Director Darren Lynn Bousman’s “The Devil’s Carnival” is a movie that made me think I should probably give “Repo! The Genetic Opera” another chance. Since its release, “Repo!” has apparently become a road show in the vein of “Rocky Horror,” and “The Devil’s Carnival” seeks to carry that success further. I sought out Bousman’s hour long film anxiously on the internet, and after watching it on Netflix, I still can’t stop raving about it. It’s a dark, mature, often brilliant look at the age old tale of lost souls and the devil’s efforts to lure them in to his den of sins and eternal torment. Three souls on the verge of death enter in to hell’s carnival and are put to the test. Lucifer is the ring master of this wicked carnival, and with his trio of minions, tries to test the revolve of these lost individuals.
One is a kleptomaniac driven by greed, one girl has a penchant for abusive bad boys, and one man has committed suicide over the death of his son. As the carnival unfolds for them, Lucifer watches with joy, anxious to see who becomes his newest soldiers, and who will be lucky enough to be spared and enter in to Heaven. With some wonderful cinematography, and brilliant musical numbers, “The Devil’s Carnival” is a fantastic short feature film with super performances by a cast of Bousman regulars including Marc Senter, Briana Evigan and Alexa Vega. There’s even an excellent appearance by Bill Moseley, and Paul Sorvino. “The Devil’s Carnival” is a much deserved cult hit and one that I encourage horror fans to seek out, if only for the catchy musical numbers, and finale hinting at an epic second installment.
Featured in the Limited Collector’s Edition DVD/Blu-Ray combo release, there’s “The Devil Made Me Do It,” a forty nine minute look at the making of “The Devil’s Carnival.” It’s a very detailed look at the production of the first part of the film series with interviews with director Darren Lynn Bousman, and most of the cast and crew including Bill Moseley, Marc Senter, and the beautiful Emilie Autumn and Briana Evigan respectively. “A Devil of a Time: The Devil’s Carnival Road Tour” is a thirty minute look at the very successful road show that brought with it fans and performers to celebrate and view “The Devil’s Carnival.”
Director Bousman explores how he handled this road show the way he did with “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and how the results varied this time out. “The Devil’s In the Details” is a thirteen minute look at the special effects and wonderful prosthetics of “The Devil’s Carnival” and how they perfected the look for many of Hell’s minions, including Lucifer himself. There’s the original theatrical trailer and the web teaser, and a collectible booklet with the song’s lyrics. There are also three full audio commentaries for fans to enjoy, one features director Bousman, and writer Terrence Zounich, the second is a cast reunion commentary with all of the actors including Alexa Vega and Emilie Autumn, and the third features Autumn, Briana Evigan, Marc Senter, and Sean Patrick Flanery.