Carnifex

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.

Australia has 2 kinds of horror: that which involves mostly torture on screen, and the creature type.

Now I have to say, as much as I dislike the torture/gore genres, I absolutely love monster movies. So here is where Australia, land of plenty, shines. They brought us good such productions ever since Razorback (1984) and continued doing so with, Rogue, Black Water and now Carnifex. I think of all these mentioned, Carnifex had the smallest budget, and you can see that here, but other than that, I have to give it credit.

It got itself some nice views, good actors that delivered, one different monster than what I've seen before, all wrapped in a little in the back forest horror that worked quite nicely for what it is.

Thus I shall recommend this one, because horror isn't just mainstream, it's also productions like this one, delivered from passion, that maybe doesn't make the biggest splash, but it's still a nice way of spending 90 minutes.

All in all, definitely recommended for creature movie fans, it works quite viewed late at night. Cheers!

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.

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.

Wow ... this one ... well I have conflicting thoughts ... but in the end there is just so much more bad than good. OK, GREAT locations, and the scene direction is actually really good. Turning off the sound and watching the scenes go by would actually have made this more enjoyable.

That said, the script was AWFUL. Is it so hard for low budget producers/directors to understand that this is one of the most cost effective way to take a movie from crappy to excellent? So if you settle for something you scrawled out while on the can, well you should have left it in there. And audiences do want to be preached to, STOP IT!

The absolute overuse of crud moves (as one reviewer described them as 'jump scenes') ... oh my, what a waste.

It bugs me when some reviewers give high marks when they consider only one or two factors. Yes, I agree the scenery is great, but if the rest of the components of a good movies aren't there, you should not get high rating.