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Nightmare Circus (1974)


From the acclaimed director of “The Moderns” and “Choose Me” we have a timeless, heartwarming tale of a deranged man living in rural Nevada who kidnaps stranded female motorists (which there seem to be an inordinate amount of for rural Nevada) and, bullwhip in hand, trains them to perform in his private circus, all the while his father who has been turned into deformed monster by radiation from nuclear tests runs amuck.

As other reviewers have noted there is a definite lack of nakedness in this movie alternatively titled “Barn of the Naked Dead”, but a lot of bare breasts and female buttocks would only distract from the real (and perhaps only) reason to see this movie–Andrew Prine. Andrew Prine was second only to David Hess when it came to portraying sick psychopaths in 70’s drive-in movies, but where Hess’s psychos were just flat-out creeps, Prine’s could be hilariously funny (even though it wasn’t always clear whether the actor himself was in on the joke as he always seemed to take these roles VERY seriously). While this is far from his best work, Prine is always fun to watch.

This movie might also have a bit of “car wreck” appeal considering that it is loudly rattling skeleton in the closet of esteemed director Alan Rudolph. It has an incredibly ridiculous ending that can perhaps only be explained by Prine and the three female leads all walking off the set before the final scene leaving Rudolph to completely pull something out of his. . .well, see it and tell me where it came from. It’s hard to believe that anybody would make a movie like this, let alone the otherwise respectable Rudolph.