Movie #1870: Ring Of Fear (1954, James Edward Grant)
The worst movie ever made? Maybe. But like most of the worst-of-the-worst you keep watching so you can say that you've seen it. It's awfulness makes it more entertaining than a mere dull-as-dust flic. First off, this isn't really a movie: it's an extremely long advertisement for the Clyde Beatty Circus. They do throw in a psycho killer subplot but the main idea here is to sell you on what a great spectacle the circus is and that you oughta go to it the next time it's in town. There is also a sub advert for Signet Books and the novels of Mickey Spillane. And I wouldn't doubt that Coca-Cola may have thrown in a few shekels too.
And the acting: Clyde Beatty and Mickey Spillane are top billed: that sums that up. The psycho killer subplot was written by connecting cliches. Gotta admit the circus stuff looks nice: colour and Cinemascope. However, to see how the animals are treated would turn off many a potential customer today.
To sum up: mesmerizingly bad.
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