Blu Release – 3.5/5
Circus of Fear
Director(s) – Werner Jacobs (Die Dubarry) and John Llewellyn Moxey (The City of the Dead)
Starring – Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), Leo Genn (The Bloody Judge), and Anthony Newlands (Thriller)
Release Date – 1966
Rating – 2/5
Tagline – “The most horrifying syndicate of evil in history”
I absolutely love writing reviews. It is the high point of my day. I enjoy work for the most part and I love spending time with my family but writing reviews is how I release stress and let my mind wonder. Before I started writing reviews I was an avid collector. Several companies were guaranteed my money. One such company was Blue Underground. I absolutely loved their releases and would look forward to their newest releases. When I started writing reviews I was lucky enough to get in contact with them and now I get to check out their releases before they hit the street.
This has been a blessing and a curse. I get to check out their releases before anyone else but I sometimes have to write a bad review of their releases. Today, I have to write a bad review. Recently, Blue Underground releases a double feature of Circus of Fear and The Five Golden Dragons. I tossed it in and the first film in the set, Circus of Fear, was a dud.
**Spoiler Alert**The film begins with an armored car getting robbed by a group of men who then take off with the money. There is a rift between the robbers and one of them hides the money is a failing circus. The police are soon called when several bodies are discovered with throwing knives in them. The police suspect that someone in the circus is connected to the robbery but what they don’t know is two situations are coming together to make one nightmare.**Spoiler Alert**
Have you ever got excited to see a film only to have it blow up in your face? That was me with Circus of Fear. I was hooked with this film when I saw that Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski was attached. Sadly, the film was nowhere near the quality it should have been.
The acting in this one is decent for the most part. The film’s leads all do a a great job that gets the story movie but a grave injustice is done with this film. Two legends, Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, are cast in the film but are not utilized. Both actors are barely on screen and the biggest travesty is how Lee is forced to have his face covered in almost every scene he is in. It makes no fucking sense.
The story for this one could have been a fun crime drama but couldn’t make its mind up about what kind of film it wanted to be. The film begins as a crime drama before propelling itself into a murder mystery follows the who done it motif. Combining the two did not work that well but if the film would have followed one path it could have been one hell of a film.
Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they are not done that well. The kills, mostly knife kills, are done using clever camera angles and cuts resulting in the kill taking place off camera with little or no blood. The effects are non-existent which made the kills almost laughable. Overall, Circus of Fear is one big ass disappointment. The story is all over place, the acting was a let down, and the kill are atrocious. Skip this one.
The Five Golden Dragons
Director – Jeremy Summers (Nightmare)
Starring – Robert Cummings (Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color), Margaret Lee (Asylum Erotica), and Rupert Davies (Dracula Has Risen from the Grave)
Release Date – 1967
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “girls, gold, intrigue!”
I didn’t know how to approach this one. When I was sent the Circus of Fear/The Five Golden Dragons double feature from Blue Underground I assumed that Circus of Fear would be the better film of the two but I quickly discovered that CoF was pretty shitty. Usually Blue Underground sends over films that are entertaining in one aspect or another but I couldn’t find any redeeming qualities with CoF. That put a lot of pressure on the second film in the set, The Five Golden Dragons. This one, also, had Klaus Kinski in it. I now wish I would have opened with this film instead of the other.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows an American who is under investigation by the Hong Kong police when someone he is supposed to meet up falls to his death from his apartment building. He befriends two beautiful sisters and tries to have a good time but one of them gets caught up a conspiracy involving an organized crime syndicate and a group of wealthy men who control them known as the Golden Dragons. Now he must work closely with the police in order to bring down the dragons.**Spoiler Alert**
After watching Circus of Fear I went into The Five Golden Dragons with no hope and low expectations. However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. The film was flawed and had a lot of situations that could now be considered racist but it still had a redeeming quality that most films like it could not replicate.
The acting in this one is fantastic. The entire cast delivers exceptional performances. The women are all beautiful and extremely talented and the men are offer up outstanding performances. With all that being said, Robert Cummings was phenomenal. The cast is great, and I mean this as no disrespect to them, but the film would not have been as fun if someone else was cast.
The story for this one is not that original but was something different at the time it was released. The spy movies of late 60s were mostly Bond clones that relied heavily on gadgets, espionage, and sex appeal. This film follows the Get Smart approach and offers up humor in place of story. The film still has sex appeal but humor is this films driving force. The acting is there but it doesn’t hold the viewer’s attention like it should.
Finally, those of you looking for blood will not find it here. There is a few deaths but they are laughable and offer up no blood or effects. This film is purely story driven and not for the horror fan. Overall, The Five Golden Dragons is a fun action comedy that is far from perfect but does offer up some laughs. The titles is misleading but still fits the story. Check it out but don’t expect much.
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