Malatesta's Carnival of Blood

Malatesta's carnival of blood welcomes its guests with cannibalistic ghouls and blood-sucking vampires.It's weird and very loosely narrated assault on the viewer's senses.The sets and images are gloriously surreal,the atmosphere is dreamy and there is a nice amount of blood as we see the ghouls devouring its human prey.The action is fast and there are some truly odd characters for example Malatesta,a creepy dwarf named Bobo with his annoying French accent,psychotic Mr.Blood and a transvestite fortune teller.If you liked Frederick Hobbs movies or "Death Bed:The Bed that Eats" check out "Malatesta's Carnival of Blood".8 out of 10.A surreal treat of epic proportions!

The Norris family get jobs working at a seedy old carnival as a cover for searching for their missing son who disappeared after visiting said carnival. Eccentric manager Mr. Blood turns out to be a vampire while the evil owner Malatesta rules over a gaggle of ghastly ghouls who watch silent movies when they aren't feasting on human flesh.

Director Christopher Speeth grew up in the world of theater, and at college was trained in the tradition of the documentary. He made one film called "Sugar" following two very different diabetics, and then "Dona Nobis Pacem", an anti-Vietnam War film featuring footage of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. If he had done nothing else, this footage would have made him immortal, even if not necessarily famous.

By pure coincidence, Speeth met Richard Grosser on an airplane. Grosser had a strange background, starting out as a violin virtuoso and then getting mixed up in the development of the ENIAC and UNIVAC computers. Grosser proposed the idea of a horror film to Speeth, with his thought on the matter being quite simple: under the current rules, an investment in a film could be used as a tax shelter. The film was birthed as a write-off!

Playwright Werner Liepolt was hired to construct a script. He started with legendary cannibal Sawney Bean (also a source for "Texas Chainsaw massacre" and "Hills Have Eyes") and then incorporated circus elements. Allegedly, Speeth's house had a fortune telling machine and merry-go-round horses converted into chairs, so Liepolt assumed this was the sort of thing Speeth would like to see on screen. Liepolt was very conscious of the words he used, with "carnival" literally being a celebration of meat.

Much of the film's dreamlike narrative came about during post-production. The movie was edited again and again, which produced a non-linear quality to the picture, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. If you like cut and dried plots, this might not be for you.

You might wonder, if this is a good film (and it is), why have I not heard of it? Well, there could be many reasons, but the biggest is simply that the film was not available. Apparently after a screening or two, it ended up in Christopher Speeth's attic, collecting dust until 2003. At that point, Windmill Films released it on DVD, but it quickly went out of print. Don't be ashamed if you never heard of Windmill Films, because no one else has either.

This film is presented on glorious blu-ray as part of Arrow Video's American Horror Project (Volume 1). Of the three films in the set, it appears to be the leanest on special features, with no audio commentary listed. But this is just an oversight, as we do have one, from Richard Harland Smith of Video Watchdog. Furthermore, we do have brand new interviews with director Christopher Speeth and writer Werner Liepolt which should provide viewers with plenty of insight. (If you're still hungry for more, track down a copy of the December 2009 issue of Video Watchdog and check out the in-depth article from Shaun Brady.)

Apparently, this film was presumed lost for many, many years. If you ask me, there were more things "lost" here. Like writer/director Christopher Speeth's control over his own twisted imagination, or the minds and sanity of literally all the people who were involved! This movie is messed up, and there isn't too much else I can write about it.

A family of three, parents and daughter in her late teens, infiltrate in a sinister carnival and attempt to fit in, but their real mission is to find out what happened to their son/brother who vanished without a trace but was last seen at the same carnival. Oh yes, there is something resembling a plot, but it's subordinate - by far - to the grueling Z-grade atmosphere, the uniquely eccentric cast of characters and the wide variety of random moments of sheer madness. Who knows, maybe Speeth aimed for art-house but couldn't overcome the budgetary restrictions? All I know is there are ghouls that munch and gaze at silent horror films in the carnival's backstage area, park rides that decapitate people or make them disappear altogether, vampires that walk around in broad daylight, transvestite fortune tellers, and a rhyming dwarf who pops out of secret carny wagon doors.

Pure 70s grindhouse insanity, complete with thick more-orange-than-red blood, decors and scenery that seem to come straight out of the junkyard and the director's family & friends filling in all the supportive roles to do him a favor... or out of pity. I can't possibly rate this any higher than an already very generous 5/10, but rest assured that it comes recommended.

"Malatesta's Carnival of Blood" follows a husband, wife, and their young adult daughter who visit a rundown amusement park posing as potential new employees; they are actually there to locate their missing son, who worked at the carnival. To their horror, however, the park's mysterious proprietor, Malatesta, is hiding a gaggle of cannibals in caverns beneath the rides.

This little-seen horror flick plays like "Alice in Wonderland" on bad acid, but in a good way. It is remarkably low-budget, with sets that often appear to be vinyl-lined tents standing in as limestone caves (unconvincing, to say the least), but the shortcomings oddly don't seem to matter because they are obscured by the stylish cinematography and general atmosphere of complete and utter weirdness.

In similar fashion, the screenplay for "Malatesta's Carnival of Blood" is also a slipshod effort, with little connective tissue to make sense of what exactly is going on (even the main characters' arrival at the carnival is barely elucidated, making it somewhat confusing as to why they are there in the first place)--and yet again, it doesn't really matter, because the film is more a mood piece than anything. Surreal visuals reign supreme, with creepy carnival props, underground halls of mirrors, silent movie theaters where the cannibal ghouls congregate to watch movies(!?)--the weirdness never ceases.

The film's main character, Vena, leads the audience through the proceedings as she spends a hellish night in the amusement park searching for her missing brother, and the proceedings have an "Alice in Wonderland" sensibility about them. The actual nature of the villains here is also not totally explained, but their ghoulish appearance in slathered-on grey makeup manages to be effectively captured in the claustrophobic cinematography. In the end, the film doesn't really register as a narrative piece, but it succeeds magnificently as an otherworldly, nightmarish adventure that resembles a bad trip. 7/10.

After waiting for 30 years I have finally been able to see this movie! Other people who read my earlier entreaty finally contacted me and told me where to look. Lo and Behold I found out I could order a copy on DVD . ..and so I did. I have just finished watching it. Was it worth the wait? YES. The action takes place around a carnival that sometimes appears brand new and at other times looks like a wreck. You have to pay close attention if you want to know why; in a single throwaway line we are told "It's all an illusion." The movie becomes an exercise in existentialism very quickly. The carnival is built over a sulfur spring and the workers there are all cannibals because "No one ever told them eating human flesh was bad." Many of them have never seen sunlight in all their lives, however long that might be. They are also movie buffs who enjoy watching things like THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923) and THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919) in between snacking. The manager, the aptly named Mr. Blood, is a vampire and Mr. Malatesta is a . . .well . . .he might be a ghoul, he might be a wizard . . .that is one of the many things we must wonder about. The one "normal" family who comes to work there is questionable too. Dad seems to know something is wrong about the place and asserts "If anything happens I'll have my revenge." while checking his snub nose .38 to make certain it's loaded. Has he come to get even for some earlier victim? That is something else we never learn. I could easily say the shortage of gore is a weak point but remember this was made in 1973 before audiences were really used to loads of graphic gore in their movies. There was enough here to satisfy audiences of the time I think. A quick decapitation, an eye puncturing and the ghouls snacking on the flesh of a still living victim! Okay, I was not satisfied with the ending and I probably would not have been even if I had seen the movie when it was brand new but still I was not disappointed! Performances are all good, effects are . .. well . . . adequate, editing is effective at times and frustrating at others (fadeouts are happening constantly!). Is MALATESTA'S CARNIVAL OF BLOOD worth seeing? Yes! The movie is out on DVD now but who knows how long it will be on the market. Get your ticket for this carnival now!