Carny

Though somewhat rushed to conclusion, what precedes it is good. Good flying monster, good story, good character development, and good location photography. Lou Diamond Phillips is totally acceptable as the small town sheriff, and the evil carny owner is well played by Alan C. Peterson. There are some unexpected twists, and some pretty good jump scares. "Carny" is superior to two other "Jersey Devil" movies, "The 13th Child Legend of the Jersey Devil" (2003), which is terrible, and the somewhat interesting "The Last Broadcast" (2006). Thus, this is flat out the best "Jersey Devil" movie out there. ................... - MERK

I was actually pleasantly surprised watching Carny. It does have its problems, but for me is one of the more tolerable SyFy channel movies. It does have some beautiful-looking and atmospheric sets and lighting, giving an appropriate nightmarish feeling, good make-up, a surprisingly well-designed and menacing monster, credible performances and a score that doesn't feel at that generic and also fits with the film's tone. Of course it has its problems, the quality of the story and writing are actually vast improvements to previous and succeeding efforts but they are not perfect still. The story has a good if not groundbreaking(though it didn't need to be) concept and is actually mostly interesting, well-paced and with some scenes that are quite nail-biting. Where it is let down though is in the escape of the monster, which I also feel could've been introduced later and with more suspense, and an ending that feels rushed that contrived. The script is not as clichéd or as cheesy thankfully as most of SyFy's resume, but still could have done with more flow in terms of structure. The characters are not as irritating as before or since, however are an uneven mix, the leads are likable and have some depth but most of the supporting roles are rather shallow and not developed as well. The camera work does suffer also from some choppy editing and numerous instances where it zooms in and out which often gave it a rather overly claustrophobic sensation watching Carny. Overall, not perfect but tolerable, with even its flaws having been done worse elsewhere. 5/10 Bethany Cox

An amusing diversion, the folks responsible for "Carny" trot out that staple of the Sci-Fi network, the monster that seems to not really be a science fiction imagining. One that causes mayhem, for certain, but not nearly as much as a few of the humans involved.

A carnival visiting a town has as its star sideshow attraction a beast which remains hidden from us until it escapes from its cage. The carnival master has assured Lou Diamond Phillips (the local sheriff) that there will be no problem with the sedated and incarcerated...thing.

We know different. There is another problem - a local preacher that hates all things carnival, and he particularly is interested in seeing that the escapee is captured.

I will leave it to you to find out how this whole thing ends. As tepid as this movie is, it will be far more interesting to the next generation of MST3000 fans.

One and a half stars.

Typical SyFy Channel crap, with one difference: some character development. Lou D.Philips plays a small-town sheriff who goes on the hunt for a winged creature that has escaped from a traveling carnival. The beast makes mincemeat of everyone in its path, and is your typical CGI creation. Ah, but the carny owner (Peterson) is an extremely nasty and hideous-looking fellow who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his path either. He imbues his character with a sort of Sidney Greenstreet sense of menace. And the local minister (didn't catch the actor's name) is hellbent on shutting down the carnival, even if it means burning it to the ground with all the carny folks inside their tents. In his own way, the minister is as bad as the ruthless carny owner. Both actors rise above their material. Sadly, Philips does not. He gives the same wooden, mail-it-in performance he gave in BATS (where he also played a small-town sheriff), with no indication he has learned anything new about acting in the interim. He needs a strong director, and he does not have one here. He simply is the one "name" actor in this low-budget Canadian quickie. Truth is, I only watched this quasi-turkey because of him. The ending is so poorly staged and filmed, you may be left wondering what the heck in fact happened.

Out of sheer boredom, I flipped the TV onto yet another Sci-Fi Channel B movie, expecting nothing more than pure dreck. Luckily, I was wrong.

Carny has an interesting--if typical--plot. As the story begins, we're treated to brief glimpses of the creature--a snarling, demonic beast. "Oh no," I cry. "It's another one of THOSE films where the creature is only shown in brief, shaky camera shots to avoid special effects costs." Luckily, I was wrong.

Of course the creature escapes, just like you'd expect in a horror movie, beginning a fairly typical "monster on the loose" scenario--because really, you can't make a movie unless the monster is on the loose. Who'd like a movie where the monster just stayed in its cage and ate mice all day??? Bah! There are three things that set Carny apart from the typical Sci-Fi B movie.

1) The characters. Several characters have a fair amount of depth to them. Not a lot, but really, this is a monster-on-the-loose film. The characters aren't -just- there to be eaten; you get a feeling like they're actual people. Additionally--and not to spoil things--but it's not just the monster who's evil in this story!

2) The monster. Ordinarily, beasties such as this look like crap, or look much too powerful. This one looks menacing without one getting the feeling that it's omnipotent.

3) The dialogue. It's not Shakespeare, but like another commenter wrote, it does avoid many clichés and pitfalls of other B movies. And again, monster-on-the-loose flicks really don't require a lot of deep, existential dialogue.

Give Carny a chance. There are far worse out there. If nothing else, feast thine eyes upon the creature!