Director – “Bloody” Bill Pon (Doll Boy)
Starring – Bill Oberst Jr. (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, Krampus: The Christmas Devil), Parrish Randall (Jacob, Chillerama), and Chanel Ryan (Dead Sea)
Release Date – 2014
Rating – 4/5
Indie horror is always a surprise. A great deal of the indie horror flicks I get to watch are usually made by people who get a wild hair up their ass and decide to quit their day jobs to pursue a career in film making. Very few filmmakers are able to make something that stands out and becomes something much more.
Several years back I was a member of several horror forums and a short titled Doll Boy started to make quite a stir among them. I never watched the short but it is one that is still being talked about to this day. The director of the short, Billy Pon, was able to ride that success into a full length feature titled Circus of the Dead starring the incredible Bill Oberst Jr. This is a film I had to see. I reached out to Bloody Bill and he was kind enough to hook me up with an online screener of the film. Thanks Bloody Bill!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a hard working family man, his adulterous wife, and his two teenage daughters as they go to the circus for the night. While there a group of clowns, lead by Papa Corn (Oberst), take a liking to the man’s trophy wife. The trick him into thinking he won a prize just to get his address.
They then attack her and her cop boyfriend while he is out to work murdering them both and abducting his daughters. When the man arrives at the house the clowns snag him and toss him in a murderous game in order get his daughters back.**Spoiler Alert**
I’m going to be painfully honest and admit that I usually stay away from films that get a lot of love by the indie horror scene. Most of the time these films just never live up to the hype they receive by most of the people. However, after seeing all the promo material for Circus of the Dead I had to see it and see if all these people were right about Billy Pon and his short Doll Boy. I have to say they were because Circus of the Dead and Doll Boy (review coming soon) were both fan-fucking-tastic. Circus of the Dead surpassed every bit of my expectations and then some. Sadly, it did raise the bar pretty damn high for what I will want to see out of future indie affairs.
The acting in this one is award winning. The entire cast outdid themselves with Oberst leading the pack. This man has talent that surpasses any Hollywood actor in the game. This man really is the indie horror’s working man similar to Lance Henriksen was in the peak of his outstanding career. This man can really turn any role into gold and his Papa Corn character is no exception. He performance will immortalize this character and I, for one, will love to see him return to future Pon films. The story for this one is a very ambitious one for an indie flick.
The story is very original, detailed, and bold which made for one hell of a fun time. A lot of thought and hard work went into the story and it shows off. Finally, the film is filled with great special effects. They make all the kills even more impressive. The kills are fun, bloody, and brutal. I knew the film would have impressive kills but I did not expect them to be like they were. Overall, Circus of the Dead is a phenomenal film that will be damned hard to beat. The film is perfectly acted, written, filmed, and displayed making it almost near perfect and an amazing indie flick. If you like creepy clowns, brutal kills, and memorable characters then this one is for you. I highly recommend it!
Yeeees.. that’s my name again – Cinematographer!