Carnage

Carnage is a tale about a house haunted by murderous ghosts. It's not unlike so many other scary haunted house movies except that it's not good enough to have much of a reputation. So it remains obscure probably only acquired by its inclusion in multi-movie packs.

Jonathan and Carol move into a new home. They don't know that a few years prior it was the site of a double-suicide. Now it's haunted by the dead couple. It doesn't take the pair long to start haunting, either.

At first the ghosts are just annoying, moving stuff around, closing windows, and whatnot. The real trouble starts when Jonathan breaks the dead girl's favorite record. Now anyone that steps foot in the house is risking their lives.

When a family friend dies Carol is convinced that something seriously bad is going on and determines to learn the history of the house. Jonathan begins planning their escape, but the ghosts may not let them go.

There are some movies I can enjoy even when they aren't done well, and ghost stories are high on that list. Carnage is not a great movie, but I still enjoy it more or less. The acting is OK for the most part. Some of the smaller parts suck, but not all of it is terrible. There's no real standout talent and nobody that is familiar to me.

The characters aren't very strong. They are just likable and interesting enough to keep the movie from being a bore, but it's a close call on that. I don't know why we spend so much time with Ann talking to her mother about her marital problems. “Who's Ann?” you ask? A house guest whose husband has a run in with the ghosts. That's it. Why are her marital problems important enough to warrant the time we spend learning about them? Once that ghost attack is over we don't even get a follow up to see how she's doing. It feels completely inconsequential to the plot as a whole.

The ending is geared towards being chilling, but it doesn't really accomplish a strong enough mood to be satisfying. To a large degree it has to do with a lack of getting across the motivations of the characters. Why do what they do? The story doesn't reveal it nor does it create a strong enough interest to spend time speculating.

In general this has a creepy factor of maybe about 4 on a scale of 10. It has a few moments that almost work. It'll be too much for viewers that are easily scared but lack for anyone that appreciates truly good, scary films.

MORALITY:

There is very little strong language. It's probably not enough to be bothersome if the other factors don't push you away.

Sexuality is mild. There's no nudity at all. Even when a guy in the tub is supposed to be naked a goof reveals that he's wearing shorts.

It is a gory movie, though, enough to get an R rating. We get severed body parts with plenty of blood, a beheading, and guts being slowly pulled out of some poor thief who broke into the wrong house. If you're bothered by gore you might want to shield your eyes. If it doesn't bother you all that much you might find yourself laughing at how unrealistic it is. The guts look more like rope soaked in red goo.

SPIRITUALITY:

The supernatural is at work here. Spirits of the dead come back to have their way with the living although it doesn't seem to apply to everyone.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is one to check out only if you like violent ghost stories and don't mind if they are of dubious quality. Check it out only if you don't have to expend any effort.

#Carnage