The Devil's Carnival

I have been a fan of Mr. Zdunich's comic series "The Molting" and 2008's "Repo The Genetic Opera" for years. When I heard about "The Devil's Carnival" being made, it's creators were cryptic as ever about what it actually WAS, but just knowing what I did about the people involved, I knew it was going to be artwork of epic proportions. I bought VIP tickets for the first stop of the Road Tour the instant they became available, and put the soundtrack on repeat in iTunes. It did NOT disappoint by any stretch. This show is AMAZING. As usual, the acting and singing talents displayed give the audience a trip into their own souls. Costuming, makeup, and set design were superbly rendered to truly make you FEEL what was happening. The electricity in the theatre could be seen, heard, touched, and tasted as brilliant and beautiful people, music, and colors assaulted us. Check out the cities/dates for the remainder of the road tour and go see it if you have the chance. You'll be blown away!

"The Devil's Carnival" is very much a Darren Lynn Bousman's pet project. It's unmistakable for anything else and that means if you liked his previous work in "Repo! The Genetic Opera" you'll be familiar with the style of horror and rock opera presented in this short film, so you'll enjoy it a lot. The plot? Well I can't say I can really recall it very well and some of It is because it's confusing at times. I remember a lot of cool visuals, some similarities with Aesop's fables, demons, knife-throwing, Bill Moseley in makeup and Alexa Vega looking pretty sexy. In all honesty it's not my fault, this is a picture that you kind of need to watch more than once.

While the songs aren't as polished as the ones in his previous work, the sets and costumes are impressive and for a low budget production, it looks great. I found the story to be scrambled though, which frustrated me because I love the idea of this demonic carnival (and I've always wanted to see it done well since I saw "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story). The upside is that if you like it, the picture is short so you'll be able to watch it multiple times to clarify the confusing bits. Similarly, it's a lot of style over substance and if at first you don't really care for it, it's just not your thing. It's a love it, or hate it kind of thing and I bet the way to really appreciate It would be to view it with someone who's already fallen In love with it and can clarify some of the plot elements or give you factoids on all of those cool little details. I enjoyed it enough that I think you should check it out, if only to see If It will be your kind of thing. (On DVD, November 15, 2012)

Many a films have explored people's transgressions during their lives and their ultimate fates that await them. But never quite like this. The very creative film maker Daryn Lynn Bousman of the fantastic Repo! a Genetic Opera brings this whimsical inspired morality anthology tale to life as a horror tinged macabre musical. Centering on the souls of three innocent parties as they enter a carnival unlike no other possessing the choice of where they spend eternity through their actions. Although it's been done before in one way or another the films maniacal execution feels like something new altogether. Although far from perfect it's imagination limited by it's very low production values, bad sound mixing and generic cinematography the film always remains engaging throughout. Featuring of a cast of somewhat knowns like sexy Briana Evigan of Step Up 2, Burning Bright, Mother's Day and Sorority Row and the gorgeous Sean Patrick Flannery of Boondock Saints and Powder amongst a few cameos from the Repo! crew such as the always inspired Skinny Puppy and Paul Sorvino Devil's Carnival is not anywhere near being as great as Repo! due in big part to it's very short running time and not fully developed concept but at least there is someone still in the business that keeps trying to do new things flawed or not. Maybe next time around he'd do better to slow down a bit so we can relish in his twisted imagination instead of being stunted through it.

Just because your movie brings together two fairly unrelated genres doesn't mean it is free from criticism, and "The Devil's Carnival" is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

The film follows the tales of three people as they explore the titular Devil's Carnival and they replay three classic fables. An interesting set-up with a lot of potential, but the writing is so heavy-handed that the message falls flat on its face.

As far as the plot is concerned there are a lot of good ideas, but watching the finished product is like a slow-motion train wreck. Nothing ends-up coming together. It doesn't matter if you have any good ideas for your movie if they aren't executed well. For example, there is this one gatekeeper-type character that keeps banging-on about "the rules" sporadically throughout the movie, but this never ends-up coming to anything and is left as one of many loose ends.

Most of the actors seem to be phoning it in for most of the film, which is particularly sad because there are a few people in this movie that working their hardest at giving a good performance.

All the shots are the same cookie-cutter bore: close up of the singer, cut to carnival audience, back to singer, slowly pan up from ground, repeat. This movie is "safe"--it takes no risks and gets nothing back from the audience as a result.

The music all sounds the same and the lyrics are not clever nor engaging. Rocky Horror Picture Show is a masterpiece of film, and I actually feel bad for having to compare it to this nonsense. Rocky Horror was clever and energetic--Devil's Carnival is just plain boring, with immediately forgettable song-writing and lacking any "spirit" of its own.

"The Devil's Carnival" is a terrible movie. Good makeup and good ideas are completely overshadowed by clunky writing, samey lyrics, unremarkable songs, and terrible acting and execution. Give it a miss.

I saw this movie last night as part of "The Devil's Carnival" road show. If you have seen "Repo! The Genetic Opera," then you are already a Terrance/Darren fan. This movie is the first in a series to be made. It deals with 3 people who die and land in Hell. Terrance Zdunich plays a very menacing Lucifer. Using Aesop's Fables, Lucifer associates one of the fables to each of the people, trying to discern whether or not they realize the sin that has brought them there. Lucifer picks specific members of his carnival to help act out the fables for the sinners. This is a musical and is beautifully done. I was not aware that Brianna Evigan had such a great voice. There are other stars that amazed me with song. I was mesmerized throughout her song. The make-up was well beyond expectation, especially for Lucifer and The Twin, played by Ogre of Skinny puppy. If you wait to see this movie on DVD, you will miss out on half of the enjoyment. The road show pulls you in and makes you very much apart of it all. If this showed in a local theater, I would see it again and again.