Circus of Horrors 2001 Horror Movie Review

Fete of Death

“Circus of Horrors” has always been one of my favorite horror films.  From its very beginning when the disfigured woman confronts her face in the mirror and belts out a deranged scream of “Rossiter! Rossiter!” it grabs you by the throat in an outrageous meolodramatic way.  The entire movie has an off-kilter nightmare quality to it, reaching its zenith at the eponymous circus of horrors that Rossiter, Anton Diffring, creates in France.  Tame by today’s standards compared to horror fare like “Saw,” it nevertheless ratchets up the suspense when members of the circus start dying horribly.  Anton Diffring has a field day as the psychotic plastic surgeon Rossiter who becomes progressively more psychotic as he has to commit more and more murders to protect his true identity.