Nightmare Circus is a 1973 American exploitation horror film directed by Alan Rudolph [as Gerald Cormier] from a screenplay co-written with Roman Valenti. It has also been released as Terror Circus and The Barn of the Naked Dead.
The film stars Andrew Prine (The Town that Dreaded Sundown; The Centerfold Girls; Simon: King of the Witches, Grizzly), Manuela Thiess, Sherry Alberoni and Gyl Roland.
The discordant jazzy score was provided by Tommy Vig (Sweet Sixteen; Forced Entry remake).
Plot:
Three young women are heading to Las Vegas to work as showgirls when their car breaks down in the desert.
Andre (Andrew Prine) offers to help them and takes them to his place where he keeps women confined in chains and makes them perform circus tricks in his barn.
Meanwhile, his father, who has become a homicidal mutant because of the homestead’s proximity to a nuclear power plant, lives next to them in a shed…
Buy The Barn of the Naked Dead + Scream from Amazon.com
Reviews:
“Lead lunatic Andrew Prine is the only one granted an actual character to play, which he essays with glowering eyes and little else. Director Alan Rudolph went on to work with Robert Altman on several features and became a celebrated art-house director in his own right; barely any of his future promise is evident in this amateurish mess of sex fantasy and nuclear horror.” Fred Beldin, AllMovie.com
“Though there isn’t much in the way of blatant skin or gore to be found here, fans of degenerate ’70s horror should still enjoy the antics of the always watchable Prine..” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital
“I did like the look of the movie and the music. It looked a whole lot like Texas Chain Saw Massacre ’74. The whole aesthetic was very similar, so it had that going for it. The music and sound effects were pretty damn creepy as well. But really, when the story goes nowhere, ends abruptly and there is no real action, it just isn’t enough.” Greg Baty, Cinesploitation
“Barn of the Naked Dead is terrible movie with bad acting and virtually no production values, but it would be a little bit better if it were content to be what it actually is – a piece of junk.” Welch Everman, Cult Horror Films
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
“This film is more about esthetics than plot. It has some nice set pieces and scenes but not a strong enough story to tie them together. It has the kind of things you might find there; a severed head in a bird cage, a monster escaping a locked room, a barn for of mutilated victims and a deranged ringmaster.” Sinful Celluloid
Choice dialogue:
“Why’s he got that cat in a cage? Why’s he got that cat at all?”
Cast and characters:
- Andrew Prine as Andre
- Manuela Thiess as Simone
- Sherry Alberoni as Sheri
- Gyl Roland as Corinne
- Sheila Bromley as Mrs. Baynor
- Gil Lamb as Mr. Alvarez
- Al Cormier as Sheriff Stanford
- Chuck Niles as Derek Moore
- Jeane Manson as Jean
Filming locations:
Lancaster and Palmdale, California, USA
