Vampire Circus

In a moonlit evening near Stetl, schoolmaster Albert Müller watches his wife Anna lead a little girl into the mysterious Castle Mitterhaus. Villagers storm the castle and a brutal fight ends with Count Mitterhaus dead by a wooden stake. As he dies, the Count curses the villagers, vowing their children will die to restore his life; Anna appears to become his acolyte. The castle is blown up and set on fire as Anna escapes through a tunnel.

Fifteen years pass, and Stetl is scourged by a plague while surrounding towns blockade it. The new physician, Dr. Anton Kersh, dismisses vampire myths as superstition. A traveling Circus of Night arrives, run by Michael the dwarf and a beguiling gypsy woman, offering entertainment and a glimmer of relief from the siege.

Emil and the gypsy return to the castle ruins and uncover the Count's preserved staked body in the crypt. They recite the Count's old curse: all who killed him, and all their children, must die. The gypsy wonders aloud whether everyone must die to restore his life.

Anton Kersh secures an imperial order to seek help in the capital while the blockade holds the villagers under threat. Meanwhile the Circus of Night provides distraction, and the circle of suspicion around vampires grows.

At the Circus of Night, Rosa is drawn to Emil, while her husband Peter, the Bürgermeister, joins them for the show. In the hall of mirrors, Peter gazes into 'The Mirror of Life' and suddenly glimpses a revived Count; he collapses from the shock.

Schilt attempts to flee the blockaded village with his family, guided by the circus dwarf Michael. The guide abandons them in the forest, and Emil, in his panther form, attacks and kills Michael before turning on the refugees.

Dora Müller, Müller's daughter, slips back toward the village and discovers the dismembered bodies of the Schilt family and other victims; fear grows that circus animals are behind the killings. The murder spreads panic through the town and seasons suspicion toward the Circus of Night.

Jon and Gustav Hauser, drawn by the gypsy woman, enter the hall of mirrors and are lured into the Count's crypt where they are killed and drained of blood, fueling further fear and anger among the villagers.

Peter dies of heart failure after an encounter with Emil, while Rosa elopes with the vampire, leaving her husband behind to face the growing menace alone.

Dora and Anton are lured by the twins Heinrich and Helga into the hall of mirrors and toward the Mirror of Life; Dora's cross saves her from being drawn through the life-illusion, delaying the Count's schemes for the moment.

Vampires invade the schoolhouse where Dora and Anton hide. Emil, in panther form, slaughters the boarding students to divert Anton, while the gypsy woman tears the cross from Dora's neck, allowing Heinrich and Helga to attack. Dora escapes into the school chapel, where a gigantic crucifix finally overwhelms the twins.

Anna—revealed as the gypsy mother of Emil and the twins—becomes suddenly remorseful and is killed while attempting to save Dora from Emil in the crypt.

Dr. Kersh returns with imperial escort and medicines; news of vampire killings travels to the capital. The townsmen attack the Circus of Night and set it on fire, killing the strongman in the struggle, while Hauser dies in the blaze.

Hauser stares into the Mirror of Life and sees Emil and Anna draining Gerta; the distraction costs him his life as the fire consumes the circus. The vision unnerves the villagers but cannot halt the catastrophe.

In the crypt, Müller, Kersh, and a soldier break in to rescue Dora and Anton. Emil fights fiercely, but Müller pierces the Count with the stake from the Count's own chest, reviving him. The Count rises and advances toward Dora and Anton until Anton uses Müller's crossbow as a cross, ramming the weapon to repel the undead and decapitating the Count with a final shot. The villagers set the ruins aflame and escape into the night, while Dora and Anton survive, though a bat escapes the tomb and vanishes into the night, leaving their fate uncertain.