Carnage & Deception: A Killer's Perfect Murder

I just saw a preview of Derek Maki's Carnage and Deception.

Besides the fact that Mr. Maki had minimal funding, he was able to come away with a smart and refreshingly scary movie. Well acted and edited beyond perfection, this movie is done quite well

as an indy film producer myself I was really impressed with what Derek Maki did with the budget he had, don't know what that budget was but I am sure he had more money on screen than what was actually spent on the movie...good job

Carnage and Deception fails to deliver on its brief promise of a plot. No character in this film has any clear story or emotional arc. Derek Maki delivers a culminating scene which leaves us baffled and in awe that so many people can work so hard on something that makes so little sense. The most disturbing thing about this film, is that someone thought the premise "What if someone was killed in a pool?" was enough to base an entire film around. There are so many unanswered questions and unexplored avenues it's blowing my mind. And even if the writing were of the highest caliber, nothing could rescue this film from its painful production quality, grating score, and cable access-style directing. And I don't even have anything against this guy! I'm sorry, Derek, I really am.

With the advent of the procedural cop drama (CSI, etc.,) it could be said that the "hows" were taking over for the"whys" in mainstream thriller drama. Too much emphasis was placed on the ins and outs of the murders and crime and the fun of story telling was being lost.

Then finally, like Ed Wood before him, Derek Maki arrives on the scene and shows us that true drama does not stem from any believable plot or scenario, but rather from the filmmaker's ability to just say, "Screw it. Close enough."

There IS carnage in "Carnage & Deception" but there is no discernible "Deception" that i could find, other than the chain of events that deceived me into thinking it was a good idea to watch this film. There is also nothing to lead you to believe that these murders are in any way perfect. Even to cops with the brain power that Maki's characters seem to posses, these murders are all less than perfect and could probably be solved. Maki would rather have us believe that wearing gloves is all you need do to get away with the brutal murders in his lack luster script. Rather than cover what every other crime drama now takes as wrote, Maki lets us loose in a world where clues don't go past footprints and aftershave. Brilliant.

This inane little piece of awful is not without its charm, however. As I said before, Ed Wood fans should take note. Maki could be the next, great, worst-thing ever. His abandonment of convention, cliché, plot, dialogue, sound editing, pacing and story herald in a new era in schlock. One that Mystery Science Theater Fans everywhere can rejoice in.

There will always be bad films. But how often do really great bad film makers come along?

not too too bad for a first film. maki would make a good bad guy with a better script and budget. the focus of the film was given to "mary" whose acting ability as that most interesting real character was truly superior. who knew?

it got better as we watched and once i realized i could laugh, i did. one could tell derek was having a good time.