7 Quick Questions with Director Steve Rudzinski about CarousHELL

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

In 2016, professional cosplay actor and genre film director Steve Rudzinski released a film titled CarousHELL, which has received quite a few positive notices by critics and fans alike. It’s a wild tale of a carousel unicorn named Duke, who becomes murderously and profanely sentient. It’s a wild and bloody comedy (reviewed HERE). 

I did an extensive interview with Steve back in 2014 (HERE), and I wanted to do a quick update on what was going on in the wild world of Pittsburgh cinema, so here is a few short questions to follow-up. 

Indie Horror Films: Hey Steve, it’s been a while since you’ve made a feature. Your last few were the “Meowy” series of shorts based on your cat. But honestly, I’d like to talk to you about a particular film of yours which seems to be getting some real traction: CarousHELL. It’s on a whole bunch of different platforms (congrats on that). Why do you think it’s so popular?

Steve Rudzinski: I just think there is still absolutely a market for silly, non-serious horror that delivers on laughs while not skipping the blood. CarousHELL hasn't spread as far as I think it still can, but of those people finding it after years of first release I think it's thanks to just having such an over the top premise that catches people's eyes. And then the film not taking itself seriously with such a premise certainly helps.

Duke

IHF: Do you think the popularity is due to Duke’s comments, or the nasty gore effects that run throughout? Or both?

Steve: It's no question that people sign up for CarousHELL first because of Duke, the idea of a non-animated sentient unicorn with a bunch of quips is what gets people to toss the movie on. But similarly, what makes so many people take the film seriously AS a film is thanks to all of the amazing effects created by Cody Ruch. I love comedy and definitely was making a funny movie, but it's still a slasher film so good-looking gore was absolutely just as important to me.

IHF: What was the inspiration for the snarky tone of the lead character carousel horse-gone-wild, Duke? One might think of Freddy Kruger by the puns.

Steve: I've always been a fan of charismatic killers in horror but hadn't had a chance to do my own yet. When CarousHELL was first born I knew that since the entire point of the joke was Duke not moving/being made of rubber, we needed the huge personality to bring life to the unicorn. And yeah, I like Freddy a lot in particular.

IHF: Do you know if the film is popular among the Brony subculture?  Seems to be right up their alley. I’m almost expecting someone to dress up in a Duke outfit a plushie hook-up.

Steve: I honestly have no idea. I've never heard of it making the rounds in that subculture, it's possible that only a few or less have so happened to find the movie. Maybe being on Tubi will make it more likely for it to be posted to Brony message boards.

IHF: I know there is a sequel now in the works. Will it be a continuation of where it left off, a back story for Duke?

Steve: Let me be very clear that this is a continuation of the story. The story of the sequel 100% takes place several years after the events of the first film. But the sequel will absolutely answer a few questions about Duke's history and past.

IHF: Will there be any of the same cast, such as a certain pizza delivery man?

Steve: Judy, who played Laurie's Mom in the first film, is the only returning cast member aside from Duke. She survived and caught that baby unicorn in her arms. Everyone else was pretty definitively wiped out. Joe in particular has his face carved pretty extremely with a pizza cutter so I don't think we'll be seeing him again.

IHF: I know there’s a Kickstarter campaign going on for the sequel, What can people to do help out?
Steve: The biggest hurdle the sequel has is getting the money together to even make it. It's that simple. We have a winning team, we have fans that support the film existing, we know what do to. But we can't do it if we don't get the money. If you can't preorder the film yourself, please share and spread the kickstarter as much as you can to anyone you think may be interested. And if they haven't seen the first film yet, well hey it's free on Tubi. Watch it there then help the sequel come to life.

The link to the Kickstarter page is HERE. 

Review: CarousHELL

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2016

Images from the Internet

CarousHELL

Written and directed by Steve Rudzinski

Silver Spotlight

70 minutes / 2016

www.facebook.com/silverspotlightfilms

www.carousHELL.com

The film can be pre-ordered HERE. 

Steve Rudzinski is certainly not the most prolific of directors, but when he puts out a film, be it more serious (though still having some humor; e.g., Everyone Must Die!, from 2012, reviewed HERE) or even more hysterically absurd (e.g., Captain Z and the Terror of Leviathan, 2014, reviewed HERE), the viewer is in for a quality show. Here is the thing about absurdist humor: it can be really, incredibly stupid (e.g., anything by Seth Rogan), or it can be way smarter than it appears to be (e.g., anything my Monty Python), sometimes by mocking the genre’s own familiar tropes. Fortunately, Rudzinski’s work falls on the side to the latter.

Se Marie

Here is the basic premise: a carousel’s wooden unicorn, Duke, becomes sentient (or “wakes up” as they call it here) after an obnoxious kid, Larry (Teague Shaw) wipes some snot on its snout and kicks it a few times. Of course, that means the kid must die. His insufferable “#hotbitch” (her words) sister, Laurie (Sé Marie) drags him to a party at her friend’s house, where all comers, likeable or not, are fodder for the unicorn from (possibly literally) hell.

The film is so goofy, and yet remains consistently hysterical. I’m not talking about a couple of scenes here and there, I mean straight through. But pay attention for all the references. While you really wanna punch out this little bratty kid and his big even brattier (is that even a word?!) sister, but the people at the party are as much fun to watch as the arcing story. One of the running gags is a variation of the whole “Bronie” movement (male fans of My Little Pony, as in Bro/pony), focused around…well, you should have figured that out by now.

Duke

We, the audience, hear Duke’s both inner (thought) and outer (oral) “voice,” and his comments are as snide and pun filled as a certain red and green sweater-wearing dream killer. Other people can hear it, too, as the trailer below shows. Yeah, there’s a lot of profanity, and there is more than a few “bitch” references, but Steve Rimpici does a fun job of it, as he’s done in other voice roles. While there is little subtlety, and certainly no pity towards Duke, there is absolutely many reasons to laugh at both the wooden horse’s (I mean unicorn’s) words, and even – believe it or not – actions: his “hiding” scenes towards the end had me rolling.

Steve Rudzinski

As with many of Rudzinski’s films, there are self-referential moments to his previous films, such as a bottle of Captain Z’s Totally Accurate Pirate Wine, or the off-hand mention of his Web series, SuperTask Force One. Also, Rudzinski uses the film not just to get his ideas across, but also as an acting vehicle for himself, not as the main character but a supportive-yet-pivotal role. His style tends to learn towards the Edgar Kennedy school of slow-burn-to-righteous-explosion. Rudzinski’s skill is pretty varied, as he’s shown in previous films, but this method is among my favorites.

There is not much nudity in the film, most of which is a response to one sleazy character’s (Chris Proud) cry of “show me your [pick a word for female breasts] for a beaded necklace” at the party. That being said, there is definitely one scene with the elfin cute pierced and tatted Haley Madison that goes beyond what you may expect even from an indie…or perhaps not, all things considered.

Haley Madison

The gore, however, is another story. Some of it is kinda (purposefully) cheesy, but man, there is a lot of it, and most of it look incredible for its budget. Duke seems to have access to any one of a number of deadly weapons, from throwing stars to machetes, which draws a very funny throwaway panicked line from the Pizza Boy (Rudzinski). I actually had to pause the film to laugh, as not to miss anything. Come to think of it, there was more than once I stop to rewind just a bit to either see or hear a bit again because it was (a) WTF, (b) so beautifully done, (c) to laugh, or (d) any combination. It should also be noted that there is a very large body count, so those into this kind of film should find that fun, as I did.

CarousHELL doesn’t answer a lot of question, which I think is fine (such as how this magic horse… I mean unicorn, came to be). This is the kind of film that you just say “fuck it” and watch it for what it is, without any guilt. If you actually sat down to mull over it, there could be a lot of questions that need to be answered, but the genre overrides the need for queries.

Cowboy Cool, aka PJ Gaynard

One of the more bizarre characters is Cowboy Cool (PJ Gaynard), who not only swaggers in a John Wayne style, but never removes his huge, mascot mask covered head. He seems to have the only gun that can kill Duke (who is, I suppose, ironically and purposely branded after Wayne’ nickname?). I think my fave characters are, however, the icky siblings Pierre (Josh Miller) and Margot (Sarah Brunner), who have the worst French accents possible (it sounds more German, actually). They are just so obnoxious, playing on the Francophone stereotype.

Rudzinski is a bit of a meat and taters kinda director. You’re not going to see many weird artistic flairs, which personally I find can be really tiring, especially for this genre. He has a message, and he gets to it. That’s a large part of the appeal. He takes the micro-budget that he has and makes the most out of it. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic in that it’s not all shot in one place, but rather in some nice locations, including, yes, an amusement park (the same one from 2015’s Scream Park [Conneaut Lake Park, PA], in which Rudzinski acts but not directs)? Oops, there goes those questions again… [The director responds: "It's not the same park. Conneaut was too far away and now multiple movies have shot there. So we went to an even smaller park in Southwest PA called Wildwood Highlands, which is more of a go-kart/putt-putt/arcade with a few rides. But it was Western themed so it worked beautifully.]

Rudzinski tends to make a film or two every year for the past few years, but his quality has never dipped below extreme fun. His characters tend to be not necessarily the same high school stereotypes you usually find, and he goes through a lot of them. He also manages to find actors who are well suited for their roles (for example, Marie just aces hers), so I’ve seen most of the last batch, and have never been disappointed. That says a lot, considering he works in the Pittsburgh area (I kid…). Seriously, this comedy is worth a view on many levels for genre fans. Just don’t expect anything super deep (or super shallow), and enjoy the references as they fly by. Grab a bag of popcorn and have a blast.