Carnival of Fear: Closed for the Season

As a roller coaster nerd I was drawn to this film, unable to find it for years. All I saw was Brenna Roth's short documentary about the park, which featured the trailer for the movie. That documentary lead me to do some abandoned explorations and fall in love with that too. The alure lasted for many years, maybe my high praise is more based on the satisfaction of actually seeing the thing. But I actually think the film itself is really good. Sure there are moments of corny production (thankfully the special effects shots are limited) but WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IN A FILM ABOUT AN ABANDONED AMUSEMENT PARK COMING TO LIFE ALL TWISTED? Won't put spoilers in because this film deserves a good review without spoilers, but with some of the twists the corny production actually enhances things. I personally think a lot of the bad reviews are from people who stopped watching after the first couple minutes. A surprising amount of the lore is based on the real history of the park. I found myself genuinely invested in the characters and fantacising what I would do/how they'd react to me and not just watching for footage of Chippewa Lake Park I enjoy aestheticly, and I've watched multiple times. There are nuggets you might not pick up on first viewing. Interesting to note they changed the closing year to 1986 as opposed to 1978 and the events of the film take place in 2006. That doesn't spoil any details about the story, and I won't say how that's planted. Just an interesting nugget.

Not the worst horror film I've ever seen but not for lack of trying. Being a long-time fan of horror movies as well as circus and carnival thrillers, I was looking forward to enjoying a feature combining the best of both worlds minus perhaps the extreme surrealism of Alex de la Iglesia's "The Last Circus". This one, unfortunately, failed to deliver at any level. Had I been shackled before the screen, I would have seriously considered chewing off a leg to escape the very real horror of a complete and utter waste of film stock. Here's hoping the wonderfully spooky atmosphere of Chippewa Lake Park will one day serve as locale for a well-executed and memorable fright film. Closed for the Season? Closed for a reason.

Closed for the Season aka Carnival of Fear offers something that seems more like a feverdream, a stream of consciousness excursion into fear that gets rather muddled in the second and third acts. Director Jay Woelfel has to be given credit for trying to create an alternate universe where fear and regret exist tangibly and haunt the lives of the characters. Yes, it's a very slow burn, but it's fascinating. Woelfel has helmed many films, mostly in the horror and action genres, so it's interesting to see this approach. It's also understandable that so many reviewers would hate this movie--it's not a "gotcha" horror movie. Other reviewers have compared it to "Malatesta's Carnival of Blood", which has a very dreamlike, metaphysical feel to it. In some ways, it also resembles Herk Harvey's "Carnival of Souls", although that film has a very clear-cut rationale that is revealed at the end. Both films are exceptional in their use of cinematography to set an eerie mood. The whole idea of a closed amusement park being a receptacle for the negative energy produced by human suffering is a great metaphor, and Woelfel tries to layer on other ideas as well, but it seems like too many metaphysical concepts spoil the broth. If you like your horror with a lot of esoteric philosophical concepts drenched in atmosphere, then this one might be for you.

Yeah, it doesn't get much worse than CLOSED FOR THE SEASON, which has to be one of the cheapest, dumbest, worst-looking horror films I've seen in a good while. The only - and I mean ONLY - good thing this production has going for it is that it was filmed in a genuinely abandoned theme park somewhere in the US. But everything else is the pits.

The story is vague, ambiguous, and boring. There's not enough plotting to sustain an hour-long running time so why they made this an excruciating two hours I'll never know. The storyline involves a young woman (Aimee Brooks, forgettable) trapped in an abandoned theme park at night, where events from the past are forced to play themselves out for eternity.

There are extraneous characters who come and go in the plot and attempts at a surreal atmosphere a la CARNIVAL OF SOULS but none of the atmosphere-building works. Instead we get tons of dumb moments involving incredibly cheesy gore effects and people dressed up in CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON costumes. CLOSED FOR THE SEASON also employs some absolutely HORRENDOUS CGI effects in the form of a CGI roller-coaster in the opening scene. I actually guffawed when I saw how awful it looked. Sadly it's the most entertaining scene (albeit unintentionally) of an otherwise worthless film.

A girl wakes up into a dilapidated amusement park and seems to drift from nightmare to nightmare until she meets the caretaker of the park, who's willing to anchor her back to reality. But the nightmare doesn't end that easily and the newly-found couple are haunted and pursued by the ghosts of the park, including the Monster from the Lake, the Alligator and most of all, Carny, who holds the key to their escape.

The 1st five minutes firmly establish a dreamlike quality, an ethereal half-sleep that holds on until the very last reel. For once, the CGI helps more than hinder, giving the effects an old Hollywood magic. Still, the strength of "CFTS" is that it never drifts into complete absurdity, even at its most awkward. Each kooky segment leads to the final revelation, which of course is love.

There's enough humor, grue & thrills to keep the unprepared audience satisfied, and those that are willing to take the plunge will be taken for a creepy and poetic ride.