Sarentrol Masterful Cinema

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Izzy Adkins The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Michael Ledo A disreputable carny (A.C. Peterson) manages to obtain the Jersey Devil and uses it as a sideshow in a small town in Nebraska. It gets loose and raises havoc in the woodlands of Nebraska that looked like Quebec, Canada, There is a seer named Samara (Simone-Élise Girard) pronounced like "Tomorrow." Only Lou Diamond Phillips can save the town....well part of it.This is a 2009 made for TV film. The script left much to be desired as did the characters. You do get to see the creature unlike found footage films. The boys didn't have any girlfriends, like LDP's daughter which would have added some human interest to the tale. She could have been the Final Girl that helped kill the beast. As it was all we had was some hateful preacher we wanted to see get eaten.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

merklekranz Though somewhat rushed to conclusion, what precedes it is good. Good flying monster, good story, good character development, and good location photography. Lou Diamond Phillips is totally acceptable as the small town sheriff, and the evil carny owner is well played by Alan C. Peterson. There are some unexpected twists, and some pretty good jump scares. "Carny" is superior to two other "Jersey Devil" movies, "The 13th Child Legend of the Jersey Devil" (2003), which is terrible, and the somewhat interesting "The Last Broadcast" (2006). Thus, this is flat out the best "Jersey Devil" movie out there. ................... - MERK

bkoganbing In Carny Lou Diamond Phillips is cast as the police chief of Reliance, New York a small town in the most rural part of upstate New York where the big event of the year is about to take place, a carnival has come to town. Not just any carnival, but one specializing in some of the rejects from the Creator/Deity work table. In this film's makers must have been inspired by Todd Browning's classic film, Freaks.Would that this film was anywhere close to being as good as Freaks, but it sadly isn't. The biggest attraction in the show is some kind of gargoyle like creature billed as the New Jersey Devil. When it gets loose and starts terrorizing the area, Lou as the sheriff takes it upon himself to organize a hunting party.This is where it really gets ridiculous. When he was a smalltown Texas sheriff in Bats at least he called in some help. Why he didn't in Carny is totally beyond me.The film was shot in and around Ottawa to simulate the rural atmosphere of upstate New York which is not as rural as when Jimmy Stewart made upstate New York's fictional Bedford Falls famous. The rest of the cast is made up of Canadian players.Of course getting this gargoyle proves to be a rough go for Lou and his posse of hunters who are used to more docile creatures like deer. I tell you this, George Bailey would have known when he was overmatched and would have sent for help should the gargoyle ever be threatening Bedford Falls. There's also a side story about a crazy preacher wanting to see the carnival destroyed before he even knew about the gargoyle.Carny is one big mess of a film. Hopefully Lou Diamond Phillips got to get in some rural pursuits while making this feast for his next Thanksgiving table.

Theodine This is one of the most mean spirited movies I have ever seen. Most of the characters are unsympathetic. The head of the carnival is someone who'll murder anyone who stands between him and making a profit. His helper is stupid and just as willing to kill. The town's pastor rants on and on about the carnival even before he has a good reason to. He apparently thinks that just because some people were born differently, i.e. are circus "freaks", that means they're evil and deserve to die. The townspeople at the end are both stupid and unsympathetic as they promptly turn their efforts to killing people at the carnival rather than making sure the creature is dead. We never really get to know the circus "freaks" as they are apparently just there for shock value. The few sympathetic characters are treated horribly. A young man is completely traumatized and then later killed in front of his mother in a completely unnecessary scene. A deputy is brutally murdered. This movie was a very unpleasant experience that I wish I could wipe entirely from my mind. I don't know what the scriptwriters were thinking. Certainly not about being entertaining or having any value to their film what so ever.