Carnival of Fear [DVD]

A few days ago I wrote a review on here about a film called 2 Headed Shark Attack. I started that review saying it was the worst film I'd ever seen. Well that title has well and truly been passed onto this pile of crap. I'd also like to point out with no disrespect to the other reviewers but I can only assume they were high when they watched this film because the other reviews do not reflect this film in the slightest.

This film has no ads or any annoying production intros it dives straight into the film - This is the ONLY good thing about Carnival of Fear. It starts rather abruptly with a boy running from an older gentlemen in the woods. The boy seeks refuge in a hut where an old man eating beans appears to already be hiding in. Within seconds the young boy is on a rollercoaster with the man who was chasing him. What happened next was insulting as a paying customer watching this film. Essentially a sequence showing the boy on a rollercoaster obviously taken out of a Nintendo game is played. The film then gets worse and worse to the stage where there is no storyline whatsoever. There is no proper editing or anything that remotely indicates this "film" was made by anyone other than a demented chimp with a camcorder on it's forehead.

The film lasts a marathon 2 hours, and it's exactly that a marathon painful, slow and no matter how much you want it to end more just keeps on coming. I must admit I stopped taking anything in after the main character was watching herself getting raped by a teddy bear.

I read somewhere that Carnival of Fear was a remake of an older film, if that is true then that director must be spinning in his grave.

Carnival of Fear is rated 18 in the UK. I honestly don't think the BBFC went far enough with that certificate though, I believe this film should not be allowed to be sold to anyone other than the clowns who feature in it. While on the topic of sale, £8 was paid for this crap. £8 too much.

To summarise I'd aptly liken Carnival of Fear to those tacky photographs you can buy after you go on a rollercoaster. They look good in the window but when you hand over your money and you look at what you've actually bought you can't help but feel robbed. I implore anyone thinking of buying this to slap themselves and find a real horror instead. The only place this DVD belongs is the bargain bucket.

One of the poorest attempts of a film I have ever seen. In fact, I couldn't even get through the whole movie, I think got through, give or take, about up to halfway in the film before (and yes I did this)screaming "**** THIS!" and took it out of my Xbox. The acting is absolutely terrible, the special effects were mediocre at best and well...it was just bad. The only good thing about this film was that the girl was fit.

Do NOT waste time purchasing this film. I only got this garbage because I brought a three dvd disc set and this came with it. Shame on the "director" of this so-called horror movie.

A young woman called Kristy suddenly wakes up in a deserted Amusement Park and is menaced by the park's inhabitants. She spots a house and runs for cover seeking help from the young man inside, James.

Kristy and James are soon joined by a sinister looking clown known as 'The Carny'. It is he who starts to play mind games with the duo by all means at his disposal. The Carny is a right seedy old dude and is played with a gleeful menace by Joe Unger. You never quite know what he will do next and with his various tricks and disguises you tend to feel a genuine unease when he is on the screen. Kristy and James have to get out of the carnival but can they make it out alive?

Director Jay Woelfel (who also wrote the film and directed the under-rated final chapter in the 'Trancers' film series) has crafted a film which confuses the hell out of you and when you think you got it worked out, it confuses you further. Whether this was done either in the script or the editing suite, it makes a nice refreshing change from the usual by-the-number horror movies.

The film has good old fashioned make up effects and a bit of dodgy CGI at the beginning but don't let that put you off. I also liked Woelefel's use of digital work on some scenes with some well wild colours being used and some clever filtering of the camera's image. Using an old deserted funfair for the location shooting has helped immensely and gives the film a real creepy atmosphere.

It's certainly quite an strange experience at times and one which I did rather enjoy. It is a real head trip at times but at least it's different, which I'm all for in this age of lame slasher and zombie pictures.