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

Plot

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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.

Cast

• 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

Reception

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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]

Home video

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]

See also

• List of American films of 1974

References

External links

• Nightmare Circus at IMDb
• Nightmare Circus at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Nightmare Circus at AllMovie
• Nightmare Circus at Rotten Tomatoes