 Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford), is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus and who ll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences. When a series of mysterious murders begins to occur and some of her performers die gruesomely, her profits soar. She hires high-wire walker Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin), impressed by the handsome and muscular young man. They begin an affair which arouses her previous lover Durando s (Michael Gough) jealousy. When Durando is found dead shortly afterward, the other performers begin to take alarm, as a mysterious killer is obviously loose in their midst. Many suspect Monica herself of the killings, especially Matilda (Diana Dors), who has set her sights on Monica s new lover. At this point, Monica s unruly, sixteen-year-old daughter Angela (Judy Geeson), is expelled from school for being incorrigible and Monica is forced to take her into the circus, allowing her to become the partner of knife-thrower Gustavo (Peter Burton). Meanwhile, the dead bodies continue to pile up...