Carnifex

I liked this old fashioned horror film, that reminds me the seventies, eighties very easily. It's never boring, using though the same methods for scaring the audiences, so many clichés, but we are in a horror film, not a comedy,and the director took no risks in trying something different. It's spooky and that's all. The producers were sure to obtain what they wanted, to receive money from their investments, and the best receipe is not to take risks and give the audiences what they want. They want sh...give em sh...They want predictable plots, give em predictable plots and that's it. Formatted tastes from the audiences and fomatted results on screen. The audiences will provoke the collapse of creativity. That makes me puke, sorry.... I am in such distress.

I will say that I found the cover for the 2022 horror movie "Carnifex" interesting enough to pick it up. And with "Carnifex" being a horror movie that I had not already seen, nor even heard about, of course I opted to watch it.

The storyline in the movie, as written by Shanti Gudgeon, definitely had potential. However, the movie was just too slow paced and ineffective. It was clear that writer Shanti Gudgeon and director Sean Lahiff were aiming at tension and atmosphere, more than they opted for a traditional gore horror movie. It didn't really play out all that well in my book, especially because you have to wait 56 minutes before you get a glimpse of the creature. And by that time it was just too little, too late, especially since the movie ran at 93 minutes in total.

"Carnifex" is a slow paced movie with a narrative that actually doesn't offer all that much to the audience. But if you consider watching three people walking around in the wilderness, looking at camera traps exciting, then you are definitely in for a treat. I was expecting a tad more than just that, so I found "Carnifex" to be somewhat of a swing and a miss.

And with nearly 1 hour into the movie before things start to happen, I have to say that my patience and interest in the movie was fast waning.

This is a movie with a very small cast ensemble, so there was an additional amount of pressure on the performances delivered by Harry Greenwood, Alexandra Park and Sisi Stringer. They actually fared well enough, taking into consideration the lack of a properly engaging script and storyline.

Visually then "Carnifex" was okay. I mean, you don't get to see anything interesting before 56 minutes into the foray. And with less than a couple of minutes, perhaps 2 or 3, of screentime, then it made for a rather dull creature feature.

Sure, the atmosphere and tension in the movie was good, but the narrative was just too mundane and slow paced to keep things interesting.

My rating of "Carnifex" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

I enjoyed this movie, even though eventually it seems like it falls flat.

First of all, I enjoyed the scenery, forest trip, campfire, nature views, light conversations - I liked that part, it seemed happy and easy, and entertaining to me.

I liked the actors and the characters, they played well.

The suspense build up was good, felt some "Predator" vibes there, you know, at some point the pressure grew like characters were being stalked and in danger, while being unaware of it. That was executed well as per my opinion.

The ending is really when the movie should've risen to its peak, but instead it fallen flat. Some bad decisions have been made during this movie creation, I guess. So, characters suddenly became silly even though as biologists they should've probably known better how to act around predators and kept safe.

Moreover, as the creature is in the center of this movie, it should've been well written and thought throw, etc.

But instead, we get this creature with overall bad design. I'm not talking about the CGI (although they were pretty lackluster in half of the scenes), but mostly its behavior, motivation and history. There is no justification in movie itself about how this could've all be possible.

So, yes, I enjoyed this one.

Still, I was a bit disappointed, because I really saw the potential for it to be so much better in the end with just a little more work.

CARNIFEX follows three passionate conservationists, Grace (Sisi Stringer), Bailey (Alexandra Park) and Ben (Harry Greenwood), as they venture deep into the Australian outback in hopes of recording evidence of devastation caused by the wildfires. The trio soon discovers a terrifying species - the Carnifex - that has been previously undocumented, and they quickly realize that they are now the ones being tracked.

CARNIFEX is a missed opportunity. Despite a talented cast, the story fails to take off. After a cliched opening of someone being attacked by something unseen, the first half of the movie plods on with boring and stilted dialogue and where little happens apart from the characters peering up into the trees. The documentary maker in the story hardly ever has her camera running and never does when any documentary maker would do so. The acting is unconvincing (although the dog does a decent job), and the story did not have enough suspense to keep me engaged.

The second half of the movie picks up with a couple of intense action sequences, but even then, it feels too formulaic and predictable. The effects work is satisfactory, but nothing stands out.

The bush setting is beautiful but underutilised and left me with little more than a couple of jump scares. The soundtrack also fails to engage, being sparse and lacking in tension.

CARNIFEX is a forgettable horror flick that won't leave you too traumatized or thrilled. It's an adequate timewaster, but uninspiring. If you're looking for a true horror experience, you'd be better off checking out something else.

CARNIFEX is simply a shallow and forgettable movie that doesn't live up to its potential. It boasts beautiful cinematography of the Australian bush but fails to offer anything unique or interesting. It's not worth your time or money.

It's a fun movie in my book & well worth a watch. If you go camping in the Aussie bush, who knows what those noises at night are?

Typically Australian & without the mega budget, the magnificent landscapes are the backdrop (ala The Hunter) for a well done take on an Australian myth, legend or maybe reality. Even we don't know for sure.

The actors fit the bill well, as far as they know they're just normal people doing a normal job. It's not a blood & gore fest, more like a suspense WTF is that type movie.

I'm very impressed given it was filmed a few Km's from home (I know most of the locations) and it's a big screen movie.