This movie felt like an awful fever dream. I was looking forward to seeing it because it's set in a carnival and it's from the 70s, two things I love! I thought it would be an instant hit for me but it wasn't. I found it to be quite boring, it really could have been cut down to a 30 minute short film without sacrificing anything at all from the viewing experience. The movie had a lot of potential but they didn't make the most of the carnival grounds as a backdrop. The movie didn't offer me any reason to give it a second viewing. It had a couple scenes I thought looked neat but the visuals didn't ooze into other areas of the film. Most of the time you're staring at a plain black background. The movie doesn't look good and wasn't filmed in a way that made me feel engaged, it was amateurish and left me thinking what could have been if it were handled with more care. The characters are stiff as a board and I didn't really care what happened I just wanted the movie to end. The few death scenes that were in the movie were a bit comical in their corniness, they at the least deserve to be shared to friends as standalone clips.
Malatesta's Carnival of Blood
1973
Action / Horror
Malatesta's Carnival of Blood
1973
Action / Horror
Plot summary
After the Norris family's son goes missing at a run down local amusement park, they take jobs there in an effort to uncover what happened to him and meet a cadre of unsettling characters.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
February 28, 2016 at 04:42 PM
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Should have been an hour shorter.
Where is my mind?
Apparently, this film was presumed lost for many, many years. If you ask me, there were more things "lost" here. Like writer/director Christopher Speeth's control over his own twisted imagination, or the minds and sanity of literally all the people who were involved! This movie is messed up, and there isn't too much else I can write about it.
A family of three, parents and daughter in her late teens, infiltrate in a sinister carnival and attempt to fit in, but their real mission is to find out what happened to their son/brother who vanished without a trace but was last seen at the same carnival. Oh yes, there is something resembling a plot, but it's subordinate - by far - to the grueling Z-grade atmosphere, the uniquely eccentric cast of characters and the wide variety of random moments of sheer madness. Who knows, maybe Speeth aimed for art-house but couldn't overcome the budgetary restrictions? All I know is there are ghouls that munch and gaze at silent horror films in the carnival's backstage area, park rides that decapitate people or make them disappear altogether, vampires that walk around in broad daylight, transvestite fortune tellers, and a rhyming dwarf who pops out of secret carny wagon doors.
Pure 70s grindhouse insanity, complete with thick more-orange-than-red blood, decors and scenery that seem to come straight out of the junkyard and the director's family & friends filling in all the supportive roles to do him a favor... or out of pity. I can't possibly rate this any higher than an already very generous 5/10, but rest assured that it comes recommended.
Hahaha I love these movies!
If you have a sense of humor, and you know the people that made this movie, tripped balls give this one a watch and LOL! I've seen worse.. and I can never look away. Crazy.