22 reviews
Carnage
An amusing diversion, the folks responsible for "Carny" trot out that staple of the Sci-Fi network, the monster that seems to not really be a science fiction imagining. One that causes mayhem, for certain, but not nearly as much as a few of the humans involved.
A carnival visiting a town has as its star sideshow attraction a beast which remains hidden from us until it escapes from its cage. The carnival master has assured Lou Diamond Phillips (the local sheriff) that there will be no problem with the sedated and incarcerated...thing.
We know different. There is another problem - a local preacher that hates all things carnival, and he particularly is interested in seeing that the escapee is captured.
I will leave it to you to find out how this whole thing ends. As tepid as this movie is, it will be far more interesting to the next generation of MST3000 fans.
One and a half stars.
A carnival visiting a town has as its star sideshow attraction a beast which remains hidden from us until it escapes from its cage. The carnival master has assured Lou Diamond Phillips (the local sheriff) that there will be no problem with the sedated and incarcerated...thing.
We know different. There is another problem - a local preacher that hates all things carnival, and he particularly is interested in seeing that the escapee is captured.
I will leave it to you to find out how this whole thing ends. As tepid as this movie is, it will be far more interesting to the next generation of MST3000 fans.
One and a half stars.
Fairly standard "horror" movie...
"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.
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.
- paul_haakonsen
- Jun 24, 2011
- Permalink
The Jersey Devil
- claudio_carvalho
- May 27, 2010
- Permalink
This movie is really lousy !SPOILERS!
The Devil made them do it.
It can fly!
Typical SyFy Channel crap, with one difference: some character development. Lou D.Philips plays a small-town sheriff who goes on the hunt for a winged creature that has escaped from a traveling carnival. The beast makes mincemeat of everyone in its path, and is your typical CGI creation. Ah, but the carny owner (Peterson) is an extremely nasty and hideous-looking fellow who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his path either. He imbues his character with a sort of Sidney Greenstreet sense of menace. And the local minister (didn't catch the actor's name) is hellbent on shutting down the carnival, even if it means burning it to the ground with all the carny folks inside their tents. In his own way, the minister is as bad as the ruthless carny owner. Both actors rise above their material. Sadly, Philips does not. He gives the same wooden, mail-it-in performance he gave in BATS (where he also played a small-town sheriff), with no indication he has learned anything new about acting in the interim. He needs a strong director, and he does not have one here. He simply is the one "name" actor in this low-budget Canadian quickie. Truth is, I only watched this quasi-turkey because of him. The ending is so poorly staged and filmed, you may be left wondering what the heck in fact happened.
Starts out great, and then fumbles
Not that bad but also could have been much better
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
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 25, 2012
- Permalink
The best "Jersy Devil" movie out there ................
Though somewhat rushed to conclusion, what precedes it is good. Good flying monster, good story, good character development, and good location photography. Lou Diamond Phillips is totally acceptable as the small town sheriff, and the evil carny owner is well played by Alan C. Peterson. There are some unexpected twists, and some pretty good jump scares. "Carny" is superior to two other "Jersey Devil" movies, "The 13th Child Legend of the Jersey Devil" (2003), which is terrible, and the somewhat interesting "The Last Broadcast" (2006). Thus, this is flat out the best "Jersey Devil" movie out there. ................... - MERK
- merklekranz
- Jul 14, 2010
- Permalink
Bleeding Characterization
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
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
- wes-connors
- Aug 5, 2013
- Permalink
Flawed, but still pretty good
Out of sheer boredom, I flipped the TV onto yet another Sci-Fi Channel B movie, expecting nothing more than pure dreck. Luckily, I was wrong.
Carny has an interesting--if typical--plot. As the story begins, we're treated to brief glimpses of the creature--a snarling, demonic beast. "Oh no," I cry. "It's another one of THOSE films where the creature is only shown in brief, shaky camera shots to avoid special effects costs." Luckily, I was wrong.
Of course the creature escapes, just like you'd expect in a horror movie, beginning a fairly typical "monster on the loose" scenario--because really, you can't make a movie unless the monster is on the loose. Who'd like a movie where the monster just stayed in its cage and ate mice all day??? Bah! There are three things that set Carny apart from the typical Sci-Fi B movie.
1) The characters. Several characters have a fair amount of depth to them. Not a lot, but really, this is a monster-on-the-loose film. The characters aren't -just- there to be eaten; you get a feeling like they're actual people. Additionally--and not to spoil things--but it's not just the monster who's evil in this story!
2) The monster. Ordinarily, beasties such as this look like crap, or look much too powerful. This one looks menacing without one getting the feeling that it's omnipotent.
3) The dialogue. It's not Shakespeare, but like another commenter wrote, it does avoid many clichés and pitfalls of other B movies. And again, monster-on-the-loose flicks really don't require a lot of deep, existential dialogue.
Give Carny a chance. There are far worse out there. If nothing else, feast thine eyes upon the creature!
Carny has an interesting--if typical--plot. As the story begins, we're treated to brief glimpses of the creature--a snarling, demonic beast. "Oh no," I cry. "It's another one of THOSE films where the creature is only shown in brief, shaky camera shots to avoid special effects costs." Luckily, I was wrong.
Of course the creature escapes, just like you'd expect in a horror movie, beginning a fairly typical "monster on the loose" scenario--because really, you can't make a movie unless the monster is on the loose. Who'd like a movie where the monster just stayed in its cage and ate mice all day??? Bah! There are three things that set Carny apart from the typical Sci-Fi B movie.
1) The characters. Several characters have a fair amount of depth to them. Not a lot, but really, this is a monster-on-the-loose film. The characters aren't -just- there to be eaten; you get a feeling like they're actual people. Additionally--and not to spoil things--but it's not just the monster who's evil in this story!
2) The monster. Ordinarily, beasties such as this look like crap, or look much too powerful. This one looks menacing without one getting the feeling that it's omnipotent.
3) The dialogue. It's not Shakespeare, but like another commenter wrote, it does avoid many clichés and pitfalls of other B movies. And again, monster-on-the-loose flicks really don't require a lot of deep, existential dialogue.
Give Carny a chance. There are far worse out there. If nothing else, feast thine eyes upon the creature!
- annoyingryan
- May 22, 2009
- Permalink
Above Average for Sci-Fi Ch
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.
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.
A devilish bat attacks.
- michaelRokeefe
- May 24, 2009
- Permalink
Getting The Gargoyle
In Carny Lou Diamond Phillips is cast as the police chief of Reliance, New York a small town in the most rural part of upstate New York where the big event of the year is about to take place, a carnival has come to town. Not just any carnival, but one specializing in some of the rejects from the Creator/Deity work table. In this film's makers must have been inspired by Todd Browning's classic film, Freaks.
Would that this film was anywhere close to being as good as Freaks, but it sadly isn't. The biggest attraction in the show is some kind of gargoyle like creature billed as the New Jersey Devil. When it gets loose and starts terrorizing the area, Lou as the sheriff takes it upon himself to organize a hunting party.
This is where it really gets ridiculous. When he was a smalltown Texas sheriff in Bats at least he called in some help. Why he didn't in Carny is totally beyond me.
The film was shot in and around Ottawa to simulate the rural atmosphere of upstate New York which is not as rural as when Jimmy Stewart made upstate New York's fictional Bedford Falls famous. The rest of the cast is made up of Canadian players.
Of course getting this gargoyle proves to be a rough go for Lou and his posse of hunters who are used to more docile creatures like deer. I tell you this, George Bailey would have known when he was overmatched and would have sent for help should the gargoyle ever be threatening Bedford Falls. There's also a side story about a crazy preacher wanting to see the carnival destroyed before he even knew about the gargoyle.
Carny is one big mess of a film. Hopefully Lou Diamond Phillips got to get in some rural pursuits while making this feast for his next Thanksgiving table.
Would that this film was anywhere close to being as good as Freaks, but it sadly isn't. The biggest attraction in the show is some kind of gargoyle like creature billed as the New Jersey Devil. When it gets loose and starts terrorizing the area, Lou as the sheriff takes it upon himself to organize a hunting party.
This is where it really gets ridiculous. When he was a smalltown Texas sheriff in Bats at least he called in some help. Why he didn't in Carny is totally beyond me.
The film was shot in and around Ottawa to simulate the rural atmosphere of upstate New York which is not as rural as when Jimmy Stewart made upstate New York's fictional Bedford Falls famous. The rest of the cast is made up of Canadian players.
Of course getting this gargoyle proves to be a rough go for Lou and his posse of hunters who are used to more docile creatures like deer. I tell you this, George Bailey would have known when he was overmatched and would have sent for help should the gargoyle ever be threatening Bedford Falls. There's also a side story about a crazy preacher wanting to see the carnival destroyed before he even knew about the gargoyle.
Carny is one big mess of a film. Hopefully Lou Diamond Phillips got to get in some rural pursuits while making this feast for his next Thanksgiving table.
- bkoganbing
- Mar 26, 2010
- Permalink
A Travesty
I had the recent misfortune to watch this "film" which was probably the worst I have ever seen, my initial expectations of a good plot for "Carny" were about psychopathic carnival people luring their victims in with trickery but no! It involved a "monster" that was neither iconic, frightening or interesting to any degree. As soon as the "monster" was seen I knew this was going to be a bumpy ride into the land of cliché, hammy acting and scripting. I wouldn't classify this as a b movie, b movies can at least make you laugh but this was serious all the way.
Quickview: One dimensional characters, terrible script, no suspense, poor effects.
Quickview: One dimensional characters, terrible script, no suspense, poor effects.
- GC_MaxProductions
- Jan 22, 2010
- Permalink
Devilish Diamond
- Fraudzilla
- May 25, 2024
- Permalink
Stolen goods
Carny
- Scarecrow-88
- Sep 12, 2010
- Permalink
He don't look that tough
- nogodnomasters
- Sep 1, 2017
- Permalink
Much more entertaining than expected
When a circus arrives in a small town, their prized attraction in a captured Jersey Devil gets loose into the surrounding woodlands and forces the towns' sheriff to not only go out and stop the creature running wild on the townspeople as well as the carnival folks from their ire.
This here was a surprisingly good and enjoyable Sci-Fi Channel creature feature. One of the best parts here is that there's a lot of great encounters with the creature, as the film has a really big number of interactions with the creature which has a lot of great qualities. The first big scene, where the victims encounter it out in the woods several times, first in a spectacularly creepy barn and later out in the open, provide some fantastic scenes. From the creature appearing in the barn but not known where to the chasing amongst the trees and finally the trap under the bridge, this one comes across as an energetic creepy sequence. An attack on a couple in a car is also quite good, the hunting party scenes where the townspeople try to get the creature are both quite fun and enjoyable watching their tactics to get at it while the creature just goes on the offensive. The big one, though, and what makes the film so fun, is the major action scenes at the end starting off as a multi-person brawl at the police station which turns into a fight against the creature and then turning into a full-scale attack at the carnival. Coming complete with some vicious kills, a ton of destruction, some explosions and some fun mini- moments that are strung together into a high-energy scene before the big battle with the creature making this one go out on a high mark as well. This gives the film a rather great pace, and with as much good encounters there is, it's quite fun. The creature itself is given a lot of face time and the gargoyle-like appearance doesn't look all that bad, and along with the film's rather nice amount of blood and gore, these here are the film's good points. There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with the film. One of the problems is that the escape of the creature comes a little too early in the film, barely twenty minutes in and without much of a set-up or anything. There's no suspense that it will fail, it just happens and it feels completely underwhelming because the thing breaks through with almost no difficulty and just flies away, lessening the impact even more as the whole scene is done way too quickly. The one-line back-story about what the thing is doesn't help, since it doesn't give off any information about it or even detailing the legend it's based on, and the creature's origins are a big mystery. The last flaw is the constant preaching of the pastor in the film about the sins of the carnival and what they mean in terms of religion. It's not enjoyable, comes across from a failed viewpoint as they are based on erroneous experiences and the whole thing is completely unnecessary. Otherwise, these are the film's problems.
Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence and Language.
This here was a surprisingly good and enjoyable Sci-Fi Channel creature feature. One of the best parts here is that there's a lot of great encounters with the creature, as the film has a really big number of interactions with the creature which has a lot of great qualities. The first big scene, where the victims encounter it out in the woods several times, first in a spectacularly creepy barn and later out in the open, provide some fantastic scenes. From the creature appearing in the barn but not known where to the chasing amongst the trees and finally the trap under the bridge, this one comes across as an energetic creepy sequence. An attack on a couple in a car is also quite good, the hunting party scenes where the townspeople try to get the creature are both quite fun and enjoyable watching their tactics to get at it while the creature just goes on the offensive. The big one, though, and what makes the film so fun, is the major action scenes at the end starting off as a multi-person brawl at the police station which turns into a fight against the creature and then turning into a full-scale attack at the carnival. Coming complete with some vicious kills, a ton of destruction, some explosions and some fun mini- moments that are strung together into a high-energy scene before the big battle with the creature making this one go out on a high mark as well. This gives the film a rather great pace, and with as much good encounters there is, it's quite fun. The creature itself is given a lot of face time and the gargoyle-like appearance doesn't look all that bad, and along with the film's rather nice amount of blood and gore, these here are the film's good points. There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with the film. One of the problems is that the escape of the creature comes a little too early in the film, barely twenty minutes in and without much of a set-up or anything. There's no suspense that it will fail, it just happens and it feels completely underwhelming because the thing breaks through with almost no difficulty and just flies away, lessening the impact even more as the whole scene is done way too quickly. The one-line back-story about what the thing is doesn't help, since it doesn't give off any information about it or even detailing the legend it's based on, and the creature's origins are a big mystery. The last flaw is the constant preaching of the pastor in the film about the sins of the carnival and what they mean in terms of religion. It's not enjoyable, comes across from a failed viewpoint as they are based on erroneous experiences and the whole thing is completely unnecessary. Otherwise, these are the film's problems.
Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence and Language.
- kannibalcorpsegrinder
- Jan 21, 2017
- Permalink
Fair Fair
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.
- QueenoftheGoons
- May 4, 2021
- Permalink
Enjoyable creature feature
- Woodyanders
- Jul 17, 2013
- Permalink