The first ten minutes of this movie were the last thing I was expecting when I popped this puppy into my DVD player. The film opens as an extremely well-planned armored car heist is being set into motion. A number of characters are shown doing their various tasks to pull off the job with precise detail and all is going great until one of the crooks shoots one of the guards. After the heist is completed, the opening credits roll and I realize that this was not the movie I was expecting it to be. Instead of the nutbar in a circus slasher flick I was hoping for, I instead was treated to a "krimi" (a German crime thriller) that twisted and turned to somewhat predictable finale.

Leo Genn (The Bloody Judge) stars as Inspector Elliott, the cop who catches the case of the heist. Elliott is on a quest for the money and a murderer after one of the crooks is murdered. The search leads him to Barbarini's circus run where he poses as a journalist. Among the circus employees/suspects that Elliott has to sift through we have the ringleader Carl (Heinz Drache), a knife thrower (Maurice Kaufmann), his ex-girlfriend (Margaret Lee from Slaughter Hotel), a lion tamer who is always wearing a mask over his head to cover his disfigured face (Christopher Lee), and his apprentice (Suzy Kendall from The Bird With The Crystal Plumage). Also lurking around is Klaus Kinski who was sent by the mob to find the missing money.

Those of you who are expecting a horror movie may be disappointed by the lack of gore and action but if you are a fan of mysteries and red herrings, you will be pleased. Veteran TV director John Moxey (Horror Hotel) does a fine job setting up a number of motives for the various characters and keeping you guessing throughout. Although I was able to rule out many of the suspects with relative ease, I was still somewhat surprised by the outcome. Aside from a slightly confusing explanation of Lee's family history the plot clipped along nicely with the murder spaced out to keep things interesting. While the krimis were not as graphic as the Italian giallos of the 70's, many of the devices were there with the large cast of characters with various issues and we even had an unscrupulous midgit named Mr. Big with a penchant for blackmailing people and being a pain in the ass.

As I have stated above Circus Of Fear is not a horror movie nor is it a movie starring Christopher Lee. The real star of the show here is Leo Genn with Lee having a large supporting role. In the marketing campaign this film is touted as a horror picture (it was renamed Psycho Circus for the US release) but this is not the case. If you can get past this and enjoy it for the 60's sleazeless mystery that it is, you should not be disappointed. The screenplay was based on a story by Edgar Wallace. (Josh Pasnak, 6/28/05)

Directed By: John Moxey.
Written By: Peter Welbeck (Harry Alan Towers).

Starring: Leo Genn, Christopher Lee, Margaret Lee, Suzy Kendall.