There will be spoilers below.. And this is my personal review. I realize that lots of people seemed to enjoy this movie. I just really didn't so I wanted to offer my views.
I'm giving The Devil's Carnival a 4 because I've suffered through much, much worse but I certainly wouldn't pay to see it again, either. I'm going to break this down in four sections: plot, characters, music, and costume/makeup.
Plot: While I like the basic idea of the film (Aesop's in Hell!), I feel like it was much too short to actually pull it off. I say this because any good story is driven by good characters and..
Characters: ..I couldn't have given a rat's @$$ about any of them. Their stories did not go into nearly enough detail for me to even develop a smidgen of care about them or their eventual demises. Ms. Merrywood and Tamara could have been completely left out for all I cared because they were such shallow, undeveloped characters. John was a little bit more developed but some decent back story on any of them would've been nice. As for the carnies, most of them needn't have been introduced at all because they don't really play a part. It seemed like a lot of time was spent introducing us to the carnival itself but not it's inhabitants. The set was cool but I was really hoping for the same caliber of character development from Repo! and it was sorely lacking.
Music: I was certainly not about to pay the 20 bucks they wanted for a soundtrack. My boyfriend and I agreed that this was probably the worst part about the film. Lines were repeated over and over and over until I wanted to stab myself in the face. Wick's song was so high pitched and screechy that I wanted to stab myself in the ears. I also might be a little harsh on the music because Ogre is one of my favorite musicians and he didn't really get to sing all that much since in the very beginning of his sequence, his character shape-shifts into the thief and the rest of the song is done by her.. and I couldn't even begin to really tell you any distinguishing lines from most of the songs because I would just zone out. I know the Repo! soundtrack by heart.
Costumes/Makeup: This was the best part of the film for me. I really think they did a smashing job on all the costumes and makeup. But much like hi-def video games with phenomenal graphics but little engaging story line, it was not enough to keep me interested.
As for the "experience", it was not worth the 50 bucks a piece I spent on the Ringmaster tickets. Two tired sideshow tricks from an ex- wrestler, a costume contest, a bit of Q&A, and 15 minutes of behind the scenes Repo! footage did not impress me. Also, saying that we can't have our picture taken or get an autograph unless drop 20 bucks on a soundtrack? Wow. Talk about fan appreciation. Never mind the fact that we already dropped cash on a ticket in the first place. My unsigned Repo! DVD, my boyfriend, and I left as soon as the lights came back up. I left the theatre wondering if the Avengers is really as awesome as all my friends say or if I should've seen Dark Shadows instead.
If you're looking for a musical movie experience, I suggest finding a local showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show if you have them in your area. It seems like Darren Lynn Bousman is just itching to turn out a cult hit like that anyway so you might as well enjoy the original.
I'm giving The Devil's Carnival a 4 because I've suffered through much, much worse but I certainly wouldn't pay to see it again, either. I'm going to break this down in four sections: plot, characters, music, and costume/makeup.
Plot: While I like the basic idea of the film (Aesop's in Hell!), I feel like it was much too short to actually pull it off. I say this because any good story is driven by good characters and..
Characters: ..I couldn't have given a rat's @$$ about any of them. Their stories did not go into nearly enough detail for me to even develop a smidgen of care about them or their eventual demises. Ms. Merrywood and Tamara could have been completely left out for all I cared because they were such shallow, undeveloped characters. John was a little bit more developed but some decent back story on any of them would've been nice. As for the carnies, most of them needn't have been introduced at all because they don't really play a part. It seemed like a lot of time was spent introducing us to the carnival itself but not it's inhabitants. The set was cool but I was really hoping for the same caliber of character development from Repo! and it was sorely lacking.
Music: I was certainly not about to pay the 20 bucks they wanted for a soundtrack. My boyfriend and I agreed that this was probably the worst part about the film. Lines were repeated over and over and over until I wanted to stab myself in the face. Wick's song was so high pitched and screechy that I wanted to stab myself in the ears. I also might be a little harsh on the music because Ogre is one of my favorite musicians and he didn't really get to sing all that much since in the very beginning of his sequence, his character shape-shifts into the thief and the rest of the song is done by her.. and I couldn't even begin to really tell you any distinguishing lines from most of the songs because I would just zone out. I know the Repo! soundtrack by heart.
Costumes/Makeup: This was the best part of the film for me. I really think they did a smashing job on all the costumes and makeup. But much like hi-def video games with phenomenal graphics but little engaging story line, it was not enough to keep me interested.
As for the "experience", it was not worth the 50 bucks a piece I spent on the Ringmaster tickets. Two tired sideshow tricks from an ex- wrestler, a costume contest, a bit of Q&A, and 15 minutes of behind the scenes Repo! footage did not impress me. Also, saying that we can't have our picture taken or get an autograph unless drop 20 bucks on a soundtrack? Wow. Talk about fan appreciation. Never mind the fact that we already dropped cash on a ticket in the first place. My unsigned Repo! DVD, my boyfriend, and I left as soon as the lights came back up. I left the theatre wondering if the Avengers is really as awesome as all my friends say or if I should've seen Dark Shadows instead.
If you're looking for a musical movie experience, I suggest finding a local showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show if you have them in your area. It seems like Darren Lynn Bousman is just itching to turn out a cult hit like that anyway so you might as well enjoy the original.