Hello again!
Another Late night review. I guess at this point this is more an Early morning review.
I apologize for being dormant lately, I've been watching Long marathons of Syfy's (Sci-Fi's) Make-up show Faceoff. I should probably do season reviews, but due to the Reality show format, it would be one giant spoiler. plus I don't like doing reviews of Reality shows.
Anyway I'm wide awake at 6 in the morning so I figured I'd turn on The Devil's Carnival. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. the same Guy who did Repo, the Genetic Opera. I rather liked Repo, even though i cant watch it very often.
Pros:
Some of the songs are very cool. my personal favorite was the Pennies song, sung by the hobo clown. Played by the lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch apparently. it had a really cool little beat to it. I also really liked Lucifer's song, which isn't too surprising considering its the same guy that played the Grave Robber in Repo
I also Really liked the Make up. I happened to look it up and they were designed by none other than Gage from the first season of Faceoff, how coincidental. I loved the Painted Doll character and Lucifer was pretty cool. even the Hobo Clown looked cool.
Really the only other thing I really liked was the production design on most of the carnival. I like the macabre images mixed with the surreal.
Cons:
It's 55 minutes long. Felt more like an episode of TV than a movie. Considering it ends with them singing about invading heaven it feels like the first in a series, yet I doubt they can even make their $500,000 budget back.
Speaking of budget, it felt extremely cheap for much of the movie. Everything felt like a small set piece like a car, or a few walls, in front of a blackdrop. it felt very cheap and lacked the grandiose nature of Repo. I was hoping for some real Demonic things, instead I get a midget in a clown outfit.
Most of the songs, (except the hobo clown, lucifer, and the Painted Doll's songs) felt thrown in. they were almost thrown in there just to make it a musical, even when the character isn't singing for half the song. There's a scene late in the movie with John (guy looking for his kid) wandering through Strobe light Epilepsy zone. in some shots he's singing with the lyrics, in some he's just wandering around. It's almost like the director couldn't decide if he wanted the song or not. this happens a few times, It would have been fine if the lyrics were clear and a focus point but they almost felt muddled and buried beneath the instruments.
Comparisons:
I have to compare it to Repo and Dr Horrible. All 3 are Musicals, and Dr Horrible is about the same length.
First off I love Dr Horrible, the wit, the music, the pacing, the characters, I got to know them and care about them over the course of 45 short minutes. Devil's carnival had way too many random characters and I found myself not remotely caring about any of them, except the Hobo Clown, but even that, he's singing over the sounds of a girl getting whipped.
Repo was all around a better movie. it had unique visuals, an actual narrative that made some sense and some really good songs. now Carnival made up for itself in the last half with a few songs, and I'll watch the next one, if its made, but I'm just disappointed with Bousman's follow up.
Final Verdict: 52
Good art and makeup, a couple good songs, but no story and bland writing.
so theres that, I'm gonna get some sleep, night all!
Another Late night review. I guess at this point this is more an Early morning review.
I apologize for being dormant lately, I've been watching Long marathons of Syfy's (Sci-Fi's) Make-up show Faceoff. I should probably do season reviews, but due to the Reality show format, it would be one giant spoiler. plus I don't like doing reviews of Reality shows.
Anyway I'm wide awake at 6 in the morning so I figured I'd turn on The Devil's Carnival. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. the same Guy who did Repo, the Genetic Opera. I rather liked Repo, even though i cant watch it very often.
MOVIE REVIEW: The Devil's Carnival
Some of the songs are very cool. my personal favorite was the Pennies song, sung by the hobo clown. Played by the lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch apparently. it had a really cool little beat to it. I also really liked Lucifer's song, which isn't too surprising considering its the same guy that played the Grave Robber in Repo
I also Really liked the Make up. I happened to look it up and they were designed by none other than Gage from the first season of Faceoff, how coincidental. I loved the Painted Doll character and Lucifer was pretty cool. even the Hobo Clown looked cool.
Really the only other thing I really liked was the production design on most of the carnival. I like the macabre images mixed with the surreal.
Cons:
It's 55 minutes long. Felt more like an episode of TV than a movie. Considering it ends with them singing about invading heaven it feels like the first in a series, yet I doubt they can even make their $500,000 budget back.
Speaking of budget, it felt extremely cheap for much of the movie. Everything felt like a small set piece like a car, or a few walls, in front of a blackdrop. it felt very cheap and lacked the grandiose nature of Repo. I was hoping for some real Demonic things, instead I get a midget in a clown outfit.
Most of the songs, (except the hobo clown, lucifer, and the Painted Doll's songs) felt thrown in. they were almost thrown in there just to make it a musical, even when the character isn't singing for half the song. There's a scene late in the movie with John (guy looking for his kid) wandering through Strobe light Epilepsy zone. in some shots he's singing with the lyrics, in some he's just wandering around. It's almost like the director couldn't decide if he wanted the song or not. this happens a few times, It would have been fine if the lyrics were clear and a focus point but they almost felt muddled and buried beneath the instruments.
Comparisons:
I have to compare it to Repo and Dr Horrible. All 3 are Musicals, and Dr Horrible is about the same length.
First off I love Dr Horrible, the wit, the music, the pacing, the characters, I got to know them and care about them over the course of 45 short minutes. Devil's carnival had way too many random characters and I found myself not remotely caring about any of them, except the Hobo Clown, but even that, he's singing over the sounds of a girl getting whipped.
Repo was all around a better movie. it had unique visuals, an actual narrative that made some sense and some really good songs. now Carnival made up for itself in the last half with a few songs, and I'll watch the next one, if its made, but I'm just disappointed with Bousman's follow up.
Final Verdict: 52
Good art and makeup, a couple good songs, but no story and bland writing.
so theres that, I'm gonna get some sleep, night all!
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