These clowns aren’t for kids. “The Last Cir cus” is the latest exer cise in cinematic excess by Basque director Alex de la Iglesia (“The Day of the Beast”). It opens in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, with a militia invading a circus and sending a clown to do battle against the Nationalists.
Flash forward to 1973, during the closing days of Franco’s dictatorship, when the man’s son is performing as a “sad clown” in a Madrid big top. He falls for a beautiful trapeze artist whose boyfriend is the circus’ abusive “happy clown,” setting the stage for a depraved battle — atop a massive cross, no less — for her love.
“The Last Circus” features garish costumes, grotesque ultraviolence and plenty of other assorted weirdness. Although not everybody’s glass of sangria, it has the making of a cult hit.