Vampire Circus

Vampire Circus is a 1972 British horror film, directed by Robert Young. It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael Carreras who was uncredited for Hammer Film Productions. It stars Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins billed as Anthony Corlan. The story concerns a travelling circus whose vampiric artists prey on the children of a 19thcentury Austrian village. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios.

Fifteen years later, Stetl is now being ravaged by a plague and blockaded by the authorities of neighboring towns, with men ready to shoot any villager who tries to leave. The citizens fear that the pestilence may be due to the Counts curse, though the new physician Dr. Kersh scoffs at the notion, dismissing vampires as just a myth. Then a travelling circus calling itself the Circus of Night arrives at the village, led by a dwarf and an alluring gypsy woman who are equivocal about how they got past the blockade. The villagers, appreciative of the distraction from their troubles, do not press the matter. While his courageous son Anton distracts the armed men at the blockade, Dr. Kersh gets past them to appeal for help from the capital. Neither he nor anyone back in the village suspect that one of the circus artists, Emil, is a vampire and Count Mitterhauss cousin. Emil and the gypsy woman go to the remains of the castle, where in the crypt they find the Counts staked body still preserved, and they reiterate his curse that all who killed him and all their children must die.At the Circus of Night, the villagers are amazed and delighted by the entertainment, including an erotic performance by two dancers dressed as a tigerwoman and her trainer. Despite his wifes concerns over their wayward daughter Rosas physical attraction to the handsome Emil, the Burgermeister takes her to the circus and, at the gypsy womans invitation, visits the hall of mirrors where he sees a vision in one of a revived Count Mitterhaus, causing him to collapse. Frightened by this event, Schilt tries to flee with his family from the blocked village guided by the dwarf Michael, only to be abandoned by him in the forest to be mauled to death by the circus panther. Mllers daughter Dora, who has slipped past the blockade and is returning to the village despite her anxious father having sent her away, discovers the Schilts dismembered bodies, arousing suspicions about the animals of the circus. Anton,

Source: Wikipedia