Side Sho

I blind bought this movie and am pretty upset that I paid as much as I did but I would say that it's at least worth a rent for some cool deaths and laughable acting. It is not a good movie in any way but I must say that I was pretty darn entertained. I guess it could be called so-bad-it's-good.

As I said, the acting is awful, I feel like I could have done a better job showing, at least, any emotion. The story is nothing new and has been done better. I guess I just have a soft spot for any carnival-esquire type film. I would say rent this or download it but definitely don't buy it. It is not worth more than one watch.

A family is traveling the back roads of Florida for the father's book and decide to stop at a rundown sideshow. When their car breaks down the freaks come out to play, and they want women...

For some reason, I thought this was a Charles Band production so I always put off watching it, assuming it would be a cheap, boring movie filmed inside a dark tent for the whole thing. But thankfully Side Sho is an actual attempt at making a film.

Coming out a year after the Hills Have Eyes remake, it's clear where the inspiration for the film comes from, but it is original enough that it never feels like a ripoff.

There is some surprising gore in the film, and some of the 'freaks' makeup is good, but unfortunately no one in the cast is particularly good. They're all competent but I never really care about them the way you do for the family in Hills. Likewise, you don't get to know much about the freaks either apart from the barker and the young boy. A lot of them are just generic bearded biker type men who boss the more mutated ones around.

What the film needed was a bit more in the first section. We only get to see the family walk through a couple of rooms in the side show but they don't see any of the freaks until the two boys happen to meet each other after. It needed an inciting incident for why the family was targeted.

Still, Side Sho managed to be entertaining throughout and stands out over many other shot on digital early-2000s DTV films.

Picked Side Sho on a rainy evening and gave it a try. Wife was not thrilled to watch horror but she got into it once it started. Both of us were pleasantly surprised with the quality. We did not expect much from this movie because we had not heard anything about it. We anticipated a rip off of many of the slasher movies. Not the same old story. Has some interesting twists. Don't want to give it away but was pretty good. Did not take itself too seriously but it got our attention. Was just long enough. Don't think the wife could have taken much more. Worth the effort. We both ended up enjoying it. Will tell our friends.

Yet ANOTHER movie about a group of less-than-intelligent individuals on a road trip who wander off their original travel route for either a short-cut or, in this case, to visit a run-down side show attraction. The results, as expected, are not at all good, as this particular side show is home to a bunch of lunatic, in-bred residents who were escaped prison inmates from years before. The father, who is apparently a professionally photographer, just HAS to stop and take pictures of the place, only to find that it still inhabited. The various members of the family wander off to view the various attractions, only to be scared away. Thinking they made it safely on their way, the van tire explodes (surprise!), leaving them to seek refuge and accommodations in the small town, which we find out is inhabited solely by the freaks (surprise!).

This film plays out as expected, with the family being stalked and killed by the freaks. There is some fighting back on the families part, but these are probably among the worst scenes in the film, as they are badly executed. There is nothing remotely original here, unless you count the totally inappropriate soundtrack that is played during particular scenes that completely ruins the atmosphere and mood of the film. The acting is about as bad as I have seen in quite some time by everyone involved (it is pretty bad when your cast is out-acted by the cast of "Camp Blood). The special effects are lousy and the ending made me want to punch my television.

Still, though, despite all the negatives, I somewhat enjoyed this film. It definitely has a "so bad it's good" vibe to it. I made it through the entire movie and was even pleasantly entertained once I got past the ridiculously clichéd plot, terrible acting, and cheesy special effects. Though the ending left me feeling cheated and angry, particularly because the film is not that great to begin with and the ending makes the entire film pointless.

Bottom line, I can list countless films that if you have seen them, you have seen this. The difference is most of those film are better. Though not a complete waste, this film is pretty bad and not remotely scary.

My Grade: D

This is a very chilling movie from director Mike D'Anna and Lucky Kitty Productions. It's creepy, it's full of great horror, and the ending will either tick you off or stick to your brain like glue FOREVER! The performances from the actors are very well done, but where D'Anna really hits home is the creepy vibe of the whole southern goth undercurrent of the film. Moody, scary, deep, and just plain fun to watch, this film is one of the coolest horror flicks to come out since Night of the Living Dead. Yeah, you read that right. This rivals Romero. It's just so "icky". And the ending is so unexpected that you'll want to watch it over and over again to really get yourself settled. Go rent it right now and you'll see what I'm talking about. Very cool film.