MovieChat Forums > Carny (2009) Discussion > Critcs must hate all Syfy movies... (spo...

Critcs must hate all Syfy movies... (spoilers)


If you can't watch a movie like Megapiranha or Grizzly Rage and, at the very least, laugh at them and appreciate the camp of it, then any and all Syfy movies are not for you. Don't get me wrong; I thought Megapiranha was horrible. However, if you can appreciate B movies for what they are, here's why Carny is great:

It was above and beyond what I expect from Syfy. Rather than going the stereotypical "monster on the loose" route, they made the movie surprisingly complex.

There are 4 angles at play here:
1) Monster on the loose. This is really just the catalyst. Much of the movie doesn't even focus on the creature. Though it certainly reeks havoc, some of the most memorable and disturbing scenes don't involve the monster

2) The Sheriff/law. This is the straight man, so to speak. The purpose is what you'd expect: to maintain sanity and reason and stop all the conflict.

3) The Carnival Ring Leader/ Greed. This is where it gets interesting. The ringleader represents our lack of compassion and our pursuit for individual gain at the cost of societal good. His actions may be some of the most heinous in the movie, killing both a police officer as well as his right hand man just to recapture his treasure. His cunning made for some of the best betrayals and deaths in the movie.

4) The Priest/religious fervor/hysteria. Perhaps most interesting of all, the priest represented the hysteria and "good intentions gone bad" aspect. We see the priest descend into madness after his son dies. His order to kill the carnies for seeming ungodly was probably the most disturbing action in the movie. The men in the truck who answered his call represented the town hysteria where people were scared and needed someone to tell them what to do. Naturally, it would be the man who appeared to have vanquished the creature.

The 3 different antagonistic elements made it interesting as there is uncertainty about who's going to attack who next. Even the Jersey Devil has an element of vulnerability so nobody is safe in this movie.

My favorite scene was probably in the jail when all 4 of the angles mentioned above intersect.

If you appreciate B-movies and still don't agree with me, let me know. If your complaint is something along the lines of, "the CGI sucked" or "the acting sucked", well then B movies aren't for you.

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