Carnival of Blood

Three brutal murders of women take place at Coney Island funfair during the carnival.The unknown killer with the penchant for teddy bears decapitates the first victim.Who is behind these gruesome murders?It's up to Dan and Laura to find out."Carnival of Blood" by Leonard Kirtman is one of the earliest examples of slasher sub-genre.The film is cheaply made,the acting is mostly improvised and the gore is strikingly inept.The first victim is decapitated in the ghost-train,the second is eviscerated and the third has her eyeballs pulled out.If you are into Hershell Gordon Lewis or Andy Milligan's ultra low-budget horror trash "Carnival of Blood" is a perfect choice.6 out of 10.Don't forget to bring your teddy bears.

This is a terrible movie in every way. The story is awful, the special effects are laughable... wait, what am I saying? Special effects? There apparently wasn't even a budget for lights and microphones on this one! That's a big handicap when most of the movie was shot at night on the noisy Coney Island boardwalk and Astroland. Let's face it, this flick just has nothing going for it.

But... it was shot in Coney Island in 1969/1970. I gave it two extra stars because I was a kid growing up in Coney Island in the 70's, so there was a big nostalgia factor for me. I rode on many of the rides shown in the film. I ate at that Nathan's and walked on that boardwalk.

If you're not nostalgic for 1970's Coney Island, pass this one by; you won't be missing anything at all. If you are, though, see it with the sound turned off and pay more attention to the backdrop than the movie itself.

Someone is stalking the patrons of a seedy, ramshackle carnival amusement park, murdering and mutilating them in a variety of gruesome ways. The multitude of suspects weighs heavy with iniquitous reprobates, but nobody is above suspicion.

CARNIVAL OF BLOOD is the "beau ideal" of early 70s grassroots film-making...there isn't the slightest hint of virtuoso evident in so much as a single frame of this picture, but it certainly does shine as a sort of attestation to resourceful creative vitality. This turkey here is about as Spartan a production as ever there was, but the clever use of a carnival for the story's nucleus creates an illusion of the movie being something substantially "bigger" than it actually is...a breadline, bush-league, bottom of the barrel crock-o-schlock.

While it certainly owes stylistically to the cinematrocious exploits of trash-film pundits like H. G. Lewis and Andy Milligan, CARNIVAL actually marches drunkenly to the freaky beat of a spaced-out drummer all it's own. As bad as it is, it's hard not to like...or at least be amused by...this gore-soaked, beggared lump of collective incompetence.

5.5/10...I think just about anyone with a good sense of humor could find this enjoyable.

There is something that kept me watching, entertained by this "Z" grade horror film. I love creepy carnivals so that is what drew me into watching this film - but the overall psycho-delic look and strange story kept me watching it. I got hooked from the start and actually finished watching this film and would watch it again!

OK some of this film does not make sense - best example: (The girl and guy that are engaged) She refuses to go back to the carnival after murders happened there. He comes into her apartment with a mask and it scares her and they argue, he leaves. She then goes down to the carnival alone to speak to her friend who's a carny there. --- WTF? She wouldn't go with her boyfriend, she fought him over going (then broke up with him) then she goes by herself to the carnival to tell her carny friend?!! Hhahaa. I guess her boyfriend did what he set out to do - get her over the murders and get on with her life - unafraid!!

As carny, err corny, as this film is I actually enjoyed it!

6/10

When a patron is decapitated while enjoying the "spook house" ride, we know we've entered the CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. Said riders should have listened to the midway fortune teller (Kaly Mills), who had "bad vibes" about their situation. They won't be the last, since whoever the killer is is just getting started!

For its era, this is a fairly grisly movie. In addition to the aforementioned noggin removal (aka: a dummy head with extra ketchup), there's a rather disgusting disembowelment that could send the easily-sickened racing for the restroom!

In spite of its low-low budget and long stretches of nothingness between murders, CARNIVAL manages to remain semi-entertaining throughout. It gets extra points for its proto-slasher status, especially for the gushy -most likely pig- guts! Some releases don't include them, so, buyer beware!...