Carnival of Blood

True it is not the best movie and the plot is somewhat mundane, it's actually kind of bad even if you are into schlocky gore trash, but this movie does have some great, fun characters.

There is the the amazingly obnoxious "dumpy lady" who sets out to harass everyone she runs into, the insanely drunk Sailor and his trampy girlfriend (who keeps stuffing his cash into her panties whenever he isn't looking), the creepy fortune teller who warns everyone to go home & "Gimpy", the impaired weirdo with the mysteriously sore covered space. All of whom get theirs as a psycho stalks them through a beachside carnival.

It even has a few gimmicky over the top gore scenes, like a nasty gizzard filled teddy bear. The movie plays out like a tribute to HG Lewis with it's gross-out stalker killings.

It also has some interesting odd electronica in the background that sounds like it was lifted directly from the Forbidden Planet soundtrack.

As far as late night schlock this is certainly not the greatest but definitely not the worst ....

A maniac is on the loose in Coney Island ripping women apart. A couple of amateur sleuths discover that prior to their murders, all victims seem to have visited a dart game booth and a fortune teller who foresaw their eventual fate.

As I watched this Z-grade horror effort, I suspected quite strongly that this must be an Andy Milligan movie on the basis that he was a New York based exploitation director who made bargain basement splatter films around the same time as this one that featured ropey cinematography, cheap gore effects and misanthropic characters. As it turned out, this wasn't the work of Milligan at all but instead the creation of director Leon Kirtman who was seemingly a director of porn flicks, which might explain quite a lot of the technical short-comings to be found here. He was also responsible for the later horror flick Curse of the Headless Horseman (1972), which was a pretty mind-numbing effort in rubbish cheapo film-making. Apparently, that one played alongside Carnival of Blood as part of a double-bill at the time. I can only imagine how unimpressed most of the unfortunate patrons who went to see that endurance test must have been.

This one falls into the same bracket as the splatter films typified by H. G. Lewis. But it seems to have been made on even less of a budget and, unlike in Lewis's flicks, the gore is pretty half-heartedly executed, although there is a decapitation that is relatively well done. More damagingly, it suffers from poor pacing, with lots of scenes of more or less nothing going on. It reminded me a little of the earlier film She Freak (1967) which contained endless scenes of people hanging out at a carnival, doing carnival type things, i.e. reasonably good fun if it's you doing it but not so entertaining if it's you watching people do it. Despite this definite drawback, the location does work in the film's favour in some ways, as it has a definite of-its-time unusualness, while the production on the whole does benefit a bit from the overall scuzzy atmosphere that is generated. Amusingly, despite the rock-bottom production values, we have future respected character actor Burt Young of Chinatown (1974) and Rocky (1976) fame appear as a deformed carnie called Gimpy. It's not a role he will necessarily be fondly remembered for and he did hide under the pseudonym of John Harris, but the joys of the internet age means there is no hiding place anymore.

In all honesty, this is a pretty ropey and low quality effort. Its grimy grade-Z nature almost saves it but its overall tediousness negates those qualities somewhat. You know you're usually in bother if you are watching a feature film helmed by someone who normally directs porn flicks, and Carnival of Blood is no different.

Someone is stalking the patrons of a seedy, ramshackle carnival amusement park, murdering and mutilating them in a variety of gruesome ways. The multitude of suspects weighs heavy with iniquitous reprobates, but nobody is above suspicion.

CARNIVAL OF BLOOD is the "beau ideal" of early 70s grassroots film-making...there isn't the slightest hint of virtuoso evident in so much as a single frame of this picture, but it certainly does shine as a sort of attestation to resourceful creative vitality. This turkey here is about as Spartan a production as ever there was, but the clever use of a carnival for the story's nucleus creates an illusion of the movie being something substantially "bigger" than it actually is...a breadline, bush-league, bottom of the barrel crock-o-schlock.

While it certainly owes stylistically to the cinematrocious exploits of trash-film pundits like H. G. Lewis and Andy Milligan, CARNIVAL actually marches drunkenly to the freaky beat of a spaced-out drummer all it's own. As bad as it is, it's hard not to like...or at least be amused by...this gore-soaked, beggared lump of collective incompetence.

5.5/10...I think just about anyone with a good sense of humor could find this enjoyable.

There is something that kept me watching, entertained by this "Z" grade horror film. I love creepy carnivals so that is what drew me into watching this film - but the overall psycho-delic look and strange story kept me watching it. I got hooked from the start and actually finished watching this film and would watch it again!

OK some of this film does not make sense - best example: (The girl and guy that are engaged) She refuses to go back to the carnival after murders happened there. He comes into her apartment with a mask and it scares her and they argue, he leaves. She then goes down to the carnival alone to speak to her friend who's a carny there. --- WTF? She wouldn't go with her boyfriend, she fought him over going (then broke up with him) then she goes by herself to the carnival to tell her carny friend?!! Hhahaa. I guess her boyfriend did what he set out to do - get her over the murders and get on with her life - unafraid!!

As carny, err corny, as this film is I actually enjoyed it!

6/10

'Carnival of Blood' is a schlocky piece of 70's trash, that I grudgingly admit I enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, this movie is bad in almost every technical aspect, has horrible acting, and a plot that is mind-numbingly dumb. The obviously fake gore in the movie reminds me of a Herschel Gordon Lewis flick. However, there is a certain strange charm to the movie. I'm a big fan of bad horror movies that can make me laugh unintenionally. There's just a ton of little things that made the movie laughably enjoyable for me. First of all, the midget 'Gimpy'. His dialogue is hilarious and the scene where he goes over to Tom's place had me rolling on the floor. Then, there's the very inappropriate choice of using folk music for the movie. There's the hilariously cheesy love scenes between our lead hero and heroine. Our hero proving he's a Mr. Sensitive-type when he wants to take his girlfriend, on their anniversary, to the amusement park where a murder happened the night previously. Then, his confused reaction when she is too scared to go. Then there's the overweight, New Joisey woman and her over-the-top role. She doesn't have much screen-time, but boy does she make the most of it. Watch as she cuts in line in the food stand and badgers the man behind the counter because she wants her shrimp. Oh, and there's so much more....The worst 'drunken' performance ever recorded on film by a man playing a sailor. And then there's the creepy fair ground worker, Tom, who just happens to be friends with our heroine. I think it's implied they live in the same building. I hope so at least, because I see no other reason why she would want to be friends with a creepy carny-type and his midget helper. If you love bad movies like I do, check this one out.