animals instead of defenseless women.

Antifable With No Happy Ending

[aazathoth · 22 July 2002]

Barn of the Nekkid Dead - or Nightmare Circus - is a film about a demented young man named Andre who captures women and keeps them chained in the barn. He believes that he is the ringleader of a circus and that they are the trained animals in his act. Andre is a psychopath, but it's not all his fault - his mother left him when he was very young and his father has turned into a murderous radioactive mutant. Andre crushes rebellion among his animals by feeding would-be rebels to his pet mountain lion or to his father.

The obvious moral of the story would be that men treat women horribly, be it is more likely that the pretense of the moral is an excuse to show attractive young women chained and whipped. The best part of this movie is the ending. Help is on the way in the background from the beginning but by the time it arrives at the barn, Andre's father has killed almost everyone. It's refreshing to watch a film without a morally happy ending.

Animal Crackers

[alwaysandy · 6/10 · 31 October 2020]

Andrew Prine has commented that this is the one film he regrets having made. It is a straightforward exploitation piece and unsavory on several levels, yet being a pro, he manned up and earned his money, giving the character of Andre - seriously conflicted and Oedipal - a strange charisma. The son of a small time circus owner, he lives in a world of faded memorabilia and nostalgic photographs. His goal, however, is to collect, tame and train animals to perform under his schizophrenic big top, thus bringing back the magic of three-ring entertainment, with himself as ringmaster. The problem? His "animals" are women he has kidnapped and holds prisoner in a large, drafty barn on his crumbling farm. Hitch hikers, loners, stranded motorists, he has a dozen or so in his menagerie, always chained, and occasionally whipped if they perform poorly or exhibit rebelliousness. It should be noted that, although one of this film's titles is Barn of the Naked Dead, there is only a single scene with partial nudity and no sexual activity at all. One brief shot might portray an instant of lust, but it is probably an outtake. Andre seems to genuinely believe he is training animals and bestialities isn't one of his issues. A radiation-disfigured character lurks around the perimeter of the action and finally sets in motion the grand guignol plot turn which leads to an unexpected conclusion. If the film is in poor taste (and it is) what keeps it watchable is excellent photography by "E. Lynn", atmospheric backgrounds and Prine's uncanny gift for improvisation, giving even Andre a sympathetic edge. A cult classic.

fun, in a twisted perverted way....

[rathatchet · 10/10 · 6 March 2008]

BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD

I just got finished watching this new release by Legend House and to say I was more than pleased would be an understatement. I was always fascinated by this title when I was a kid but never got a chance to see the film, but when it ran at the New Beverly a few years back as part of Eric Cadien & Brian Quinn's "Grindhouse" monthly exploitation festival in Hollywood, I was blown away. The print they had that night was okay, the print the Legend House got a hold of is great. The film looks fantastic and it sounds great. This is a fun movie, just read the title again, "Barn of the Naked Dead", if you are looking to fill your cinematic cravings with dry boring art house fodder, you will go hungry. But if you really want to have a good time you can feast on this celluloid sampler on good old fashion tasting pulp and menace. Andrew Prine gives a great performance as Andre, who has a strange but strong lineage to another alienated outcast that runs a motel and goes by the name Norman. The extras are a blast. Johnny Legend, the white bearded namesake of Legend House, has fun talking with Prine and also there is complimentary segment where Legend talks with filmmakers John Landis (who no matter what he says is enjoying being there) and other fun cult movie directors. I don't know what other reviewers are talking about when they say that this copy is not of good quality, I may not be an anal retentive cineaste like some, but I can tell you the print looks great, it is NOT a cheap VHS dupe or knock off (maybe these cinefile experts really don't know what they are talking about) and if you want to have a fun time watching something that isn't going to tax your brain and something that will tickle and entice those dark little corners of your mind, pick up Legend House release of this film.

I liked it allot!

[candhboards · 7/10 · 24 January 2020]

This film has a low rating, and as much as I can understand all the flaws in this film, it is an exploitation film so flaws are expected. I definitely didn't go into this film thinking it would be grade A horror by the standards of mainstream films. However, I really enjoyed it. It's starts of really quick, everything happens really fast in the begining. I wish the beginning was a bit slower paced. The characters are fun and it is suspenseful. The ending left some to be desired, it's kind of not great. If you like exploitation give this a watch. It's weird and bizarre liked you'd expect. I liked it allot and couldn't look away because I wanted to know what would happen next. I'm a bit confused as to how the beast came to be but maybe I missed the explanation. The monster/gore fx are very low budget, but I like that.

Siskel and Ebert's favorite director's first effort!

[Serpent-5 · 23 April 1999]

Played in Seattle as TERROR CIRCUS in 1980 (!) as a bottom half of a double billing with MOTEL HELL. This film is just sick and boring at the same time. A car full of girls takes a short cut to Vegas and get stranded in the desert, only to be prisoners to a madman (Andrew Prine, who is really good in this film). The film has a bad theme song, sloppy editing, a creature who lives in a shack, and whipping girls like animals. The film is made by Alan Rudolph, who now makes art house films. Many of you might see this film and say, it can't be the same guy who made this, but it is. He also made ROADIE with meatloaf! The video print NIGHTMARE CIRCUS is grainy, and the title is video tacked in. I hear it played in most cities in the early 70's as BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD.

where's the naked?

[MJM9 · 29 March 2002]

let's see. there is a barn, people do die, and no, the dead don't walk around naked. infact, there's no nudity in the film. at least there wasn't in the video copy that i had. i just remember andrew prine keeping girls in a barn, and some creature going around killing.

Lies!

[dojishoju · 5 March 2003]

While I saw this movie under the title of "Barn of the Naked Dead", I feel that the title "Nightmare Circus" is just as bad. There is no barn, there is no circus, there is no naked, and I only recall one person dying in the movie and I don't believe it ever shows them dead either. This film is devoid of any content at all. There isn't even enough in to to MST3K it. Avoid it..

"He Can't Be THAT Crazy!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 16 April 2020]

After their car breaks down in the desert, Simone (Manuela Thiess) and her two friends encounter a helpful man named Andre (Andrew Prine), who takes them back to his place. Actually, he takes them to his barn, where Simone and company meet the other women. This is when they realize that Andre is utterly insane. He's an ex-circus performer with some serious issues!

The rest is a tale of degradation and doom, while the tortured trio's manager and the local sheriff attempt to locate them. Meanwhile, a marauding monster roams the desert, killing the unwary.

As weird movies go, this is in the upper echelon. Part PSYCHO, part TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and all bonkers, it's certainly one of a kind! The frustrating finale is one for the ages!...