User reviews

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 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.Extremely unconvincing and badly acted haunted house flick cheaply made by Andy Milligan.There is some disgusting gore including the scene of intestines being pulled out of a man's stomach as it is cut into with scissors.Only for fans of grindhouse trash.5 out of 10.

I bet this film had a great poster. They must've spent the money on something.

This is an ultra-cheap knockoff of films like The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. It's about a newly-wed couple who move into a new house in which the previous tenants – another newly-wed couple – died in a sort of suicide pact. It's not exactly like this is an original concept. The problem Carnage has primarily is that its ambition vastly outstrips its budget and talent. There are many, many ghostly occurrences depicted but 90% of them seem to be bits of furniture and gardening equipment moving slightly. Scary kettle! Scary paper! Scary candle! It's basically atrocious. There are a few gore scenes spliced into the story to liven things up but they are not exactly convincing; especially the scene where the burglar is disembowelled – his guts looks suspiciously like Chinese noodles. None of this would matter so much but the pacing of the film is bad and the overall effect is one of boredom.

It's difficult to recommend this unfortunately.

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

"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

Yes, it's that bad. This carries the usual idiotic premise that no matter how many awful things take place, you stay in the house. Some movies would make this interesting, but this is absolutely terrible. Friends come and die. Relatives come and die. Things move. Gas gets turned on at night. People fall on broken glass. Old crappy radios fall in a three foot bathtub while a guy is taking a bath. A minister gets a meat cleaver in the head. These two suicide victims are haunting the house. They are constantly getting in the way. They have that Beetlejuice thing going to some extent. They are attracted to the people they are torturing. Anyway, there's no end to the suffering, not of the people in the house, but of the people who saw this movie. Avoid at all costs. It's not even campy.

Andy Milligan might be some kind of legend within the exploitation genre, but this off-brand version of "Poltergeist" doesn't really provide any so-bad-it's-good moments. It really only has one scene that it worth your time and money. The scene where one of the ghosts disembowels the burglar is incredibly cheesy and thus incredibly entertaining, mainly because his 'guts' are very clearly spaghetti. The movie has more gore than that (and one surprisingly bloodless decapitation), but that scene really sticks out. Most of this movie is just dreadfully boring. I know "Poltergeist" also got most of its suspense from shutting doors and moving objects, but that movie had a director who knew what he was doing. Milligan apparently saw "Poltergeist" and figured 'that doesn't look difficult', only to prove that it's extremely difficult. It also doesn't help that his actors are all well below porn standards. Hell, some of the men even have failed attempts at porn moustaches. None of these people ever appeared in something else, and you immediately understand why. "Carnage" is obviously a quick cash-in, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to go for something entertaining.

Amityville Horror "Z" grade rip-off, but it's fun! Really, the film is just terrible but it really does have it's moments, a few funny lines between characters, and it takes itself seriously without over doing it with seriousness.

I really expected this one to have me rolling my eyes at the stupidity - but instead I was able to kick back and enjoy the movie. It's awful but in a good way. I find that my favorite characters are both of the parents of the couple living in the house... they are quite a trip to watch, funny.

The movie is really only worth a 4 at best - but I did like it quite a bit and had fun watching so I have to give it a 6 out of 10 stars.

6/10

For the budget this film had to work with, I think they did a really great job. It would be nice to see this film remastered even if it were just on DVD, but a bluray would be nice. It was filmed in widescreen. Some gore looks fine, some looks fake. Looks like a couple scenes were one take only, because of lack of budget, nut it's still a fun time for a watch. I love how when the tools and other items make the window squeegy sounds when they move. The gore scene with the housekeeper is a little over the top, but probably the best one of the bunch. This film is unrated for gore. The best copy of Carnage I've seen, is on a horror multipack put out by Mill Creek. Funeral home is on that pack as well, which is the best copy I've ever seen.

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

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.

I guess that I don't have to introduce Andy Milligan. He's the king of the drive-in's and schlockfests. This flick is one of his later attempts but is still an ultra low budget. It contains wooden acting and bad editing. Almost none of the actors made it into another film, do I have to say more. And for a flick from 1984 it's really slow, made me think I was watching a sixties exploitation. The effects used, if you can say that, are really no-budget effects. Windows closing itself, things dropping or moving, disappearing tools, you know, wired stuff. You can easily see that there wasn't money for extra lights. The just used the light on the camera. If you still don't know what I mean just watch after 30 minutes how a knife goes into a hand, OMG. It's a typical Milligan flick but in some ways it's watchable. But still you will have big laugh, just take a look at the ghost appearing, all done by editing like they did with the flicks from the 30's! It's all done so cheap. Suddenly, by editing, someone sees a ghost in a mirror, but you can easily see that she stands in the room. Here and there it's okay, like the throat slicing and the slaughtering of the burglars but overall, it's a Milligan schlock. Just take it as it is.

A newlywed couple moves into a haunted manor that's possessed by the spirit of a dead bride and groom.

Andy Milligan tries his hand at doing something along the lines of Poltergeist or The Amityville Horror and it's about as inept as you'd expect with nothing close to resembling tension, scares, or dialogue that moves the plot forward. It just sits there, not doing much of anything.

I've seen a lot of Andy Milligan movies, and I think this is one of his most accomplished and coherent. Sure it's a lot like other haunted house films of the early 80s, but there have been haunted house films since the dawn of cinema, and there's enough oddness--not typical Milligan oddness but interesting oddness--that I found it compelling enough to stick with it to the predictable end. As for the acting, not bad for a Milligan film, and I actually found the characters likable, though I missed some of Milligan's long-time collaborators. For being made for 35K, this is certainly one of Andy's better looking films, too. Then there are those moments of hysteria that only Milligan could muster. I give the guy a lot of credit: He had a certain skewed vision that he kept training a camera on for quite a long time. Not for everyone, but then Staten Island is an acquired taste on so many levels. On a Milligan scale of 1-10, definitely a 6.

Andy Milligan made a lot of films about hate. Ugly hateful people blowing hot sick winds of hate at each other through two bit sets with a side order of chintz-gore. I have a lot of time for his schtick, though it is an acquired taste. Carnage sets off on a different track though, its a film about love. Love of people, love of people for a house, a love that transcends death. And nothing says love like an opening sequence murder suicide wedding! Can you feel it?! So we got a lovely young couple dead before the title flashes up, and once it does their unfortunate marital home gets a couple of new tenants, an instantly agreeable pair of newlyweds by the name of Carol and Jonathan. Easy going ordinary folk lightly essayed by one shotters Leslie Den Dooven and Michael Chiodo, they reel in the audience by a sheer force of normality and when things start to go awry its hard not to wish them the best. And things go awry a-plenty, from household objects acting of their own accord (pretty much anything not nailed down in this place gets to misbehave) to a number of amusing bloody deaths. Milligan was working with a higher budget than the majority of his films, as a result Carnage generally looks professional or at least semi professional and the setting is a plus, a nice old building with the right kind of homely atmosphere to be usurped by spooky goings on. Some of the shocks are quite neat as well, with one throat slash death that actually comes off effectively bloody and well handled. For those put off by the idea of Andy Milligan making a normal film, there is still a bit of weirdness and ineptitude to chew on. For one, there are a few scenes where the lighting kinda sucks, also some of the deaths are pretty silly. One in particular is impressively ludicrous, in which it transpires that the human intestine is in fact made of a noodle like substance. Take that biology lessons! There's a fair amount of filler as well, inconsequential characters getting more screen time and development than needed, including some thoroughly charming scenes involving a young lady bickering with her tough cookie (but good hearted and helpful) mother. Yep, a nice mom in a Milligan film! There's even a nice priest as well! Luckily the actors are all amateurs so the film never gets into genuinely dramatic territory, it just comes across as quaint and funny. And although sinister at times, the supernatural shenanigans are also pretty funny. Sadly the film does lose quite a lot of interest in trying to be normal, it doesn't work very well on normal terms because the pace is too slow and the execution too shonky, it also has little sense of character. I was never bored which is a definite plus, but on the other hand its rarely all that inspiring. I guess only 80's trash completists or Milligan addicts will ever care about this one and on those levels it serves its purpose, but I wouldn't dream of recommending it to anyone else. See it if you have to, but not an essential I'd say.

I love Carnage. When I picked it up at a flea market I was a bit leery of it because the box touted itself as a horror/comedy. It couldn't be further from the truth...it's a quite serious horror film, the only thing that will induce chuckles is the outlandishly silly special effects (so silly, in fact, it looks almost as if it were made to look cheap on purpose). Bad acting, dorky-looking ghosts, possessed household appliances, skitzophenic mother-in-laws and lotsa lotsa blood n' guts equals one hell of a good B-movie session. The ending reminded me of the one from VIDEODROME somehow. No idea why, though.

Very hard to find, but worth every second of the search for addicts of horrible cinema such as myself.

-No Nukes, the Satanic Pikachu Pika pikaaaaa pika pi chipa pikaCHUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!! (stay cool, surf well, watch lots! pikaCHUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!)

Yes, this movie is really bad. Awful, wooden acting. "Special effects" strings pulling at objects. An ax flies through the air and "chops off" a woman's head (but it looks like the ax was held offscreen and used to knock off a mannequin's head).

Yet Carnage has a definite Z movie charm.

I especially love that it's set in the New York City area. Watching this film, I'm wondering, was this house located in Queens, Staten Island, Nassau County?

I lived in the NYC area in the 1980s, and seeing the streets and cars brings back memories of my youth.

I saw this film on an old VHS tape. The images are washed out and grainy, yet that only adds to the film's low-budget, retro charm.

My review was written in April 1986 after watching the movie on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.

"Carnage" is an old-hat, poorly made horror picture, shot in New York in 1983 under the title "Hell House". Filmmaker Andy Milligan, whose heyday was about 15 years earlier with pics like "The Ghastly Ones", delivers pure corn here and the feature went directly to home video without a domestic theatrical release.

Leslie Den Dooven and Michael Chiodo portray newlyweds Carol and Jonathan who move into a bargain house (a la "The Money Pit") where three years earlier a groom killed his bride and then committed suicide. Of course the site is haunted by that couple and many visitors are killed in gory fashion while inanimate objects move around amid other supernatural happenings.

For unexplained reasons, Carol and Jonathan love the house and won't leave no matter what mayhem occurs. Not surprisingly, they also become eternal residents. Picture is padded with inconsequential footage and a boring subplot involving a pregnant friend of theirs, Ann (Chris Baker) whose marriage is on the rocks.

Gore is exaggerated and phony, while special effects shots are amateurish. Milligan's use of a background score made up of library music makes the film seem at least 20 years older than its copyright date.