Rating:
Minor Rock Fist Down
After botching an ill-conceived bank robbery in a desolate California town, two wannabe crooks flee the scene with a hostage and lead the local lawmen on a dangerous high-speed chase. However, they end up in the middle of nowhere…or at least they would’ve hoped they ended up in the middle of nowhere.
No, instead, they wind up in Carnage Park. This film opens at Screenland Crossroads Friday and is also available on VOD.
Instead of waiting for the heat to die down in the middle of the desert, Scorpion Joe (James Landry Hébert), his partner Lenny (Michael Villar) and their hostage Vivian (Ashley Bell) wind up on the sun-baked desert outpost of a deranged ex-military sniper who ensnares them in his deadly game of cat and mouse.
Wyatt Moss (Pat Healy), is a lunatic veteran who is the epitome of a red state voter hell bent on making America great again by hunting anyone who crosses onto his multi-acre property. He’s already got a wall up and it doesn’t matter who’s crossing over, he an equal opportunity murderer. He’s killed enough people to have a body collection start to pile up in his underground bunker.
It’s a little unclear why he kills people he thinks are trespassing. Does he still think he’s at war? He also spouts off a faux bible verse/soliloquy, as if to rationalize his actions and maybe get the audience on his side. He hunts people while wearing a gas mask. Does he not want them to see his face? If they’re not making it off of his property, what good is the mask?
The movie opens with the message leading viewers to believe this film is based off of a true story: “ Perhaps one of the most bizarre episodes in the annals of American crime.” However, I couldn’t find anything online detailed the actual accounts of these events. If this isn’t based on a true story, then that was just lazy writing.
I was with it for two-thirds of the movie. I wasn’t scared, but mildly entertained. The climax though, left me hanging. Ask me how the movie starts and where it goes and I can describe it almost scene by scene. But ask me to spoil the last 15-20 minutes for you and I draw a blank. Writer and director Mickey Keating had an opportunity to set himself apart but ultimately laid an egg. Visually, the movie is appealing. And when the scenes are set to Gino Ostinelli’s score, there’s a little bit more of a pop to them.
However, Keating’s Carnage Park is a forgettable ripoff, derivative of ’70s horror, early Tarantino and grindhouse B-movies. At a crisp 80 minutes, I still thought at least 10 could have been chopped off.
Joe Jarosz is a Midwest boy living in California. As much as he likes to think he has an edge, he’s quick to cry at the latest animated movie he takes his kid to see.
Comments on this entry are closed.