If you’re into gun-slinging and machete-wielding clowns, then come join THE LAST CIRCUS

           The Last Circus is part horror, part action, part comedy, and all around Spanish grindhouse-celluloid. This show deserves a round of applause for the bold imagination of filmmaker Alex de Iglesia. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun at the movies in a while.

The Last Circus is a mad, twisted tale full of gore, sex, and vengeful killer clowns.

      The film begins in Spain, circa 1937, when the citizens were persecuted by the Republican Army. That’s right—no more freedom, no more circuses, and no more clowning around. The director immerses the viewer into a spectacular and gorgeously shot war sequence in which the Republican Army ransacks a circus show. The look and grittiness of the battle scene is, in a technical sense, reminiscent of Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998). The frame rate of the gruesome, opening shots is split in half, and the images vibrate, as if the camera is attached to a moving power-drill.

            The central hero of The Last Circus, Javier, is an aspiring “sad clown,” continuing the circus-performing legacy in his family. Javier survives the persecution of Franco-ruled Spain in the 30s and 40s, and then moves into the early 70s, during the large, economic growth. The filmmakers create a terrific and mordant, opening credit sequence—a cheeky montage that holds-up to the super-cool, found-footage compilation in the beginning of Natural Born Killers (1994). The early images mix movie monsters with dictators and presidents; cleverly reflecting war persecution and social repression.

        When the film cuts to the present, 1973, the cinematography switches from a cold, smoky-bluish hue, to a vibrant and spritely New Spain. The look of the old world and the new world greatly contrast.  Unfortunately, the historical elements don’t weave very well into the outrageous story, but the point of the film isn’t to provide a realistic, history lesson for the viewer. Sensationalism is the filmmakers’ first priority and the history of Spain merely serves as the backdrop.

In the film we learn that the sad and pitifully jealous clown-hero never had a real childhood. As an adult, he’s emotionally tormented by his demented boss, Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), the lead clown of the circus, and his promiscuous, acrobatic lover, Natalia (Carolina Bang). Consequently, Javier feels obliged to protect the circus whore, and ends-up being beaten to a bloody pulp by his meal ticket, Sergio. The hero of the film is first portrayed as a confused, psychologically scarred, shy clown and then gradually develops into an angry-rollicking-killing machine. In the final act of the film, Javier takes a mad turn for the worse. His clown makeup is comprised of burning a layer of skin off his face with sodium chloride and placing a hot iron against his cheeks. To add to the shocking, comedic elements, the director giddily applies CGI (Computer Graphics Imagery) to some of the exaggerated and action-packed images.

The filmmakers aren’t trying for realism; the special effects and art direction are justly over-the-top. The tongue-and-cheek visual style nicely matches the overtone of the out-of-control plot-line. The Last Circus is definitely all over the place, weirdly mixing humor, gruesomeness, kinky sex, and a rain-storm of bullets, but it’s a show that’s hard to shake off. The Last Circus ran its final show Thursday night at the Texas Theatre in Dallas. However, it will be available on DVD and Blue-Ray in October; don’t forget to check this bad boy out.

*** (out of four stars)