8mm Forum: Vampire Circus-3x600ft.87mins.

This is topic Vampire Circus-3x600ft.87mins. in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on September 07, 2007, 11:08 AM:

Here my view on this 1971 Hammer film.This is another feature that the late,great Derek Simmonds got with his deal with Rank...
We open with a long pre-title sequence when a Count Mitterhouse,has just murdered a child of the village of Schtettel.The prominent members of the village,break into the Count's castle,and put the vampire to death.However,not before the evil Count has put a death curse on them,and the whole village...
Fifteen years later,a mysterious circus arrives in town.At first everything seems normal,but when the local children start to die,as well as some promiant citizens,just as the evil Count,had sayed,the locals turn on the circus...
At first glance,this may seem like a run of the mill,Hammer vampire movie,but it's not.The idea,for example to have cirus animals,take human forum,then vampire,is certainly original.
Well directed by Robert Young,he has done this tale in a fresh light.There's one very atmopheric(and quite scary),scene in a forset in which three fleeing villagers are hunted down and killed by a panther.There is some scences of gore and nudity,
but its so well done that this is one title all horror addicts should have in their collection.
Nice sharp print with excellent colour.I should put out that if anyone is fastidious,then you should note that there is a certain amount of wear on this print.I can still recommend this,despite the wear.Horror fans dont miss it!.Andy.
PRINT B.
SOUND B-.

Posted by Ralf Hoff (Member # 36) on September 08, 2007, 03:34 AM:

Hi Andrew,

great review. I've this print also in my hammer collection and find it's a great movie. Not so atmospheric like the Dracula or Frankenstein films but it makes fun to see on the screen.

Ralf

Cine 8-16
www.celluloidfilm.de

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on September 10, 2007, 04:31 PM:

Hi Ralf.Is your print from Derann or Walton?.Andy.

Posted by Ralf Hoff (Member # 36) on September 11, 2007, 02:24 AM:

Andrew,

it is the Derann print with 3x 600 ft. I've never seen the Walton print and i think the walton is not a full feature (4x400 ft).

Here in Germany are some other full feature prints on "Umkehrmaterial" (sorry but I dont know the english word for this filmmaterial), but the quality is not so good (the master has scratches etc.).

So I prefer the Derann print, because it has a very good quality and is the full feature.

Have you ever seen the 200 footer (Castle of Death)?????

Ralf

Cine 8-16
www.celluloidfilm.de

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on September 11, 2007, 03:35 AM:

Many years ago I used to have short of the movie which I think was the Castle of Death cut. Very good print from James Beney (Mr Walton Films)along with his partner Brian Harris.

Walton also did 9.5mm prints of which I have several and the prints were also super. Considering Walton started trading in 1948 they had a hefty catalogue of titles and Vampire Circus is a good print.

One point of interest is that Dave Prowse (Darth Vader) is also in it and he is coming along to the Northern Film Collectors event in November here in the UK. I wonder if Derann will include this clip in Dave’s programme?

There I go again waffling on...

Nice flyer on ebay at the moment and here is the item number.
220147427796

Looks like Vampire Circus was shown as a double bill at the Cinema and here is the poster.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on November 07, 2007, 11:46 AM:

I love this film and thought the quality nice from Derann.. The Vampire nights always go down well here with the Super 8 shows and if adding a touch of Bela Lugosi prior to a Hammer it makes for a fun night.

A few of our specially devised red drinks add to the theme and modelling my Vampire cape we get in the spirit of things.

Great fun projecting these releases, and only to had on Super 8 from Derann.
Fantastic.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on November 07, 2007, 01:57 PM:

Wow...looks like you have a great time being a showman..a true showman for films and the film experience. Wish more theaters were able to be creative like that. Would like to email you about the film we've been discussing. Tried a private message , but your profile doesn't have an email address and since they've disabled the PM function, email is the only way to go. mine is gary.crawford@usda.gov

thanks...keep enjoying the movies.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on November 07, 2007, 04:31 PM:

Although I've got the Derann 3 x 600' feature and would also recommend it, a very good 600' can be produced by combining 'Castle of Death' which is an edited version of the very long pre-credits sequence and the 400', which starts with the credits. I once had both, before getting the 4 x 400', and the 400' was a better print than 4 x 400'. 'Castle of Death' had two or three shots in it that were not in 4 x 400'.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on November 08, 2007, 03:40 AM:

Hi Gary. Yes its all part of the fun for us and I do like to go the distance and make sure everyone has a good time. My speciality is doing Mr Pastry (Richard Hearne) which some of you may remember, particularly in the US as he appeared on TV quite a bit there. Superb hobby this and it doesn’t just have to be about the film collecting and projectors, you can with a little thought come up with a few bright ideas to make a memorable night out for your friends.

Happy days.

[ November 13, 2007, 08:08 AM: Message edited by: Lee Mannering ]

Posted by Timothy Ramzyk (Member # 718) on February 29, 2008, 12:28 AM:

I thought Derann did a great job with this one, it seems more detailed than even DRACULA. I did a backyard movie-party with it once and it went over quite well, I like it the best of the "Karnstein" Hammers.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on February 29, 2008, 02:24 PM:

An entertaining film, but in fact not one of the 'Karnstein trilogy', which was 'The Vampire Lovers', 'Lust for a Vampire' and 'Twins of Evil'. It's a shame that the first of these never appeared on Super 8, other than the trailer.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on January 30, 2009, 07:43 AM:

Just got the Feature version of Vampire Circus.....and what a hoot. I had never seen the film before and was bowled over by the story, the nudity...the atmosphere and the print quality. This thing was flawless ....sharp as you can get with no marks of any kind. Good strong mono sound. they did a magnificent job of printing this one.

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on December 02, 2018, 05:31 PM:

Here is a Excellent Derran Release! Super 8 sound. Made in 1971. On 3× 600 ft reels. A Hammer Horror film. A sharp print and nice color. The Storyline is The people of a small town hunt and Destroy the head vampire. So his backup comes to town for Revenge. In the from of circus performers! The villagers are attacked one by one! This film is full of violence and lots of nudity! Rated R. Good cast. A head of its time. One of Hammers best! Well made! Review by Leon Norris.

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