It makes sense that a film would eventually use this powerful word as its title, but who would have guessed that the plot would involve a circus? I’m pretty sure that everyone was surprised to hear that, but we courageously kept on watching. Is the film intense enough to earn such a title? Well…it tries.

This is an example of a film that I had never heard of until I had seen it. Still, that’s how you find some of the best hidden gems! (The One!) The plot revolves around Monica Rivers, a circus owner, as mysterious happenings start occurring. Her circus performers are being picked off one by one. Coincidentally, they all started happening once a man named Frank appeared. He was very good at the role of the first victim and quickly took his job. Could there be any links between these unrelated accidents? More importantly, will the mass murderer be stopped or will the circus performers continue to be taken down for the count!?

Monica is the main character, but it’s really hard to root for her. I believe that we’re supposed to view her as the villain and then sympathize with her as the film goes on, but that just didn’t work for me. She values profit over people and explains this many times. She also makes sure to keep several of the characters interested in her so that she can have the joy of turning them down each time. Not really main character traits eh? All right, let’s talk about the other suspects characters.

Dorando is a character who owns part of the circus and he feels deeply saddened when the murders start. He’s not the type of guy to stand for something like this, but he also doesn’t dare leave. His only chance is for Monica to buy him out and then he could move away, but the chances of that are slim. Dorando wasn’t very likable either since he kept letting Monica push him around the whole time. Still…what if it’s part of his plan!?

Frank is the obvious suspect, but maybe it’s obvious because he is the villain!!!!!! He shows up right when the murders start happening and he obviously wants to make some money. He starts resorting to black mail and he also wants to be more than friends with Monica. This guy’s a bad apple in every meaning of the word and he even hits a reporter. There is also a dark past involving his last circus act…..hmmmmm. You really hope that he’s the culprit since he’s not likable either.

Angela doesn’t appear until we’re pretty late into the film, but she’s Monica’s daughter. She was kicked out of school for being a trouble maker and now she wants to be in the circus. Monica tries to shield her from the rumors that she is bumping everyone off, but Angela quickly finds out. Then again…what if she already knew and she was actually the murderer!? Things get interesting when she joins the knife throwing act….

I could keep on mentioning suspects for ages and ages! Still, I want to give you three more before I move on. We have Matilda, who is really interested in stirring up trouble. She suspects that Monica is guilty and she decides to prove it. Is this just a diversion so that nobody will suspect her!? Gustavo is a knife thrower and he realizes that things are getting a little dicey. The people aren’t really thrilled with Matilda and that doesn’t translate well for him. When he adds Angela into his act…he may have made a fatal enemy. That is…unless he is the enemy! Finally, we have Bruno! He’s the most loyal companion of them all and he’s the only one that Matilda can trust. Sounds a little too good to be true eh? There are definitely a lot of suspects in this one!

I’m always up for a good murder mystery, but this one just didn’t work. First of all….it’s a very long time between deaths and plot progression. We get to see a lot of Circus Shows and even the Cops get involved. I did like the Detective, but the shows could drag on. I liked the puppies, but who doesn’t like a good puppy right? The film wasn’t two hours, but it definitely felt like it was!

The violence is also surprisingly intense. It’s not always bloody, but the deaths themselves are what makes it intense. You have peaceful deaths like Superman blowing up random aliens…and you have Jason Todd deaths. This film had most of the latter. Seriously, some of the deaths will probably make you wince a little inside. The final one was ironically the most tame. This definitely felt like it was one of the original slasher films.

Finally, I’ve gotta take a shot at the soundtrack. The reason being….that it was not existent! When you don’t have any likable characters and a story that drags on for a while….you need the music! It’s just something that you can’t really get around. The film just wasn’t very thrilling and the final twist didn’t work.

Yes….the twist! Well, the murderer is revealed at the end and I didn’t agree with it. This person must be extremely talented at deception and possess a good deal of money to pull this off. It just doesn’t make sense unless there was an accomplice to the crime or some of the other characters felt like murdering someone. It definitely takes away from a murder mystery when the murderer doesn’t make any sense.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this was one of the better slasher/mystery films. The final plot twist about the murderer really did not make sense and I find it a little hard to believe. It really feels like there must have been a second murderer involved, but maybe I’m overthinking things. Still, if you want to enjoy a classic murder mystery or a case of epic proportions, check out Rope or Dial M for Murder. This film can stay in obscurity for now and we can wait for a reboot to fix things.

Overall 3/10