Review: CarousHELL The 2nd

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

CarousHELL The 2nd
Directed by Steve Rudzinski
Silver Spotlight Films
77 minutes, 2021
https://silverspotlightfilms.storenvy.com/   

The original CarousHELL (reviewed HERE) was a ridiculously fun and gory release focusing on a murderous wooden carousel unicorn named Duke (voiced by Steve Rimpici), running free with scissors, among other sharp objects, and decimating the original cast. It can be seen on TubiTV, among other venues.

The original is one of director Steve Rudzinski’s most popular films, in part for the sheer madcap level of it, so he decided to make a sequel, for which I am quite happy and looking forward to seeing and reviewing below. Little of the cast from the first film made it to the second because, well, it had a relatively enormous and gory body count, so I’m interested to learn where the story goes from here.

Like other insanities such as ThanksKilling (2009; reviewed HERE), the fact that the story is batshit crazy actually enhances it rather than undermining it. When a film warps reality just a little bit, the credulity of the endeavor comes into question; but when all rules are off from the beginning (e.g., a wooden unicorn creating a hybrid baby with a human), like they did in “Gilligan’s Island,” it is easier to sit back and just accept the weirdness for itself. Rudzinski has done this flawlessly. For a second time.

Duke

Rimpici’s line reading for Duke is hilarious, though the sound of Duke has a different tone than everyone else since it was obviously recorded in a different venue (Phone? Recording studio?). Again, this does not take away from the story or the action, but is easily noticeable, which is why I bring it up.

While Duke is a wooden unicorn who is still capable of amazing feats of dexterity (through excellent cinematography and editing by Scott Lewis), his young son, Robbie (voiced by B. Barnabei), adopted by Ms. Lawrence (Judy HR Kirby), who has an indirect history with Duke, is a (literal) puppet with eyes that close and body that is softer thanks to his human side(created by Cody Ruch and Gabrielle Ventura). Whatever, Robbie looks both cute and well made. You know from early on this is going to be a bonding film between Duke and Robbie, with some growing by both. But in what direction? One can only imagine at 17 minutes in.

Robbie

And did I mention the Nazis yet? We meet a quad of them who have managed to find a way to stay young through stealing souls (reminiscent of 1985’s Lifeforce) since 1944 when the prologue takes place. Naturally, they are ridiculous characters in a Mel Brooks fashion. The leader is Ilsa (co-producer Aleen Isley, who was also hysterical in Captain Z and the Terror of Leviathan, 2014; reviewed HERE), obviously modelled in part from the title character in Ilsa She Wolf of the SS (1975), and her companion in terror, and there is Katrina (also co-producer, Rebecca Reinhart, who often appears in other films as the character Dr. Boobenstein), who is not as smart as Ilsa, but just as deadly. Then there is Katrina’s brother,  bumbling “master of disguise” hot dog cart salesman Klaus (Mark McConnell Jr.) whose stand’s name made me laugh hard enough to stop the film for a minute, and bumbling scientist and scene stealer Otto (Terence Lee Cover). They plan to “take care of” Duke.

I also enjoyed that despite all the weirdness, there is some minor social observations that sort of skims the surface, but is more an elbow in the side than heavy handed, be it commentary on the overuse of social media/cell phones, or the recent “Karen” phenomenon. There are also some Easter Egg nods to other films, such as Aliens (1986), or a self-reflexive nod (as Rudzinski is wont to do) to the first film, referencing Pete’s Pizza.

Even some cliches that have outlived their expiry date work well on a different level here, such as the montage of Duke and Robbie bonding. I laughed all through it because it relies on those very cliches, rather than in spite of it.

There are a lot of subtle moments, such as Duke reading a newspaper while smoking a pipe, as dads do (well, in ‘50s sit-coms, maybe…), or an image of a goosestepping Smoky the Bear type image. It really does help to pay attention to the little details, because Rudzinski and Isley, who also co-wrote the piece, work well with the minutia around the story, adding to the humor. I mean, who can not love lines like “You need to fight for your Reich to party.” Note, however, they do go a bit overboard on substituting “right” with “Reich.” But I’ll include that in the over-the-top level of… well, everything.

Meanwhile, the Nazi foursome are trying to capture Duke, which makes Duke’s “Oy vey” comment all the funnier. They will do whatever it takes to get him, even if it involves Robbie to snare him. The ways they try are quite funny and McConnell makes the most of over-emoting to create different “characters” that are similar enough to make the audience chuckle in their sheer ridiculous nature, but again, that is part of his charm.

Duke is much more “humanized” in this release, whether that is good or bad, but either way, you know the final act is full on furious. Until that point, the body count is small, but done away with gruesomely. Thanks to the Internet (even 100-year-old Nazis have their own fan pages, apparently), there is a chance for what we all came for, beyond the comedy: the killing field.

As with the first film, Duke seems to have quite the arsenal that just seems to show up in his hands… I mean, hooves. This is part of the “Gilligan’s Island” wardrobe vibe I mentioned above. Of course, this makes the killings more elaborate and enjoyable than just, say, gouging with a unicorn horn.

The SFX (also done by Ruch and Ventura) range from amusingly cartoonish (such as obvious mannequins) to really nice and gruesome. There is more time between kills than the first, but the ones that are there are worth the wait. Also, getting to know Duke’s back story has some twists that you probably will not see coming.

Note that the director likes the motif of more scenes during and after the credits (the scroll aren’t very long), so stay tuned for a nice cameo.

It may have been six years since CarousHELL, but it was worth the wait, and I do believe, as indicated by this story, we may not have to wait as long for The 3rd. Meanwhile, this film can be rented or bought at the Spotlight Films link above, and I believe you should without disappointment, if you like absurdist horror comedy with a side of bloody mayhem.

 

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.