''Blood Circus'' (also known as ''Blood Circus Wrestling'') is a 1985 independent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

film about intergalactic

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

. It was produced by

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

-native Santo Victor Rigatuso, also called Robert "Bob" Harris, who promoted it through

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

s for his mail-order "Santo Gold"

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

business. Though it had a brief regional release funded by Rigatuso, the film never received distribution.

Plot

Aliens from the planet Zoran are sent to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

to fight against professional wrestlers from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, but prove to actually be

man-eaters Maneater or man-eater may refer to: * Man-eating animal, an individual animal or being that preys on humans as a pattern of hunting behavior * Man-eating plant, a fictional form of carnivorous plant large enough to kill and consume a human or other ...

who devour their opponents upon defeating them.

Cast

*Santo Victor Rigatuso as Santo Gold * John Harris (III) *Jerry Reese (as Voodoo Malumba) *Vinnie Valentino

Production

Filming for ''Blood Circus'' began in 1985 on a purported budget of $2 million, largely financed by Rigatuso's Credit Card Authorization Center business. This business offered customers with bad credit histories the opportunity to purchase a fake credit card for $50, with which they could only purchase exclusive "Santo Gold" jewelry (Rigatuso would later serve ten months in prison in 1989 for

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

in relationship to the enterprise). One of the key moments in ''Blood Circus'' was filmed at the

Baltimore Civic Center CFG Bank Arena is a multipurpose arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This venue is located about one block away from the Baltimore Convention Center on the corner of Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place in downtown Baltimore. With a seating capacity ...

, where Rigatuso, playing a character called Santo Gold, performs a song before the climactic wrestling match. The song lyrics have nothing to do with the film; instead, the song promotes Rigatuso's "Santo Gold" jewelry. Extras were paid $10 each to sit in arena and observe the action. Some of the "Earth wrestlers" were actual professional wrestlers from the

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

-based

Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company. ...

6:05 Superpodcast, "Episode 18: Later, Brotherrr..." March 24, 2016 promotion, including Douglas “Ox” Baker, an experienced actor in his own right, Vinnie Valentino, and

Eric Embry Douglas Eric Embry (born July 10, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Championship Wrestling from Florida, World Class Championship Wrestling, and the United States Wrestling Association. ...

. On June 5, 1985, it was reported in ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'' that Rigatuso was planning to release a 30-minute documentary on the production and an album to promote the film.

Release

After spending two years editing the film, Rigatuso could not find a distributor for the ''Blood Circus''; he ended up renting several theaters in the Baltimore area to show his film. It was shown for only a week, and took in far less than it cost to produce. The film was never shown to the public after it ended its initial run, and the original copy was believed to have been lost. Clips of ''Blood Circus'' can still be seen in portions of "Santo Gold" infomercials circulating on the Internet. "Scream bags" were also provided to moviegoers as a promotional tie-in. The bags had a long

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

about ''Blood Circus'' on each side, as well as a coupon for a free

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

ring from Rigatuso's "Santo Gold" infomercials. In 2008, Santo Gold claimed that the 35mm negatives of ''Blood Circus'' had finally been found, and that producers were being sought for its release.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0088824, title=Blood Circus
Santo Gold - Ridiculous Infomercial Review
*YouTube
Archived Santogold infomercials
1985 films Professional wrestling films American science fiction horror films Films shot in Baltimore Infomercials 1980s science fiction horror films Rediscovered American films American independent films 1985 independent films 1980s rediscovered films 1980s American films American wrestling films 1985 science fiction films