Sideshow (2000)

Best movie of this year hands down!

You won't be disappointed!

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A group of teenagers visit a freakshow attraction at a traveling carnival. The kids are all taught nasty lessons about themselves from sinister ringleader Abbot Graves (marvelously played with tremendous theatrical flair by Phil Fondacaro). Director Fred Olen Ray relates the gnarly macabre premise at a quick pace, does a good job of capturing and conveying the creepy seediness of the carnival setting, and maintains both a pleasingly eerie mood and a grimly serious tone throughout. The acceptable acting by the competent no-name thespians who portray the kids keeps the picture humming: Jamie Martz as the meek Bobby, Michael Amos as mean jerk Tommy, Scott Clark as sympathetic wheelchair-bound cripple Grant, Jessica Keenan as the stuck-up Melanie, and Jeana Blackman as frumpy and insecure wallflower Jeanie. The make-up by Gabe Bartalos for the various freaks is strikingly grotesque and imaginative; my favorites are the luscious Curran Sympson as Aelita the inside-out girl -- she does a truly sick variation on your standard striptease! -- and Peter Spellos as Conjoin-O, who has a head living in his stomach. Benjamin Carr's twisted script has a dark fairytale-like quality with the kids all meeting appropriately nightmarish fates that reveal their true natures. Popping up in snazzy small parts are Brinke Stevens as fortune teller Madame Volosca and Ross Hagen as the crusty sheriff. Mac Ahlberg's sharp cinematography and the shivery score both further enhance the overall spooky ooga-booga atmosphere. An enjoyable horror outing.

"Side Show" is one of the weirdest Horror movies ever made from Full Moon Pictures. Very gory in some places, but not as shocking as the Trailer makes it out to be (The Trailer for this movies shows all the gory parts). Also, the acting and visual effects are well done. I would recommend this movie to horror fans everywhere.8 out of 10Fans of Horror Movies like this should Check out Puppet Master, Skinned Alive, Slumber Party Massacre, Sleep Away Camp, and other Full Moon Pictures flicks. For other recommendations, check out the other comments I have sent in by clicking on my name above this comment section.

The film has kind of a cool concept, but suffers from a poor script and extremely slow pacing. Some of the performers are fun to watch especially with the material they were given. One standout is Jeana Blackman who plays the role of Jeanie. Even with the problems with the script, she manages to bring a depth to her character and finds some very nice moments - especially in the scene where she and Jamie Martz are buying the popcorn.All told, I'd probably rate this movie a C-/C.

Stay away from this movie. Far away. Phil Fondacaro stars as the demented ringleader of a Freakshow. Every performance is flat and unfeeling, except Fondacaro's. The plot is a simple one, and follows almost every horror movie cliche possible. A group of high-school kids go to a carnival, see a side-show, and get in over their heads.Fans of Fred Olen Ray should be warned, this is not like any of his other films. This one is lacking in all departments (humor, sex, horror, etc.) other F.O. Ray movies excell in.The version I saw also contained a Making-Of documentry, in which the director makes comments like "We had a limited budget" and "with our limited timeline" which speaks volumes about how much Charles Band cared about this film. Go rent "Droid Runner" (Fred Olen Ray) or "The Dead Hate the Living" (Full Moon) instead. Full Moon should be ashamed of themselves (and that's saying a lot after seeing "Killer Eye")Grade: D-