Vampire Circus – 1972
A Hammer production presented by The Rank Organisation and released through Rank Film Distributors limited Copyright MCMLXXI Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
Westrex Recording System
Made at Pinewood Studios, London, England
Colour by Rank Film Processing 87 mins
Storyline
The folk of the town of Schtettel storm the local castle to destroy the vampire Count Mitterhaus, but as he expires he curses the town, foretelling that it and its children will die to give him back his life. Shortly afterwards, a plague-like illness descends on Schtettel claiming many lives and giving rise to thoughts that the curse is beginning to come true. Then, into this grim situation comes the Circus of Nights, a travelling troupe of performers and animals. At first the townspeople welcome them, pleased to have a diversion from their woes, but it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary circus, but one with strange and terrifying powers, summoned to the town to help fulfil the dead Count’s prophecy.
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Crew
| Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | |||
| Click a link for more info | Credited | Uncredited | Total | ||||||
| Animal Adviser | Mary Chipperfield | 34 | 26 Nov 1937 | Nov 2014 | 76 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Art Director | Scott MacGregor | 57 | 22 Oct 1914 | 1971 | 56 | 14 | 1 | 15 | |
| Ast. Art Director | Don Picton | 56 | 22 Feb 1916 | Nov 1981 | 65 | 15 | 2 | 17 | |
| Ast. Director | Derek Whitehurst | 43 | 2 Oct 1928 | 6 Dec 2005 | 77 | 16 | 16 | ||
| Camera Operator | Walter Byatt | 43 | 1 Jan 1929 | 94 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Casting Director | James Liggat | 52 | 1 Jan 1920 | 28 Sep 1981 | 61 | 29 | 2 | 31 | |
| Construction Manager | Arthur Banks | 18 | 29 | 47 | |||||
| Continuity | June Randall | 44 | 26 Jun 1927 | 18 Jan 2015 | 87 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Director | Robert Young | 39 | 16 Mar 1933 | 90 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Director of Photog. | Moray Grant | 54 | 13 Nov 1917 | 17 Sep 1977 | 59 | 29 | 29 | ||
| Dubbing Mixer | Ken Barker | 54 | 1 Jan 1918 | 13 Feb 2001 | 83 | 10 | 10 | ||
| Editor | Peter Musgrave | 41 | 1931 | May 2018 | 87 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Hairdressing | Ann McFadyen | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Make-up | Jill Carpenter | 4 Mar 2015 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Music Composer | David Whitaker | 41 | 6 Jan 1931 | 11 Jan 2012 | 81 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Musical Supervisor | Philip Martell | 64 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
| Producer | Wilbur Stark | 59 | 10 Aug 1912 | 11 Aug 1995 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Production Manager | Tom Sachs | 43 | 10 Apr 1929 | 94 | 8 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Production Supervisor | Roy Skeggs | 38 | 1 Apr 1934 | 29 Dec 2018 | 84 | 45 | 1 | 46 | |
| Screenplay | Judson Kinberg | 46 | 7 Jul 1925 | 2 Nov 2016 | 91 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sound Editor | Roy Hyde | 52 | 15 Feb 1920 | 28 Jun 1985 | 65 | 30 | 1 | 31 | |
| Sound Recordist | Claude Hitchcock | 53 | 8 Nov 1918 | 4 Oct 2010 | 91 | 14 | 4 | 18 | |
| Special Effects | Les Bowie | 58 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 | 11 | 43 | |
| Wardrobe Supervisor | Brian Owen-Smith | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Uncredited | |||||||||
| Art Dept Runner | Jimmy Carreras | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Ast. Boom Operator | Chris Munro | 20 | 1952 | 71 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Boom Operator | Keith Batten | 31 | 1941 | 82 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Chargehand Props | Danny Sundric | 43 | 28 May 1928 | 24 Apr 2014 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Chief Draughtsman | Richard Rambaut | 33 | 5 May 1938 | Nov 1974 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Clapper Loader | Peter Carmody | 28 | 1944 | 79 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Executive Producer | Michael Carreras | 44 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 82 | 3 | 85 | |
| First Ast. Editor | Roger Wilson | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Focus Puller | Bob Smith | 25 Jun 2012 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Gaffer | Vic Smith | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Grip | Ted Lockhart | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Production Accountant | Barrie Edwards | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Props Buyer | Edward Rodrigo | 61 | 14 May 1910 | May 2003 | 92 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Publicity Director | Frank Law | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Re-Recording Mixer | Graham V. Hartstone | 27 | 1 Jun 1944 | 78 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Second Ast. Director | Lindsey C. Vickers | 32 | 1940 | 83 | 7 | 7 | |||
| Sound Camera Operator | Laurie Reed | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Special Effects Ast. | Jeff Clifford | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Stand-by Props | Peter Wallis | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Stunt Double | Bradforts Amaros | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Third Ast. Director | Graham Easton | 25 | 26 Jun 1946 | 76 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Unit Runner | Adrian de la Haye | 25 | 1947 | 76 | 1 | 1 |
Cast
| Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | |||
| Credited | Uncredited | Total | |||||||
| Anna Mueller | Domini Blythe | 24 | 28 Aug 1947 | 15 Dec 2010 | 63 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Anton | John Moulder-Brown | 18 | 3 Jun 1953 | 69 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Burgermeister | Thorley Walters | 58 | 12 May 1913 | 6 Jul 1991 | 78 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Count Mitterhaus | Robert Tayman | 29 | 6 Jun 1942 | Dec 2022 | 80 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Dora Mueller | Lynne Frederick | 17 | 25 Jul 1954 | 27 Apr 1997 | 42 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Dr Kersh | Richard Owens | 40 | 26 Sep 1931 | 3 Nov 2015 | 84 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Elvira | Mary Wimbush | 48 | 19 Mar 1924 | 31 Oct 2005 | 81 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Emil | Anthony Corlan | 24 | 9 May 1947 | 75 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Gerta Hauser | Elizabeth Seal | 38 | 28 Aug 1933 | 89 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Gustav | Barnaby Shaw | 12 | 1 Jan 1960 | 63 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Gypsy Woman | Adrienne Corri | 40 | 13 Nov 1931 | 13 Mar 2016 | 84 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Hauser | Robin Hunter | 42 | 4 Sep 1929 | 8 Mar 2004 | 74 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Heinrich | Robin Sachs | 21 | 5 Feb 1951 | 1 Feb 2013 | 61 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Helga | Lalla Ward | 20 | 28 Jun 1951 | 71 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Jon | Roderick Shaw | 13 | 30 Jun 1958 | Apr 1996 | 37 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Michael | Skip Martin | 44 | 28 Mar 1928 | 4 Nov 1984 | 56 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Mueller | Laurence Payne | 52 | 5 Jun 1919 | 23 Feb 2009 | 89 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Rosa | Christina Paul | 24 | 1 Jan 1948 | 75 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Schilt | John Brown | 37 | 1 Jul 1934 | 5 Nov 2017 | 83 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Strongman | David Prowse | 36 | 1 Jul 1935 | 28 Nov 2020 | 85 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Uncredited | |||||||||
| Bell Ringer | Daniel Brown | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| Mitterhaus's Curse (voice) | David de Keyser | 44 | 22 Aug 1927 | 20 Feb 2021 | 93 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Schoolgirl | Nina Zuckerman | 20 | 14 Jan 1952 | 71 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Schoolgirl | Anna Bentinck | 24 | 18 May 1947 | 75 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Schoolgirl | Jenny Twigge | 22 | 19 Jan 1950 | 73 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Schoolgirl | Drina Pavlovic | 19 | 3 Jan 1953 | 70 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Village Councilor | Alan Gibbs | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Villager | Harold Sanderson | 55 | 1917 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Villager | Alf Mangan | 55 | 21 Oct 1916 | 16 Jun 1988 | 71 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Villager | Salo Gardner | 36 | 1936 | 2 Dec 2018 | 82 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Villager | Roy Beck (1) | 43 | 16 Nov 1929 | 14 Feb 1998 | 68 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Villager | Richard Calder | 18 | 25 Mar 1954 | 69 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Villager | Fred Machon | 3 | 3 |
Production
| FILMING BEGAN | 9 August 1971 | |
| UK RELEASE | 30 April 1972 | |
| STUDIO | Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Hertfordshire, England | |
| LOCATION | Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England | Forest scenes |
Footnotes
Actress Lynne Frederick later married comedy actor Peter Sellers. She died from the effects of alcoholism at 42.
Lalla Ward married actor Tom Baker after first appearing with him as a fellow Time Lord in BBC TV’s “Doctor Who”.
Producer Wilbur Stark was the father of actress/model Koo Stark, who created headlines by having an affair with Prince Andrew.
Laurence Payne’s part was originally meant to be played by Anton Rogers, but he had to pull out at the last moment owing to illness.
This film has the longest prologue of any Hammer film, which, at twelve minutes, is almost as long as one of the Company’s earlier featurettes!
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection