Carny

When a traveling carnival comes to a rural Nebraska town, the caged attraction everyone is talking about is the alleged Jersey Devil. When the beast escapes, tearing the citizens to shreds, local sheriff Sam Atlas steps up to form a tracking team. But the carnivorous fugitive is only one of Sam’s problems. The local pastor, enraged by the death of his son at the hands of the beast, has plans for igniting his own brand of hellfire and revenge.

_**Starts out great, and then fumbles**_ Released to television in 2009, "Carny" is a monster-on-the-loose flick about a carnival stopping at a New York town with a new attraction, a gargoyle-like creature that turns out to be the infamous Jersey Devil. The town's prominent pastor initially objects to the freakshow and goes over the edge after the creature gets loose. The sheriff (Lou Diamond Phillips) rounds up some men to end the slaughter of innocents while the malevolent carny owner wants to recapture the creature for greedy purposes. Being a fan of winged-monster flicks like "Gargoyles" (1972), "Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness" (2004), "Wyvern" (2009) and even "Jeepers Creepers (2001), I was looking forward to "Carny." But after a very intriguing start I was let down. The opening act with the introduction of the town, the characters, the carnival and the creature is the best part, but the film fumbles the ball in the second and final acts. Circus-like scenarios are a surefire setting for horror/mystery tales, as verified by "The Funhouse" (1981), "Berserk!" (1967), "Circus of Horrors” (1960) and even "The Howling VI: The Freaks" (1991), but "Carny" fails to truly capitalize on this attribute. The Human interest factor is next to zero. We get three main characters: The evil freakshow owner, the wacko pastor and a likable sheriff. Peripheral characters include the carnival owner's henchman, the pastor's son & friend, and a cougar fortune-teller, Samara. Although the story throws in a self-sacrificial scene there's not enough depth to these characters or their relationships to make it moving. The second act involves a search-in-the-woods for the creature by the two groups noted above and I appreciated the serious, non-campy vibe (even while the villain and the Reverend treaded the waters of cartoonish-ness). The film and actors successfully gave the feeling that this was serious business and really happening. Yet it was around this point that I also started losing interest. Why? Probably because there was no human interest. A bloodthirsty monster is on the loose and these people are trying to capture/kill it; one man is likable, another is ultra-evil and the other is a wack job. That's it. It goes no deeper. Another key flaw is the lack of alluring females. Isn't this a creature-on-the-loose flick? A horror flick? A carnival flick? Where are the women? (And, no, Samara doesn't qualify, although I suppose she could have). "Wyvern", "The Fog" remake, "Goblin", "The Howling VI: The Freaks" (not to mention parts I, II, III, IV & V), every "Friday the 13th" flick and "Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness" all knew enough to include a lovely lass or three. Heck, even by-the-numbers straight-to-video shlock like "Urband Legends 3: Bloody Mary" includes 'em. Yes, I'm being a little humorous but, seriously, a circus plays a big role in the story, give us a freakin' high-wire woman or something, please! Also, the stereotypical religious nutjob rings false and hackneyed. Why not get really 'cutting edge' and show us a minister (or believers in general) in a positive, heroic light, like the original "Poseidon Adventure" and "Rambo"? That said, there's still enough good here to give it a marginal recommendation for those with who appreciate such fare. The monster looks convincing and there's a lot of gore (not that I care about gore, but some do). The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Ottawa, which is a good stand-in for northern New York since it's only an hour drive south. GRADE: C