CIRCUS OF FEAR (1966) ** Christopher Lee gets top billing for spending most of the film running around with a pillowcase over his head, but I have to admit to being surprised that he could express so much through the narrow eye slits. Still, he's no match for Leo Genn, who does a splendid Dangermouse imitation throughout. John Llewellyn Moxey does a good job of keeping the screen interesting and his use of sound is very distinctive. It's almost comedically geared, like the Batman tv show or something, but there's no comedic intent and little inappropriate communication. It's more dramatic and overtly cinematic-like the stuff that Guy Ritchie would pull visually thirty years down the road. I appreciated it when they knocked off one of Margaret Lee and Suzy Kendall, as I was having difficulty telling them apart and fears of a global peroxide shortage. It's a crime thriller, not a horror film, but Klaus Kinski is scary no matter what, and all the Germans around the edges (and Lee, doing his best Bela Lugosi voice) add something sinister to the pastoral English scenes.
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