I saw this on TV as a kid and the memory of it always stayed with me - a combination of its production design, the novelty of its circus setting and bleak atmosphere, I suppose. Watching it years on the production design and colour continue to impress but I was a little disappointed.
Maybe that's unfair, it could just be one of those "not as good as I remembered" situations. But still, I think there's an essential problem with the concept - a mad plastic surgeon (one of your dedicated Frankenstein types, and I suppose Anton Diffring is an okay Peter Cushing substitute) seeks refuge in a circus. Those two don't really go together - circuses aren't great hiding places for plastic surgeons, certainly not like say labs for mad scientists or lunatic asylums.
There's also some unmemorable support cast like the brother and sister associated with the doctor, a dull detective and Hammer starlet Yvonne Monlaur as a bland hot girl. I really wish more screen time had been given to Donald Pleasance, who is typically sparky as the owner of the circus (killed in a fight with a bear!) but Colette Wilde is touching as a victim of Diffring's surgery. There are some interesting deaths such as a woman on a spinning wheel, and lots of attractive women.
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