Carnage Park

It's a indie crime/horror film about the sniper and the girl trying to escape, or kill him. I really liked it a lot! It has excellent editing, brilliant cinematography, nice story, good performances. The Last Exorcism's Ashley Bell is supposed to be annoying from it, but I actually think she gave a superb performance. While the first hour was entertaining, but I didn't really enjoy the last 25 minutes because mine scene was so darkly filmed and should have been shorter. But again, it has a fine story. If you are a fan of Tarantino/Rob Zombie films, then you will for sure enjoy it (well, maybe except the last 25 minutes). This movie don't deserves a low rating, I think it's actually such a fantastic film and totally underrated. Just entertaining and enjoyable movie!

8/10.

The movie started well. Killer with a sniper gun. Pat Heally acted like a true psychopath. His facial expressions n accent is good. The deserted highway, bank robbery, hostage, all these gav me hope that this might b another Wolf Creek or another good thriller. I was wrong. The movie went downhill. Inspite of being only around 77 mins, i found the movie very tedious. At times i felt like switching off the movie. The soundtrack is awful. Larry Fessenden is jus there for few mins. Some of the scenes were so badly shot that I felt like turning my face away. Shaky cam, hand held, flickering lights in darkness were too tedious for me. Some scenes jus went blank (dark screen). I don't know what purpose does that serve. So many clichés. 1)When u take down/beat up a villain/creature/psycho, make sure that they r dead or completely down. 2)Whenever the main lead is terrified he/she accidentally stabs a scissor or a knife in an innocent person.

Made as an ode to flicks from the seventies this flick sadly do has it flows. It all starts pretty well with the future and the past perfectly blend into each other but the further this one goes it turns into a few problems.

I can dig the whole story so-called based on true events a bit like they did wit Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) even the color grading used reminded me of those good old exploitation flicks.

But it's the ending, especially in the mines that took a bit too long for me because naturally it's pitch black in mines but it's also filmed that way. So many moments the only thing you see is a black screen.

But luckily the effects used were above mediocre. There aren't that many in it but the shooting in the head and the results are really a must see for gorehounds. Don't get me wrong, it is still worth picking up but as said, the mines could have been a bit shorter, it would made it a perfect flick.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Carnage Park is a brand new horror film from Director Mickey Keating. Keating put out two pretty solid horror films last year, Pod and Darling, so I was pretty excited check out his latest offering. Plus from the trailer the film looked to have a grindhouse type feel to it, that combined with the fact that the cast featured Pat Healy (Innkeepers, Cheap Thills, Compliance) and Ashley Bell (Last Exorcism, Last Exorcism Part 2, The Day) was enough to make me want to see this on it's release.

Almost immediately the film had me interested, the opening scene does a good job of setting the tone of the film, then from there they jump right into a homage to one of the great scenes from Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". The first thirty minutes or so were very Grind house esque, I liked that a lot. The first character we are introduced to (Scorpion Joe) is a very cool character, the type of character that we usually don't see in horror films like this. Then we are introduced to our leading lady Vivian (Ashley Bell), Bell plays the part well but her character was pretty uninteresting in my opinion. Unfortunately though right at the thirty minute point the film started to get pretty bland. The Grind house style is thrown to the side and instead we are treated to a rather familiar scenario of a cat and mouse game between an attractive female lead and a crazy psychopath. Pat Healy does a decent job as the Killer, he is under used though and does not get enough screen time.

Of Keating's three most recent films (Carnage Park, Pod, and Darling) I would say that Carnage Park is the weakest. It really borrows too much from other movies and fails to do much to stand out. It's not a terrible movie, as I said the first thirty minutes were done very well, but the last hour or so of the film is just basically a rinse and repeat of so many other cat and mouse type flicks. Probably worth watching for die hard horror fans who need their horror fix, but outside of that I think most people will find "Carnage Park" fairly bland and boring.

I loved the '70s vibe, the old cars and style, with the sepia cinematography that doesn't always add to a film, but was amazing the way it was used here. After awhile though, it deteriorated into nothing but 'special effects' with muffled, crazy weirdness over loudspeakers that wasn't scary, then it became too dark to see anything (maybe it would be better viewed at night.) I heard a random possible gunshot here and there, but honestly I was bored through to the end. The first half was interesting, but the second was a big fat zero. I gave stars for the cinematography and the acting, which was excellent, for the first half, but ultimately, the film was a big fat disappointment. Seemed to try too hard at being "artsy" and that left a plot that fell flat, especially since it was based on a true story. I love desert horror/ thriller movies, usually. The 'Reeker' films were much more interesting to me, because they saw the plot through to the end. I'd give a sequel a chance, just in case there was a more engaging and complete plot, but would go in with low expectations.