Carnival Magic

My review was written in November 1982 after viewing at a screening room in Times Square.

Lensed in 1980 at Earl Owensby Studios and other Norh Carolina locations, "Carnival Magic" is a mild children's film about a carnival magician and his talking chimp partner. Lacking any special effects or adult audience hook, the low-budget Elvin Feltner production faces tough sledding in the marketplace, though it may find takers in U. S. regions and foreign territories hungry for family fare.

Don Stewart toplines as Markov the Magnificent, a small-time circus magician whose chimp partner Alexander the Great (Trudi the chimp) can speak (well-synched dubbing by Linda Sherwood). Amidst very tame romantic subplots. Film's sole conflict arises when Markov's popularity overshadows that of the circus's lion tamer, who kidnaps Alex and gives him to an unscrupulous doctor for scientific experiments.

With filmmaking technique more appropriate to "backyard" pictures, "Magic" offers little beyond its fantasy element of a talking chimp. Judging from the lack of on-screen reaction to Trudi's dubbed dialog, even this factor seems extraneous. Since the old-fashioned magic tricks are achieved by editing, only the smallest tot will be impressed.

Acting is weak, with lead Stewart baring his chest a lot but underplaying to dreary effect. Tech credits are subpa, with director Al Adamson, vet of dozens of action and horror/sci-fi cheapies, unable to conjure up the sentimentality the script aims for.

A magician in a carnival -- who actually can read minds and levitate people and objects -- works with a super-intelligent chimp named Alex, who can also talk.

Whether this is a bad movie or a so-bad-it-is-good movie will be up to the viewer to decide. I mean, either way we have to all agree it is pretty bad, right? But it does have a certain charm.

The "talking" ape is bizarre, because he basically just grunts and says nothing of value. There is a creepy 40-year old man who sexually assaults a teenage girl... and the next day she announces to her father that they are getting married. What? There is a mad scientist with s poorly dubbed German accent. Why? And a dead wife who is never fully explained.

I found a DVD and just gave it a spin - not nearly as bad as a feared, but it's still one weird flick. I like that it captures the sleazy vibe of those flea market carnivals of the 70s - like the movie, they mixed kiddie attractions with crazy gross freakshows and sometimes burlesque and peep shows (I saw my first stripper sneaking under a carnival tent!). But the acting was so weak, it made Ed Wood's posse look like a PBS ensemble.

And what was up with that crazy chimp voice?? Al Adamson makes some of the most inexplicable flicks ever. There's a full audio commentary by the producer/co-director, "a critical appreciation" and silent outtakes, and the print quality is outstanding. How crazy that the flick was rated G! The producer says they had to cut the animal trainer slapping his girlfriend's face from three slaps down to two to get the G rating. His memory is astounding, he recalls where each performer was hired from. One gal was the rental car agent he picked up when he flew in, he just gave her a line in the midway scene!

There's one scene of the monkey running off after a trick - the producer says the monkey just ran off the set and was missing for hours! Nobody knows where he went or what he did. He just strolled back onto the set later that day, and they resumed shooting his scenes.

I bet there's some neighbor somewhere near where they shot this who's still telling wild tales that nobody will believe about the day that monkey showed up and raided the dog food dish....

Carnival Magic (1981)

1/2 (out of 4)

Adamson, best known for drive-in stuff like Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN and BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR, ended his career making a couple kiddie flicks. This one was made in 1981 and LOST would follow a couple years later. Neither one was originally released to theaters and rumor has it that no one knew this film existed until police searched the director's home after his disappearance and found the film prints (before finding the director's dead body). In the film, Markov the Magician (Don Stewart) is fired from his carnival gig because the boss is under pressure from the lion keeper. Soon the boss' daughter discovers that Markov has a secret chimp who can actually speak. She convinces Marvok to tell the boss so that they can add the chimp to the act, which brings in a lot of money but soon the tiger trainer gets jealous and decides to steal the chimp. Yes, that's the story to this thing. Watching any Adamson picture can feel like an 70-year prison sentence but sometimes he would give us stuff so wild and over the top that you couldn't help but be entertained. Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN is the best example of this but CARNIVAL MAGIC is just a downright mystery. Who on Earth was Adamson making this for? Adults are going to be bored out of their minds and I think even kids would hate this thing. The film is certainly meant to be cute but it comes off more scary than anything else as you really can't help but feel uncomfortable with Markov and the teenage girl's friendship coming off a little weird. It also doesn't help that the chimp's voice makes him sound like a gargoyle or some type of freak with a smoker's voice who sounds like he's gasping for his last breathe. Another problem is that the screenplay is just downright bad as none of the character stories are of any interest and you can't help but feel as if the film should have ran no longer than 9-minutes at the most. Stewart seems bored out of his mind and wishing he could be somewhere else while the director's real-life wife Regina Carrol sleepwalks through things. You get the typical Adamson slowness and there are countless scenes that could have been left out as they add nothing to the film and in the end you're pretty much left with the type of film you expect from the director. There's no question that Adamson deserves his cult following because he certainly made some very unique films. Most were downright bad, a few are cult favorites and then there are others that make very little sense. CARNIVAL MAGIC is certainly the strangest film I've seen from the man and that's saying quite a bit.

Ironically, people giving a 10 star "so bad it's good" review may have their heart in the right place, but sadly do themselves and everyone else a disservice. At the time of this review, IMDB has Carnival Magic at 2.3. WAY too high.

I understand "The Room" holds the title of worst of all time (the WOAT?) But I strongly disagree. So what is it about Carnival Magic that makes it worse than The Room? I'm glad I asked! It all comes down to intent. Call it conspiracy theory but I've long felt The Room just a little TOO awful. Tommy Wisough(sp?) saw the masses of nostalgic hipsters and created for them their "Citizen Kane" (something I genuinely respect BTW). Carnival Magic ALSO thinks it's Citizen Kane. How does a movie this bad slip through so many people and get released? Well it's something future historians will struggle to answer. Its been said archeology is the study of trash, people's culture defined by their garbage. Carnival Magic is beautiful garbage. Real people wrote this script, real actors read for these parts, real casting directors hired these roles and somewhere a real director has this on a resume. Its a beautifully orchestrated train wreck done right, with tickets sold to passengers NOT to spectators!

(that train analogy was awesome)

So while the sheep continue "ironically" worshipping false idles, purchasing 4K special editions of Sharknado, waiting hours in line for a selfie with Tommy Wisoeh(sp? I refuse to Google that man), it's quiet unsung heroes, heroes like Carnival Magic, who sadly go unappreciated.

I urge you. Do what's right here, look into your heart. Give Carnival Magic the 1 star it deserves, the 1 star it earned.