The Devil’s Carnival (2012)
WHAT: The Devil’s Carnival (2012)
RATING: NR
DIRECTOR: Darren Lynn Bousman
LANGUAGE: English
RUN TIME: 56 Minutes
OUR RATING: Do it!
A few nights ago, Storefront City had the privilege to watch the new dark musical The Devil’s Carnival, brought to you by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Lynn Bousman, the creators of the cult hit Repo!: The Genetic Opera.
(dailydead.com)
The story follows three sinners condemned to Hell, which takes the form of a traveling musical carnival where they must perform highly ironic versions of Aesop’s Fables as punishment. It’s a short film (56 minutes) and is the first part in a series, the second of which will be released in 2013. With amazing sets and costumes that are gorgeous, The Devil’s Carnival looked as if it would be as good, if not better, than Repo!. Unfortunately, Storefront City was left sadly disappointed in many ways, but at the end of it all, it was definitely an experience they’d do all-over again.
(bloody-disgusting.com)
One of the primary problems with the film is the casting. While the amazing voice talents of Emilie Autumn (Painted Doll), Paul Sorvino (God) and Terrance Zdunich (Lucifer) are featured in an excellent array of songs, most of the musical is dominated by mediocre voice talent that leaves you wondering who the hell (no pun intended) the casting agent was for this production. If you can afford excellent singers like Emilie Autumn, why would you make the likes of Dayton Callie (The Ticket Keeper) sing a song (“666”)? And why anyone continues to think that Alexa Vega is extremely talented enough to put her in all these movies is beyond us (but her costume and makeup were perfection).
(fanpop.com)
On top of that, we cannot say that there was a single memorable song throughout the entire musical, which is extremely surprising as all the songs in Repo! are memorable in one way or another. We are not sure why this is, only that Repo! had a stage run during which some of the music may have been fine tuned (although this is purely speculation). Unfortunately, the best song, “In All My Dreams I Drown”, which has a hauntingly beautiful melody (sung by Terrance Zdunich and Jessica Lowndes) is relegated to a post-credits scene! Zdunich’s “Grace for Sale” and Autumn’’s “Prick! Goes the Scorpion’s Tale” were strong, but purely because they are talented performers, not because of the strength of the songs themselves.
(bloody-disgusting.com)
All this being said, we still think it’s worth watching (and hell, we even bought the DVD). Alicia is still salivating after the swingset scene in “Grief” and after seeing Maggie Lally (ie. Captain Maggot) alongside Autumn in the film. Here at Storefront, we think that Zdunich and Bousman have done a great job at creating cult classics that America hasn’t seen the likes of since Rocky Horror. We need more people like them in Hollywood.
(allthingshorroronline.net)
Order this film on Netflix or buy the DVD–you will be supporting independent artists who have proven themselves extremely capable in the past. And after you’ve done so, check out the teaser trailer for the second episode, which was released on December 25, 2012, and prepare yourself for the next trailer, coming out on January 10th! The second episode is slated to come out sometime this year.
P.S. And if Terrance, Darren, Emilie or anyone else from this production is reading this, please don’t hate us. We love you so much and would be thrilled to work with you in the future on anything!
P.S.S. If you enjoy Autumn’s performance, you should catch her at the Metro on February 15th. We’ve seen her perform live before (not to mention Alicia studied her for her BA), and she’s incredible. If we weren’t working that night, you’d see us in the audience, front and center, probably covered in tea and cake.