Atomik Circus

Atomik Circus is a crazy mix of comedy, musical, sci-fi and horror which, despite some great effects and a good deal of imagination, ultimately fails due to a poorly developed script and some bad pacing. The movie takes so long in introducing its offbeat characters that an hour passes before anything very interesting happens; by then, there isn't enough time left to develop a decent plot or even fit in a satisfying ending.

Jason Flemyng play James Battle, a stuntman who is jailed when a disastrous motorcycle jump results in the destruction of the Sam Paradiso bar, owned by Bosco, influential citizen of Skotlett, a backwater town inhabited mostly by weirdos—but also by Concia (Vanessa Paradis), Bosco's daughter and girlfriend of James.

Enter sleazy impresario Alan Chiasse (Benoit Poelvoorde) who pretends to be interested in promoting Concia's musical career, but who is really only interested in getting into her pants. As Alan is trying his best to seduce Concia, James is doing his utmost to reach his woman, having busted out of prison.

When James finally arrives at Skotlett, he not only finds his girl being pawed at by sleaze-bag Alan, but he also discovers that the town is under attack from face sucking tentacled creatures from another dimension.

The film only really gets going at this point, and it is here that we witness some great CGI monsters and lashings of gore, as the Lovecraftian beasts dismember and decapitate the helpless inhabitants of Skotlett. If the first 60 minutes had contained some of this crazy OTT action, I would have no hesitation in recommending Atomik Circus to fans of bizarre cinema; however, no amount of gore in the closing moments can make up for the tedious and disjointed first hour.

And the ending is just downright bizarre....

I just want to put some positive words about this film on IMDb because I really love it. Maybe it's not a real horror film. It's maybe just a real comedy... But I think it's a funny love story. Characters look like they come from comics, very caricatured, they don't have to speak, you know why they are here. They are all very humouristic, especially the owner of Toby.

The first time I watch it I didn't appreciate that much because shocked by the cut heads but quickly I wanted to watch another time and now I really like it.

You should try the original version, no other way to appreciate!

Well the only problem of this movie is the marketing campaign, it has been sold as the latest comedy in town, and it is one of the first gore Z-rated movie in a very long time.

Compare it to Bad Taste, any horror flick from the 50's, or eventually to a Troma movie (there is nothing like lesbian-vampire-sex scene in this one). If you like those things, you'll agree that while this movie does not renew the genre and is only a sort of modern version of those oldies, we haven't seen this kind of things since the mid-eighties.

Amazing that someone financed this stuff in 2004 (but rumors say that producers signed the contract based on the actors and did not read the first drafts...)

10/10 !

That's a lot of halves! This is just your average sci-fi/musical/comedy/gore/action French film! A very bizarre mix of different things that doesn't completely gel but has some interesting moments. Jason Flyming and Vanessa Paradis (that's Mrs. Johnny Depp to you) star as two lovers who are being kept apart by a angry father in a dusty small town that is getting ready to run their annual talent show competition. Then aliens attack. You can tell the directors were trying to go for that "all out" approach like a Peter Jackson flick, but they never fully succeed. The singing dog is nice though. Benoît Poelvoorde (the hit-man from MAN BITES DOG) co-stars as a sleazy talent agent and perhaps gives the best performance.

Story revolves around an escaped, die-hard romantic stuntman, a small-town singer, a sleazy businessman, a slow-witted villager who hurts his dog so he can hear it sing, and oh yeah, an alien invasion. Honestly this sounds like a pretty sweet flick. But for some reason, it just doesn't succeed in any particular area.

Atomik Circus features some good acting, especially by the dude who was the lead in Man Bites Dog, Benoit Poelvoorde. He was actually pretty memorable as the sleazy businessman who ends up suffering from an alien bite. Also, I had no clue Jason Flemyng could speak French. He didn't have really long lines, so maybe he just jumped on board because it seemed like an easy and fun role....that was probably it.

The movie had a weird vibe that reminded me of the movie Undead. Probably because it had a similar style, especially with the blood and gore. Atomik Circus had a real cooky vibe that felt like it was trying too hard to amuse the viewer. At times I was amused, by the over-the-top violence, but never really by anything jokey. The dude with the missing face, that completely fell flat.

Atomik Circus is a weird flick, and I can see many people enjoying it, and many people hating it. I'm in the middle ground because there were some good things about it, but overall it just kinda felt like a jumbled mess. Definitely a unique genre hybrid though, that's for sure. 5.5 outta 10