Carnage

I should start by saying that "Carnage" was my introduction into Andy Milligan films. Not only are his films just terrible, but they are actually a lot of fun to watch, if you can get yourself prepared for them. "Carnage' is definitely no different. With some of the worst acting and special effects ever, I found quite a lot to like about this grade "Z" film.

The story starts with a couple living in a somewhat mansion. Something terrible has happened as they both kill each other in a loving? embrace. A year passes and the house is sold to a newly wed couple. Instantly, things aren't how they should be as objects move by themselves. Things start out on the subtle side but then get worse as people start dying. Some in rather gruesome form.

This is probably the worst haunted house movie ever made. The objects that move around are obviously used by strings and the sort. But that isn't what makes the special effects so bad. There is a few scenes that are in question here. Example: two burglars brake into the basement of the house in the middle of the night. When weird things start happening, one of the burglars starts climbing out of a window. An axe floats towards his hand and hits him with just the handle. Magically, his hand falls off in a bloody mess. Also, a scene where a priest is running out of the house and a butcher knife hits him in the shoulder, the next scene the butcher knife is in his head. This is the type of silliness you see in the movie.

The acting is pretty boring. I don't know if this is the actors fault as they weren't given much to work with and let's face it, Andy Milligan is just not a good director. Anyone acting under his directing is not going to exactly shine. It is this problem that makes the movie mostly slow and uninteresting if you aren't ready for it.

Altogether, this was a bad movie. It doesn't mean it wasn't fun, it was just bad. It is the type of film you get some friends together with and watch to crack jokes with. 6/10

"A newlywed couple moves into their new home and are ready to settle into their new life together. After settling in, the couple begins experiencing some strange occurrences in the home, and discovers, to their horror, the truth behind them. It seems the former owners of the home were a newlywed couple that committed suicide years before, and are now haunting the place," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. That the other couple committed suicide in the house is certainly no surprise. In fact, there is no suspense to speak of, in "Carnage". The film is simply a series of gory deaths, around the house… while a dog barks, indecently, outside… Not only does the couple NOT leave the haunted house, they invite other couples to join in the fun. Do not watch this movie without having other things around, to help pass the time.

* Carnage (1984) Andy Milligan ~ Leslie Den Dooven, Michael Chiodo, Deeann Veeder, John Garitt

Carnage (1984)

** (out of 4)

Carol (Leslie Den Dooven) and Jonathan (Michael Chiodo) are a newly married couple who move into their dream home but they have no idea what horrors await them. What they don't know is that a previous newlywed couple did a murder/suicide inside the home and their ghosts are still there.

Andy Milligan returned to the director's chair after a six year hiatus and delivered what is basically a rip-off on THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. Milligan has a small cult following but there's an even bigger group that downright hates his movies. I must admit that while this here didn't contain a single original moment it was at least somewhat well-made and there's no question that Milligan throws in enough curve balls to make sure he holds your interest.

The best thing going for the film is that Milligan has some rather good (considering their budget) special effects and some really wacky death scenes. There are all sorts of objects that float around and it's easy to see how these effects were done but at the same time you have to somewhat smile at the attempt and delivery. The highlight is a scene where an axe floats up to a woman and chops her head off (a mannequin obviously used) as well as another attack dealing with scissors and some of the worst looking fake guts that you're ever going to see.

The film actually looks professionally shot, which isn't something you could say for most of Milligan's work. The cinematography was actually good and I'd argue that it has a pretty good flaw, although there's no question that at times the low-budget nature shows its head. Still, the performances are better than you normally get in this type of film and Milligan, obviously knowing about the slasher craze, throws in some gory death scenes. CARNAGE isn't a great movie or even a good one but it's certainly much better than a lot of the films from this era.

This invidious little soup-kitchen spook show opens with a newlywed couple's grisly murder/suicide scene, then shifts to the sale of their home. The new inhabitants are quite possibly the least expressive actors I have ever witnessed in any realm of theater, and their pea-brained characters steadfastly refuse to vacate the house, instead opting to sit around waiting for more freaky things to take place(of course, if characters in films of this type were at all humanly intelligent, then most flicks in the genre would be the length of a TV commercial).

Nothing even remotely scary takes place in CARNAGE(unless the sight of electrical appliances turning on happens to freeze your blood), and a modicum of workaday gore effects appears to be the contingent highlight of this discreditable supernatural scramble. For Andy Milligan masochists only, but frankly, his endearing monogram touches are only scantly evident here.

3.5/10

One of Andy Milligan's better efforts, this is basically a cash-in of Amityville Horror done in Milligan style, a low-budget production and a less slick but competent version.

That it is a cash-in is evident from the plot, religious icons, and specifically from the wholesale repeating of the infamous shot of the spooky Amityville house in ever-increasing zoom cuts used to emphasize the fact that it's a haunted house. However, this is done in an amateur style here.

Much else about the film is amateurish, but done with intensity so that it is enjoyable nonetheless. There's plenty of moments where you'd think a little bit more effort would have greatly improved the production, but then that would be hindsight. Who really knows what obstacles such a low-budget effort has except those involved? Acting is also typical of low-budget, though not without merit, especially the actress playing the Mother-in-Law, she's particularly good and attractive as well.

The gore quotient is fairly high, again done with minimal budget, so some effects are good and some are lesser. There's such items as hand chopped off, decapitation, disemboweling, stuff that was typical for the time. This can be gotten cheaply on a DVD from EastWest DVD as a double feature with Class Reunion Massacre, also a very decent low-budget shocker that has gained a cult status, so it's a DVD worth getting.