Nightmare Circus (also known as Barn of the Naked Dead or Terror Circus) is a 1974 horror film directed by Alan Rudolph, who took over production after the first few days were handled by producer Gerald Cormier.[1] The film was co-written by Cormier and Roman Valenti.
Nightmare Circus | |
---|---|
![]() Nightmare Circus theatrical release poster when the film was re-released as Terror Circus | |
Directed by | Alan Rudolph |
Written by | Alan Rudolph Roman Valenti |
Produced by | Shirlee F. Jamail |
Starring | Andrew Prine Manuela Thiess Sherry Alberoni |
Cinematography | E. Lynn |
Music by | Tommy Vig |
Production company | CMC Pictures Corp. |
Distributed by | Twin World |
Release date | August 1974 (U.S.) |
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2015) |
Three showgirls head to Las Vegas for work when their car breaks down. Andre (Andrew Prine) offers to help them and takes them to his place, where he keeps women confined in chains, barefoot, and makes them perform circus tricks in his barn. 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.
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2015) |
DVD Verdict panned the film, commenting that it was "just dull and dumb".[2] In the book Cult Horror Films Welch Everman criticized the movie's attempt to contain what he saw as "phony feminism", as he felt that it was added as a way to allow viewers to enjoy the movie's violence against its female protagonists and "not feel guilty afterwards".[3] AllMovie gave the film a negative review complimenting the film's premise, but criticized the film's failure at delivering the "kinky delights" it promised, slow pacing, and lack of character development, calling the film an "amateurish mess of sex fantasy and nuclear horror".[4]
The film was first released on DVD by Legend House LLC on January 29, 2008. It was later re-released by Shriek Show and Code Red on March 31, 2009 and September 27, 2011, respectively, with Code Red releasing the film as a double feature alongside the 1981 horror film Scream under its Barn of the Naked Dead title.[5]
Films directed by Alan Rudolph | |
---|---|
|