The Devil's Carnival

Just because your movie brings together two fairly unrelated genres doesn't mean it is free from criticism, and "The Devil's Carnival" is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

The film follows the tales of three people as they explore the titular Devil's Carnival and they replay three classic fables. An interesting set-up with a lot of potential, but the writing is so heavy-handed that the message falls flat on its face.

As far as the plot is concerned there are a lot of good ideas, but watching the finished product is like a slow-motion train wreck. Nothing ends-up coming together. It doesn't matter if you have any good ideas for your movie if they aren't executed well. For example, there is this one gatekeeper-type character that keeps banging-on about "the rules" sporadically throughout the movie, but this never ends-up coming to anything and is left as one of many loose ends.

Most of the actors seem to be phoning it in for most of the film, which is particularly sad because there are a few people in this movie that working their hardest at giving a good performance.

All the shots are the same cookie-cutter bore: close up of the singer, cut to carnival audience, back to singer, slowly pan up from ground, repeat. This movie is "safe"--it takes no risks and gets nothing back from the audience as a result.

The music all sounds the same and the lyrics are not clever nor engaging. Rocky Horror Picture Show is a masterpiece of film, and I actually feel bad for having to compare it to this nonsense. Rocky Horror was clever and energetic--Devil's Carnival is just plain boring, with immediately forgettable song-writing and lacking any "spirit" of its own.

"The Devil's Carnival" is a terrible movie. Good makeup and good ideas are completely overshadowed by clunky writing, samey lyrics, unremarkable songs, and terrible acting and execution. Give it a miss.

I saw this movie last night as part of "The Devil's Carnival" road show. If you have seen "Repo! The Genetic Opera," then you are already a Terrance/Darren fan. This movie is the first in a series to be made. It deals with 3 people who die and land in Hell. Terrance Zdunich plays a very menacing Lucifer. Using Aesop's Fables, Lucifer associates one of the fables to each of the people, trying to discern whether or not they realize the sin that has brought them there. Lucifer picks specific members of his carnival to help act out the fables for the sinners. This is a musical and is beautifully done. I was not aware that Brianna Evigan had such a great voice. There are other stars that amazed me with song. I was mesmerized throughout her song. The make-up was well beyond expectation, especially for Lucifer and The Twin, played by Ogre of Skinny puppy. If you wait to see this movie on DVD, you will miss out on half of the enjoyment. The road show pulls you in and makes you very much apart of it all. If this showed in a local theater, I would see it again and again.

From Terrance Zdunich, creator of "Repo: The Genetic Opera", and Darren Lynn Bousman, director of the film adaptation of "Repo", as well as "Saw" II-IV comes the short film anthology "The Devil's Carnival", an insane, musical horror/comedy centering on three people who have died and ended up in Hell, where the must contend with various obstacles.

This is an entertaining, yet highly flawed film.

We follow John (Sean Patrick Flannery), a grieving father who committed suicide, Tamara (Jessica Lowndes) who trusts people too easily and was killed by her boyfriend, and petty thief Ms. Merrywood (Briana Evigan) whom was gunned-down presumably by police. All three awaken near the "Devil's Carnival", a twisted sideshow in Hell run by and populated by various demons, harpies and oddball characters, and of course headed by Lucifer himself. (Zdunich)

Meanwhile, Lucifer reads to a young child from Aesope's Fables, narrating stories that mirror the struggles of the three main characters as they are forced into dark, deadly tests.

The film is fairly simplistic and has a decent structure, and is populated by a handful of well-done musical numbers. (It is a bit of a Rock Opera, to be honest, similar to Repo) The musical numbers may not be too memorable, but they're an absolute blast, and are very well- written and performed.

Characters are developed just enough for it's short 50-or-so-minute run- time. Although the only character you will really care about is John, as he's far more sympathetic than Merrywood or Tamara.

The supporting cast (including Bill Mosely, Alexa Vega, Emilie Autumn and others as the cast members of the Carnival) are a lot of fun, but aren't really developed.

And the camera-work, though decent for a short film, is a bit too chaotic at times. During the titular musical number "The Devil's Carnival", the camera seems to randomly glide around rather than follow any sort of direction, which kind of distracted from it.

I also take issue with the pacing of the story. Well it is well- structured, the film bogs itself down too much in the first 10-or-so minutes, making the rest of the film feel needlessly rushed.

But for what it is, it's worth seeing. The music is good, the characters are memorable despite uneven development, and it's a fine little short film.

I give "The Devil's Carnival" a slightly-above-average 6 out of 10. Fans of Zdunich, Bousman or horror in general should check it out.

You will either like this movie or hate it - there is no in between. If a blend of Rocky Horror and the Twilight Zone sounds intriguing, then I urge you to give The Devil's Carnival a try. The story follows 3 of Aesop's Fables with 3 recently deceased individuals going to hell. Personally, the location feels more like purgatory - where persons are given an opportunity to relive past mistakes but make better decisions.

The music, costumes and makeup were perfect for the movie - not state of the art, but definitely above B horror flick. Except for Sean Patrick Flanery and Paul Sorvino, I didn't recognize any of the cast (although I know that Alexa Vega had a role). I actually like independent movies since they aren't polished and perfected.

Find a trailer and watch before viewing the entire movie. If the trailer sucks to you, keep on moving. But if you like weird things like I do, give it a try. You'll be glad you did.

As a huge fan of Repo! I attended one of the Devil's Carnival roadshows. I listened to the soundtrack a few times prior to the showing and enjoyed the music. The movie however was a mess.

First, there is no character development at all. We never get a good idea as to who the victims who end up in hell are nor do we get a good idea about any of the carneys in hell or even the Devil himself. As another review pointed out the lack of blood despite a good deal of violence also put me off. Directed by Darren, the man who went on a rant about blood consistency and its importance on the Saw 4 commentary, the complete lack of blood during the whipping scene makes no sense to me.

The songs, as mentioned, are quite catchy and some are very good. My problem is that, the best song in the movie (and the one clip we've seen in previews) is relegated to the end credits.

I love Repo! (Even attended 3 of the roadshows for that film) but to me the Devil's Carnival just seems unfinished and uninspiring. Maybe when parts 2 and 3 come out it will become more coherent, but for now it is an episode that gave nothing.