Atomik Circus

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.

An underground French treat. A stuntman is imprisoned for accidental destruction of his fiancée's father's bar. He escapes and searches desperately for his sweetheart. A couple of things get in his way. For a start starfish-like creatures decapitate drunk revellers and face-sucking aliens abound.

This was a trip! A french take on Bayou hospitality and fight for survival had me reeling hysterically whilst the leads had me enraptured. James Fleyming speaking french like a pro! Vanessa Paradis acting naturally and singing cool tunes that created a frenetic ambiance. The jambalayic melting pot of film genres was superb.

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!

Not the usual movie, it belongs to this kind of movie that you love or hate. I belong to the first category.

Definitivly worth a try. Someones rightfully mentioned bad taste - been a long time i have not heard about that movie - and while the two movies are rather different, they both belongs to the comedy/horror genre.

I found myself laughing a lot watching the movie, and being surprised every here and there by references i would have not expected to found (i'm not going to spoil but there are many).

Benoit is just excellent as an abusing impresario and despite i found Vanessa acting not as good, she shines as a singer and the overall ambiance and story had hooked enough to come here to comment about it.

While i think this movie deserve a notation around 7-8 i gave him a 10 to balance the love/hate effect that lead many to gave it a 1.

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....