Carny

Small town sheriff Lou Diamond Phillips (as Atlas) has his hands full when a circus arrives. The main attraction is "The Jersey Devil" stolen by carnival manager A.C. Peterson (as "Cap" Caprini) in the opening minutes. Citizens are excited about seeing the animal and other freaky looking people. We're told the people of Reliance have never seen anything like them before. The most normal appearing member of the troupe is psychic Simone-Elise Girard (as Samara). She predicts doom and tries to explain "Jersey Devil" origins. For some reason, Ms. Girard feels "safe" with her boss, who is arguably more wicked than his monster...

God-fearing pastor Vlasta Vrana (as Owen) believes the circus will bring sin to the community and starts to campaign against "God's abomination." Ironically, his juvenile delinquent son Matt Murray (as Taylor) triggers the rampage of "Jersey Devil". The flying terror is supposed to be heavily sedated, but seems incredibly alert. The beast is called a "freak of nature" and resembles a gargoyle. It appears to be intelligent - and it's more thoughtfully constructed than the story. The supernatural and Christian religion may have some connection. Maybe the creature is just mad. The gargoyle and Kyle Gatehouse (as Jesse) are nicely done.

**** Carny (4/25/09) Sheldon Wilson ~ Lou Diamond Phillips, Alan C. Peterson, Simone-Elise Girard, Vlasta Vrana

Was a fair movie, i mean nothing really irritated or annoyed me but the creature was a poor excuse for a devil. The best devil is the one from the movie "the Barrens" you will want to look into that. This was one of the better Maneatser movies in the series though it doesn't beat Grizzly Rage or the tiger one with Busey.

"Carny" was like a trip down memory lane for me, and perhaps will be for anyone who watched horror movies during the mid- and late 80's. This movie was like it was plucked right out of that era and then shined up for a 2009 release.

The story in "Carny" was pretty tame. A carnival of traveling freaks come to a small town, and with them they have a new attraction. A certain abomination as they call it. And of course, the creature breaks free and wreaks havoc upon the town and the inhabitants. Pretty much standard 80's horror plot right there.

Now, I think that the creature actually looked good and was believable. I read some reviews who weren't as forgiving to the effects and the creature, but I found it to actually be good enough.

And as for the cast and the acting, well there were some questionable performances, sure, but there were also some fairly decent performances as well. Don't put your hopes up for any award-winning performances, because then you will be sorely disappointed.

As for being a horror movie, then "Carny" wasn't particularly scary at all. And there weren't even any moments of intense suspense or dread. The movie pretty much rolled onward at a good pace, though it was weak in scares and thrills. And as for the ending, well who would have seen that coming... Not saying anything else, just watch it yourself.

All in all, "Carny" was a fairly average horror movie, though it was weak in scares. The good thing about it was that most of it was actually shot during the day, so you had good, clear and well-lit scenes, and you saw the creature clearly in the daylight (as to where many other movies use glimpses and darkness to hide whatever is prowling the innocent). So that worked. Just don't have your heart set on being scared out of your seat.

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!

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.