53) Carnage (1984)

"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Director
Andy Milligan

Cast
Leslie Den Den Dooven - Carol
Michael Chiodo - Jonathan\
Lon Freeman - Nathan Frye
DeeAnn Veeder - Susan
Chris Georges - Mark
Chris Baker - Ann
Dennis Malvasi - Tony

I have sat through some movies that I can only call "heavy." I can't think of anything else to call them. Hardcore? In your face? Horror movies that inflict much more terrible violence than your average slasher. Movies like The Human Centipede (I had to pause this movie just to compose myself, and still ignored my better judgement when I decided to watch The Human Centipede 2. I never finished the sequel) and The Devil's Rejects from Director Rob Zombie.
With The Devil's Rejects, I didn't know if I was watching something that celebrated violence of the absolute worst kind, or was portraying a picture of how despicably low fallen people can go. Whatever the case, it definitely worked to out-horror The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Still, it did make me an ardent admirer of the acting abilities of Bill Moseley. His completely intimidating performance as Otis Driftwood turned out to be one of the worst movie "monster" villains that would give Freddy Krueger or the possessed Regan MacNeil a run for their money.
So, having sat through difficult movies such as these, I still had yet to sit through a movie from the independent movie production company, Troma. That is until I watched Carnage (1984).
Troma brands itself as the movie company that has been "disturbing media for 45 years."
From movie clips and reviews I've watched, their films are generally filled with gross splatter, gore, spoof, bathroom horror, bare skin, and lots of low-budget effects.
I can take slasher flicks, but with segments I've seen from the more well known grossout Troma movies such as Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Tromeo and Juliette, and Terror Firmer, I need to mentally prepare myself up to these if I so choose to subject myself to these kinds of movies sometime in the future. I just won't eat anything for a while if I do.
Laugh at my self-proclamation as a horror fan if you must for the lack of Troma on my list of horror movies viewed.
Well, I can finally add a Troma movie to this list.

Chris Georges in Carnage.

As my adventures through the Night Screams Collection continues, the 1984 independent paranormal horror movie Carnage is officially my first Troma movie. Though, I am a little ashamed my first wasn't The Toxic Avenger - Troma's most well known title. Sorry, Toxy 😢
I didn't know Carnage was a Troma film until I popped the disc in the DVD player. I suppose getting into this company's films is like peeling a Band-Aid off. Don't think about it. Just yank it off quickly to avoid excessive pain, make sure your sore doesn't start bleeding, and get on with life.
Before I put Carnage on, I watched another movie from the Night Screams Collection called City of Missing Girls (1941) which TV Guide once called "an awkward murder mystery." I planned to review that here, but it was far from being a horror movie, and I just couldn't get myself to pay enough attention to it. So, a review wouldn't seem fair.
Anyways, the movie Carnage has a simple plot.
It opens with a young newlywed couple dressed in their wedding clothes as "Here Comes the Bride" plays on a record player.

The couple embrace as if it'll be their last embrace. The groom pulls out a gun and slowly raises it to her head. He pulls the trigger, and the bride collapses to the floor. He bends down to gaze on his wife as he puts the gun to his own head.
Sometime after this suicide, another newly wed couple, Carol and Jonathan, moves into the same house. As the two settle in, they're initially unaware of the paranormal activity taking place around the house almost as soon as they move in.
The ghosts haunting this large home enjoy randomly moving a variety of objects under their nose, or just out of sight of the couple.
They also make the phone ring at random, and turn on random electronics and appliances like the gas stove. Though initially unnoticed, these spooky shenanigans leave the couple confused, but they dismiss it.
When Carol invites an older lady to sort through belongings left in the basement, she's left alone as Carol goes back upstairs.
An apparition of the former bride appears and begins tormenting this older lady while shouting at her to leave.
The lady goes into a terrified state of shock at what just took place. While bed ridden at her home, she's driven by voices in her head to slice her own throat.
These paranormal activities don't seem to phase the couple much as they prepare for their own house warming party.
As the party gets underway, and guests arrive for an overnight stay, the ghosts (the bride particularly) become more violent and vengeful. It becomes very clear to the home owners that their house is indeed haunted.
There are no plot twists in this movie. There's not too much to expect, and that's what the audience gets - not too much.
Carnage is also a low budget picture with poor special effects and the scariest thing being the terrible scripted acting. In fact, this movie feels more like a community theater play or, rather, someone's home movie.
But it does have its share of blood and guts. In one scene, some burglars break into the house's basement through a window. As they meander around, the ghost bride manifests herself to them and begins to torture the two. One burglar's intestines are pulled out while the other loses his hand by a floating hatchet. Despite the laughable effects, the ghosts are certainly no-nonsense.

The audience is also introduced to another newly wed couple who are friends of Carol and Jonathan. We're "treated" to their personal issues through a discussion between Ann and her mother regarding Ann's husband, Tony.

Michael Chiodo and Leslie Den Den Doovan.

These friends are invited to the house warming party, but their story adds nothing to the movie. Why we're introduced to this couple to such great extent is beyond me.
And speaking of bad effects, one scene has Tony taking a bath during the overnight party. It's obvious when he gets in the tub that there's no water.
A radio slowly moves towards Tony in the tub filled with pretend water by an unseen force until it falls in and electrocutes him. Then the camera cuts to a close up of his lifeless body floating in the tub now filled with bathwater.
If this movie actually had been a home movie, I'd be impressed.
Director Andy Milligan has some other B-horror titles in his repertoire of obscure movies such as The Man With Two Heads, Bloodthirsty Butchers, Monstrosity, and Legacy of Blood. He's definitely a prime director when it comes to these kind of movies. Perhaps he deserves a little more exploration.
Despite all these criticisms, movies like Carnage are the reason I made this blog in the first place. It's terrible, schlocky as can be, and funny when it's not meant to be. It's Troma! - disturbing media for 45 years.
The only people whom I expect would find enjoyment in this movie would be fans of Troma, or obscure B-horror movies in general. It does have a kill count, after all.