Malatesta's Carnival of Blood (1973)
Directed by Christopher Speeth
Windmill Films DVD
THE FILM
There is an amusement park and a carnival. And, you got it; I love both of these things so very, very much. The true majesty of this film is that it expands the potentiality of this world and makes it so odd and takes it...underground. I knew it! I knew there was crazy stuff underneath those carnivals. Underneath this one, a man named Malatesta feeds people to his cannibalistic followers. The followers have a kind of Zombie/Hippy feel to them, with close harmony folk songs included. A family, including a daughter in a very, very short skirt, show up to run a shooting game of some brand but they're actually looking for a missing son...
The film is filled with a lot of wonderful nightmare-hugging images and strange, strange looking people. Most of the time is spent watching the daughter run through the grounds and underneath. There isn't much else that goes on. The creepy people and strange rooms and random swarms of zombies keep us on our toes. And, there are wonderful moments where the film feels like it's becoming Night Of The Living Dead…and, in those moments, it links up to all the other films of the time that weren't completely zombie films but had moments like this in them. The Child is the first one that hops to my mind.
I like this one but I didn't completely love it. (That's happening a lot this year.) There's a bit too much time spent watching people running from one set piece to another. The set pieces are great but the running can be a bit much. When I got to the end, I thought "I'd watch this again". I think a second viewing would allow appreciation of the craziness of all of it because you know what's going to happen and can focus simply on The Crazy Shit. (2ND VIEWING DAN SAYS: "First Viewing Dan is right.") If the Weird impresses you, than you should file away "A Second Viewing" in the back of your mind. But, if it just seems to be sort of a pointless and drawn-out wander around, you can let it ride. No one will think less of you.
I don't want to ruin too much but I do want to say that bits of this do have an art installation feel to it. And, that's a good thing. Some production design is always nice in a film. Imagine the settings of this film as the surreal or artier brother-in-law of the Family's Home in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some huge spaces have been filled up with some odd things. Nice. I like strange movies. Won't you email me and tell me that you like them too? (On second thought, email Joe or, as I call him, "Malatesta".)
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Oh, yeah, it's a bit scratchy. Audio and video, that is. But, on the DVD, it's a bit scratchy with class. So, that's, frankly, bitchin'.
EXTRAS
Stills and outtakes. Lots of gore in the outtakes. Head eating? Have a look! You might be surprised.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Some days you want a slasher that looks like everything else. But, some days you just want to go under the carnival and run from the singing cannibals.
— Dan Budnik, 11.17.11 |
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