AllMovie

Most modern viewers will stumble upon this "private prison" themed oddity under its video release moniker Barn of the Naked Dead. Be forewarned that despite a genuinely tawdry premise, nudity is one sick thrill that isn't delivered here. Flagellations, atomic monsters, psychotic mama's boys, and suggestive snake tortures, yes, but not nudity. Despite these tantalizing plot points, the film (also known as Nightmare Circus and Terror Circus) is a slow-moving 80 minutes, captured in dusty, murky, washed-out colors and not really delivering as many kinky delights as one might expect. Lead lunatic Andrew Prine is the only one granted an actual character to play, which he essays with glowering eyes and little else. Director Alan Rudolph went on to work with Robert Altman on several features and became a celebrated art-house director in his own right; barely any of his future promise is evident in this amateurish mess of sex fantasy and nuclear horror.