Carny

Small town sheriff Lou Diamond Phillips (as Atlas) has his hands full when a circus arrives. The main attraction is "The Jersey Devil" stolen by carnival manager A.C. Peterson (as "Cap" Caprini) in the opening minutes. Citizens are excited about seeing the animal and other freaky looking people. We're told the people of Reliance have never seen anything like them before. The most normal appearing member of the troupe is psychic Simone-Elise Girard (as Samara). She predicts doom and tries to explain "Jersey Devil" origins. For some reason, Ms. Girard feels "safe" with her boss, who is arguably more wicked than his monster...

God-fearing pastor Vlasta Vrana (as Owen) believes the circus will bring sin to the community and starts to campaign against "God's abomination." Ironically, his juvenile delinquent son Matt Murray (as Taylor) triggers the rampage of "Jersey Devil". The flying terror is supposed to be heavily sedated, but seems incredibly alert. The beast is called a "freak of nature" and resembles a gargoyle. It appears to be intelligent - and it's more thoughtfully constructed than the story. The supernatural and Christian religion may have some connection. Maybe the creature is just mad. The gargoyle and Kyle Gatehouse (as Jesse) are nicely done.

**** Carny (4/25/09) Sheldon Wilson ~ Lou Diamond Phillips, Alan C. Peterson, Simone-Elise Girard, Vlasta Vrana

"Carny" was like a trip down memory lane for me, and perhaps will be for anyone who watched horror movies during the mid- and late 80's. This movie was like it was plucked right out of that era and then shined up for a 2009 release.

The story in "Carny" was pretty tame. A carnival of traveling freaks come to a small town, and with them they have a new attraction. A certain abomination as they call it. And of course, the creature breaks free and wreaks havoc upon the town and the inhabitants. Pretty much standard 80's horror plot right there.

Now, I think that the creature actually looked good and was believable. I read some reviews who weren't as forgiving to the effects and the creature, but I found it to actually be good enough.

And as for the cast and the acting, well there were some questionable performances, sure, but there were also some fairly decent performances as well. Don't put your hopes up for any award-winning performances, because then you will be sorely disappointed.

As for being a horror movie, then "Carny" wasn't particularly scary at all. And there weren't even any moments of intense suspense or dread. The movie pretty much rolled onward at a good pace, though it was weak in scares and thrills. And as for the ending, well who would have seen that coming... Not saying anything else, just watch it yourself.

All in all, "Carny" was a fairly average horror movie, though it was weak in scares. The good thing about it was that most of it was actually shot during the day, so you had good, clear and well-lit scenes, and you saw the creature clearly in the daylight (as to where many other movies use glimpses and darkness to hide whatever is prowling the innocent). So that worked. Just don't have your heart set on being scared out of your seat.

I was pleasantly surprised by this Sci-Fi Channel entry. There were some credible makeup and physical effects, a number of competent actors supporting a script that avoided many of the more common clichés for what has become its own genre, the Sci-Fi Channel monster flick usually produced in Canada.

Lou Diamond Phillips stars, cast yet again as a small town sheriff battling things that fly and/or creep whilst chewing scenery, secondary characters and extras at will. It isn't BATS, but its not a crap fest either. Another treat -- the music did not appear to be library music but supported the scenes rather well. A genuine jump inducer in the 2nd act and some graphic gore and another jump in the 3rd made this a "7" in my book.

Oh yeah, and a minimum of shaky camera work and random zooming in and out. Bless the D of P for not inflicting that on the audience.

Was a fair movie, i mean nothing really irritated or annoyed me but the creature was a poor excuse for a devil. The best devil is the one from the movie "the Barrens" you will want to look into that. This was one of the better Maneatser movies in the series though it doesn't beat Grizzly Rage or the tiger one with Busey.

I was actually pleasantly surprised watching Carny. It does have its problems, but for me is one of the more tolerable SyFy channel movies. It does have some beautiful-looking and atmospheric sets and lighting, giving an appropriate nightmarish feeling, good make-up, a surprisingly well-designed and menacing monster, credible performances and a score that doesn't feel at that generic and also fits with the film's tone. Of course it has its problems, the quality of the story and writing are actually vast improvements to previous and succeeding efforts but they are not perfect still. The story has a good if not groundbreaking(though it didn't need to be) concept and is actually mostly interesting, well-paced and with some scenes that are quite nail-biting. Where it is let down though is in the escape of the monster, which I also feel could've been introduced later and with more suspense, and an ending that feels rushed that contrived. The script is not as clichéd or as cheesy thankfully as most of SyFy's resume, but still could have done with more flow in terms of structure. The characters are not as irritating as before or since, however are an uneven mix, the leads are likable and have some depth but most of the supporting roles are rather shallow and not developed as well. The camera work does suffer also from some choppy editing and numerous instances where it zooms in and out which often gave it a rather overly claustrophobic sensation watching Carny. Overall, not perfect but tolerable, with even its flaws having been done worse elsewhere. 5/10 Bethany Cox