Carnival Magic (1983)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

As Good As It Gets

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Disclaimer – I watched Carnival Magic courtesy of the new MST3K. I am confident in my ability to separate the movie from the show. I'm not one of those who feels a movie is necessarily bad just because it appeared on MST3K. You'll find some real gems that probably didn't deserve the MST3K treatment. With that being said, even though I've rated Carnival Magic a rather paltry 4/10, I was actually pleasantly surprised that it was this good. Knowing that it was directed by Al Adamson, my expectations were VERY low. And with a name like Carnival Magic, I was expected something schlocky along the lines of Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures – a real abomination of a movie. Instead, I discovered a reasonably nice movie, presented in a fairly competent manner, featuring decent acting, and real production values. There's actually little in the way of exploitation – a real shock to me. It's not a great movie, but Carnival Magic is miles better than what I was expecting. The movie tells the story of a struggling carnival/circus. Things start to look up, however, when a magician named Markov begins using his chimp, Alex, in his act. Alex is capable of a few astounding things – he can speak a few words and he can telepathically send messages to Markov. One day, a scientist is in the audience for a performance and wants to take Alex for research purposes. Markov says no. Unfortunately for all concerned, another performer, jealous of Markov's success, tells the scientist that he'll get him the chimp. Things get ugly for everyone involved.Most of the cast is, as you would expect, littered with a bunch of no names. They give it their all and come out looking pretty good. The exception is Don Stewart as Markov. He's very good in his role and actually has a fairly impressive filmography. Impressive, at least, for an Al Adamson film.

God bless TCM for giving some air to this obscure flick from schlocksploitation specialist Al Adamson. What a treasure. TCM showed this during its Halloween week horror marathon in tandem with another circus-centered terror, Joan Crawford's notorious "Berserk." Carnival Magic isn't a horror film in the usual sense, although, as the TCM scheduler must have recognized, it does supply plenty of unintentional horror. Nearly everything about the film is horrible including script, acting, directing, editing, and costumes.Don Stewart plays Markov the Magnificent (no, really!), a carnival magician whose powers to read minds, levitate, bend steel bars and communicate with animals are, apparently, real. He was raised by Buddhist monks in Nepal, where his parents were missionaries, which must explain it. Markov's extraordinary talents are insufficient to save him from being fired at the insistence of the carnival's jealous, erstwhile star attraction, an alcoholic tiger-tamer (he's alcoholic, not the tigers).Fortunately, on top of all of his amazing, yet insufficiently impressive talents, Markov shares his trailer with a talking chimp (no, really!) called Alexander the Great who has a Norleans accent, all bluesy and boozy. Markov incorporates Alexander into the act and turns the carnival from near disaster into what appears to be a moderate financial success.Although amused, no one seems surprised at Markov's magic or at the talking monkey so the carnival doesn't immediately turn, as one might expect, into a media circus (sorry!). The chimp does attract attention from a lone anthropologist who thinks that in the great evolutionary chain Alexander may be the missing link based, presumably, on the chimp's ability to talk and drive a car. He has the monkey kidnapped by the less than gruntled tamer of wild, yet sober, tigers, and is sufficiently unimpressed by Alexander's cooperation that he decides to chop up the monkey to see what makes him work. Alexander is saved when the clinic is invaded by a swarm of carnies, some of whom, themselves, would probably be of interest as possible missing links.The intensity of the drama, though not the intensity of the horror, is broken by a couple of romantic subplots, one between Markov and his assistant (Regina Carrol), who is buxomly busting out of her coruscating leotard, and the other between the carnival owner's tomboy daughter (Jennifer Houlton) and a drippy PR man in a drip-dry shirt and disco trousers.This film has been out of circulation for far too long and needs to be released on DVD. Fans of bad movies should not be deprived of this; nay, they have a right to experience its phenomenal awfulness. Yes, really!

EDIT - 08/12/11 - Since posting this review my dreams have come true in the form of an actual DVD/Blu-ray release! I'm leaving this review as is, but know that you can and should pick up a copy in the format of your choice asap!***Spoiler Alert***1.) Any movie that casually features a talking-chimpanzee (with the attitude and vocal-inflections of a Mississippi blues-man) deserves to be seen by the widest audience possible.2.) Ostensibly a children's movie, it somehow manages to showcase domestic abuse, vivisection, alcoholism, animal exploitation, attempted suicide and carnie chicanery, all from behind the pulled curtains of a southern, traveling carnival midway.3.) The lead human protagonist is sort of a cross between Harvey Keitel circa "Fingers (1978)" and Patrick Swayze fresh off "Point Break (1991)".4.) It was one of the final productions by exploitation/schlock director Al Adamson.5.) It was the final film for Adamson's wife, buxom bombshell (and ex-Elvis arm-candy) Regina Carrol.6.) A major character progressively transforms from frumpy tomboy "Bud" into total woman and lover "Ellen".7.) A man gets mauled by a tiger.8.) 60 minutes into the movie, the camera suddenly and inexplicably cuts to a shirtless, midget hick with a mustache and a mullet.9.) A monkey performs in a magic show, steals a car and leads North Carolina police in hot pursuit, brawls with the staff (and random passerby) of a vivisection laboratory, and attempts to commit suicide.10.) More unintentional laughs than the entire first season of "Walker Texas Ranger".11.) There is a circus parade at the end of the movie. Seriously... who doesn't like a circus parade?12.) And last but not least, perhaps the greatest unfulfilled promise ever made... the post-credit announcement: "Coming next year... More Carnival Magic!"

The wonderful thing about living in Seattle is being able to choose among the many revival theaters that we film snobs have access to. On any given weekend we can choose between horror epics like Evil Dead, Psycho and Carrie; John Hughes' teen-angst epics like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink; or just plain obscure epics like Al Adamson's Carnival Magic.Now, Carnival Magic comes nowhere close to resembling an epic in the Cecil B. DeMille vein, but does remind me of a particularly painful epic experience that I had at the dentist's office when I was around ten. The dentist pried, drilled, scraped and pulled for what seemed to have been ten hours and after the enamel and bone dust settled, I was a couple of pounds lighter and a much stronger human animal. If you are "fortunate" enough to witness Carnival Magic, I am willing to wager that your experience will approximate my dental adventure.Carnival Magic is a children's film (I think) that "stars" Don Stewart as Markov the Magician (imagine a young Harvey Keitel). Markov is a magician who has the genuine ability to read minds, levitate and bend steel bars. When not performing one miraculous feat after the other, Markov meditates and hangs out with his English-speaking chimpanzee companion, Alex (yes, you read that right). On one ominous day, the carnival owner's daughter begs Markov to put Alex into his act to save her father's fledgling fair. Markov begrudgingly agrees. At first, ticket sales soar and Markov and Alex are carny heroes. Unfortunately, the jealous alcoholic tiger-tamer, who was once the main attraction, becomes tired of playing second fiddle to the damn dirty ape and decides to kidnap Alex and sell him to a vivisectionist.As I'm sure you have surmised, Carnival Magic is sort of a simian version of Day of The Dolphin but, regrettably, Al Adamson is no Mike Nichols and Don Stewart is sure as Hell no George C. Scott.This film contains endless scenes of North Carolinians (nothing against people from North Carolina, it's just where it was filmed) riding carnival rides, playing games and eternally sitting watching Markov perform his magic. Occasionally, the film kicks out of "She Freak" gear and grinds into never-ending inane dialogs between Markov and the other fair folk. In one infinite scene we discover how a former beauty queen is transformed, without supernatural assistance, from Miss Arkansas to Markov's assistant through a series of hard-luck choices she has made. Watching paint dry can be more fun.I won't give away the big surprise ending, but if you make it that far you deserve the big payoff - bring plenty of Kleenex.Critics and so-called film fans endlessly rail on about Edward D. Wood, Jr.s' Plan 9 From Outer Space, heralded as the "worst film ever made", (obviously, these people have never seen "Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag"), but you never hear anyone giving speeches about Carnival Magic. Well, that's just plain wrong. Carnival Magic is a cinematic endurance test of the highest caliber. It takes a magnanimous spirit to sit through an entire screening of Carnival Magic but once you do, you'll be altered forever.Sitting through this film rather reminded me of my younger-self sitting in that unholy dentist chair. Sure, I had to white-knuckle it through the entire process, but it has made me a stalwartly cinema survivor. If I can sit through that, I can take anything they throw at me. If you consider yourself a true cinemaphile, (you must if you've read this far), you owe it to yourself to see Carnival Magic. Take it from me, you'll be a stronger viewer for it.