PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Carnage Park is the kind of movie Jack Ketchum would write if he wrote scripts instead of novels and had no talent. And yes, it is yet another failure from IFC Midnight.
Vivian (Ashley Bell) is kidnapped by bank robbers Joe (James Hébert) and Lenny (Michael Villar). After Lenny croaks, Joe decides to head to Mexico with Vivian. En route, the pair cross paths with Wyatt Moss (Pat Healy), a crazed sniper who lives in the desert and hunts people – and Vivian is his next target.
Boring Park would be a better title for this film. Completely devoid of tension, scares or any sort of payoff, Carnage Park is the type of movie you let play in the background while you do more interesting things. I could hardly even bring myself to pay attention to it and only did for the sake of this review.
You want interesting characters, an involving plot and entertainment? None of them are to be found in Carnage Park. The characters are flat and uninteresting, the plot is strictly by the numbers, and entertainment was shot down by Moss before the movie began. The movie attempts depth by having Moss spout religious mumbo-jumbo, but this is only so the writing can appear “deep and meaningful” to the viewers. It also ignores the dramatic principle “Chekov’s gun” by revealing Sheriff Moss (Alan Ruck) knows about Wyatt’s compound and doings. Yet this all amounts to nothing. Remove Sheriff Moss from the story and nothing is lost.
I will give Carnage Park credit for utilizing practical effects – the high-point and nasty standout being a character’s exploding head upon meeting one of Moss’s bullets – but that’s the only bit of credit I can give this movie.
Final Thoughts:
Carnage Park is a complete waste of time and a pitiful attempt at The Most Dangerous Game’s plot. If you’re thinking of watching this movie, don’t bother. I mean, unless you’re a cine-masochist. Or you have insomnia.
