In horror films, many directors like to use freeze frames paired with specially designed sound effects to enhance the feeling of terror, or to suddenly introduce jumpscares during a static scene to heighten the sense of horror.
However, ‘Thriller Circus’ was clearly different from these two filming methods. What Ye Zhou used to intensify the tense atmosphere and heighten the horror scenes was running.
An endless, relentless run. Using the act of running to amplify the audience’s anxiety. This movie didn’t have a specific point where the horror began; instead, the entire film maintained this state of suspense from beginning to end.
As long as the protagonist was on the run, the audience’s hearts were constantly in their throats. They watched intently, afraid of missing any detail. The entire film, besides being pervaded with tension, was also steeped in an overwhelming sense of despair.
Unlike other films where the protagonist or protagonists have opportunities to fight back, this one offers none. Ye Zhou and Ren Zi’an set the monsters in the movie to be excessively powerful. Just escaping without being caught by these creatures was already extremely challenging. The disparity in strength was so vast that the thought of resistance didn’t even arise.
All they could do was run—run for their lives, with no other choice.
Of course, considering that prolonged running and fleeing would cause visual fatigue for the audience, Ye Zhou and Ren Zi’an decided to intersperse the various death scenes of the characters.
At the time, Ren Zi’an, the screenwriter, had some hesitation because, according to his design, there would be intervals between the running sequences to allow the actors to catch their breath. During these moments, they could develop camaraderie and romantic relationships amidst the escape—elements that could relieve the tempo and let the audience’s nerves relax for a bit.
After all, every film has its climaxes, but there must also be plateaus and valleys. But if they followed Ye Zhou’s approach, it would be non-stop high intensity, either fleeing or on the path to death.
To truly go that route would be… a bit too stimulating!
Faced with Ren Zi’an’s and the assistant directors’ suggestions, Ye Zhou calmly shook his head and chuckled, easily settling on such a demented plot with the rationale of “giving a jolt to those visually fatigued viewers.”
Varied death scenes to satisfy you. Not satisfied? No problem, we’ve lined up over a dozen more, each one more imaginative than the last. You name it, we’ll deliver a death scene you can’t even conceive of. Guaranteed satisfaction.
What’s that, you don’t want to see blood splattering everywhere? No big deal, we’ve prepared other bonus packages for you.
Fleeing from ghosts and monsters not terrifying enough? Come, let Director Ye show you the horrors of the human heart.
The film also had another brilliant aspect: where there are people, there are schemes and machinations. Especially in such life-and-death situations, people can indeed abandon everything to stay alive.
Conscience, morality, humanity— all of these mean nothing when faced with the threat of death.
Just fifteen minutes into the film, five people already died, averaging one death every three minutes. But through such sacrifices, among the nine remaining survivors, the clever ones began to discern the patterns of this massive circus.
With each circus tent they passed, the pursuing monster changed. The tents seemed to be the monsters’ territories; once outside a territory, the previous monster would no longer give chase, replaced by the monster ruling the next tent’s domain.
They could not be caught by the monster behind them, or they would die.
This was Ren Zi’an’s original basic setting, which Ye Zhou did not make many changes to it. After discussions, however, they added an inconspicuous supplement to this rule:
The monsters must not catch them; being caught means death. However, the monsters will only kill one person at a time.
This seemingly insignificant addition serves to intensify the conflicts between all the characters, further exacerbating the tensions.
When Ren Zi’an understood Ye Zhou’s intent, he nearly knelt before the director—it was so cruel, so demented!
If there were no limit to the number of deaths the monsters could inflict each time, the characters would simply run individually. Those who ran slowly or lacked stamina would be eliminated, and the conflicts between characters would be limited.
But with this supplementary rule added, everything changed completely. For instance, the situation now:
Feng Tianming had yet to recover from the grotesque death of the woman in red when the camera shifted, and the fleeing group began a new round of escape.
As the nine-person team grasped the rules, so too did Feng Tianming realize them.
Before Feng Tianming could even question why there was a setting where only one person would be killed each time, a high-pitched scream pierced the air. The middle-aged man, who had been running at the back of the group, exhausted and soaked in sweat, gasping for breath, suddenly shouted.
“Ah!”
The young woman running about twenty paces ahead of him, being the closest, turned back at his cry. In that split second, as she turned, a searing pain tore through her leg.
She had been stabbed in the leg by a tool knife around 10 centimeters long—the handle gripped tightly in the middle-aged man’s hand. Seeing her turn, he grinned widely and twisted the blade with force.
The next second, blood spurted from the wound in a desperate gush, likely from a severed artery, even splattering onto the thick lenses of the man’s glasses. Coupled with his gaping, twisted smile that dominated his face, the sight was somehow more grotesque and terrifying than the previous character deaths.
As a horror film enthusiast, Feng Tianming had started to lose interest during the prolonged fleeing scenes. Just as he was about to put down his drink and head to the restroom, he found himself involuntarily sitting back down.
With his years of moviegoing experience, Feng Tianming knew clearly that once calm and rules are shattered, the rupture can never be restored—it only grows larger with each successive tear.
Sure enough:
The middle-aged man’s use of such a bloody method to wound the young woman’s leg caused her to scream in agonizing pain. The monsters closed in as she could no longer run as swiftly with her injured leg.
She stumbled, trying to keep up with the group, but it was clearly impossible now.
Ahead lay a seemingly endless path of escape; behind, the monsters that could catch up and tear them apart at any moment. The young woman’s cries of utter despair and devastation rang out.
Minutes later, accompanied by dull approaching footsteps, the cries grew increasingly wretched until they abruptly ceased.
The monster had claimed its desired prey, and though unwilling to let the others go, it showed no intention of further pursuit.
This proved that while the middle-aged man’s vile, despicable method was nauseating, it was…effective and acknowledged by the rules.
Soon, they even discovered a new rule: as long as one of them got caught, even if they remained in that monster’s territory, it would not attack them again.
One person’s death could provide everyone else with a respite. It was, undeniably, a beneficial trade-off.
If initially their only enemies were the mysterious monsters, from this moment on, their enemies included not only the beasts but also each other.
Throughout the movie, Feng Tianming endured his urge to pee until the theater lights came on. Only after confirming there were no post-credits scenes could he no longer hold it and hurriedly dashed out of the cinema and headed for the restroom.
But upon reaching the restroom entrances, Feng Tianming nearly went mad—snaking queues stretching to lengths of utter despair blocked both doors.
Feng Tianming was on the verge of insanity. He had drunk plenty today and wanted to use the bathroom halfway through the movie, thinking he could go during a dull part of the plot. Yet, he couldn’t find a single “pee break” throughout the whole movie, even after the post-credits scene.
Had there been even a single opportunity, he wouldn’t be in this state!
Feng Tianming grimaced, clutching his stomach, as he joined the queues. Glancing around, he found many wearing similar pained expressions. It was clear to him that they were all suffering the same situation!
He nudged the guy next to him with his elbow. “Dude, you just came from Thriller Circus too?”
“Uh-huh.” The man grunted tersely, originally focused on suppressing his urgent need but catching Feng Tianming’s expression, he suddenly burst into laughter. “Haha, you too?”
Feng Tianming shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, any other movie and I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Hearing this, the other man laughed even harder, slapping Feng Tianming’s shoulder in a very familiar manner as he vented, “This damn movie is cursed, it made me hold it in for over half an hour without being able to make up my mind to come here!”
As they spoke, the man standing in front of Feng Tianming suddenly turned around and joined the conversation too.
“Looks like we’re all in the same boat!”
The three men exchanged glances in silent solidarity, an unexpected sense of sympathy arising at the restroom entrance.
The bald guy in front rubbed his head, clicked his tongue, and gave the movie a very serious critique. “But that movie really packed a punch. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something so exhilarating. It’s exciting and refreshing!”
“Yeah! The movie was intense enough that the last time I had a similar feeling was years ago with the classic horror Death Game. Totally worth the ticket price!”
The middle-aged man standing in front of the other guy who had been listening to their conversation naturally chimed in as well.
“I came with my wife. She said she liked this director or something, and insisted we see it. I was thinking on the way here about how bad modern horror films have become these days – what a waste of money, right? If I really wanted to watch something, an action flick would be better than this.”
“Look,” the bald guy in front pulled an eye mask from his pocket and shook it. “I even brought this and some sleep earplugs before coming.”
Feng Tianming couldn’t help but laugh at the old guy’s words. “So then what happened?”
“Then?” The old guy glanced at him, vaguely mimicking a weary smoking gesture, inhaling from the air and exhaling a sigh. “It hit the spot, didn’t it? Otherwise, why would we all be here in the restroom together?”
The group of grown men burst into laughter, looking at each other and sharing in the humor of their situation.
As the queue neared the front, Feng Tianming took out his phone and suggested to everyone that they take a commemorative group photo in front of the massive restroom sign, making light of their shared plight.
Back home, lying in bed, Feng Tianming tossed and turned, his mind consumed by the plot of Thriller Circus, and he could not sleep.
Since he had the next day off anyway, Feng Tianming decided to indulge himself. In the dead of night, he got up, fired up his computer without even bothering to put on a shirt, lit a cigarette, and began writing a review.
Before the horror genre ban, Feng Tianming was a well-known critic in the field. His Weibo account, which had over 600,000 followers, was highly popular among horror film fans.
However, after the ban, Feng Tianming rarely logged into that account. To express his displeasure with the prohibition, he had even written a 2,000-word statement declaring he would suspend his Weibo until the movies were allowed again.
Feng Tianming wrote feverishly through the early hours, drafting several versions of his review, which reached thousands of words, until after 5 AM.
Shaking out his aching hands, he selected the best draft. He stared at the Weibo page for a long while, seemingly in deep thought, before finally logging into his long-dormant account.
What to Watch Next V: I’m back, with a film that has truly moved me – we’ve returned together!
Attached below was a 2,000-word review:
“Fearing Ghosts Is Too Childish, Let Me Show You the Horrors of the Human Heart – A Review of Thriller Circus”
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
