The Devil's Carnival

I love Repo! The Genetic Opera. I know that's old news, but for the sake of set up let's pretend you didn't know that. I think it's a fantastic film, I think it's a shame that it's almost invariably lumped together with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I think the negative reviews it received upon its release were complete bullshit.
So when director Darren Lynn Bousman and writer / creator Terrance Zdunich announced they were collaborating on another movie musical, I should have been stoked.
I wasn't.
I can't tell you why. I thought the premise was neat. When they started releasing teasers on the internet I thought the costumes were awesome and the color scheme was pleasing. It had a bunch of actors from Repo! in it (plus Sean Patrick Flannery and a bunch of people I've never heard of). There should be no way this movie could go wrong.
But I didn't care much.
Which isn't to say I completely didn't care. When The Devil's Carnival Road Tour was announced, you bet your ass I was determined to go. I got all dressed up for the screening and everything. A fangirl is a fangirl down to the bone, and I support Terrance Zdunich's endeavors.
The thing is, I didn't know what I was in for. When I went to see Repo! for the first time I had been to a Comic Con panel about it and had devoured as much information as I could between when I first heard of the movie (from a one-page article in Rue Morgue; I don't know what issue it was, but I am grateful for it) and when I first saw the movie. And, as I've said before, even with all that information and high expectations, Repo! surpassed it all. It's a brilliant film.
But because I wasn't terribly interested in The Devil's Carnival, I didn't do all that research. I watched the teasers and that was about it. I had no idea what the movie was about or anything.
First of all, the movie had opening acts: a dancer / contortionist wearing a mask on the back of her head so it looked like she was facing the audience when she was not (it was incredibly cool to watch), and a pair of women who shot sparks at each other (it was entertaining but kind of repetitive, and I couldn't help but laugh because how do you explain what you do for a living when that's your act? "Well, I wear a metal bra and codpiece, and use a saw(?) to shoot sparks from it. Then another girl ties herself to me with a chain and uses the saw to shoot sparks out of the chain." "You're hired!").
They showed a ten or fifteen minutue Repo! behind the scenes montage film, which filled me with dancing, singing fangirl joy. They showed a montage film of the winners of the Sing For The Devil contest (which I was too chicken to enter), one of whom was Anthony Stewart Head (this contest is rigged! ... Of course, it is a carnival after all...). Terrance Zdunich made everyone in the audience take an oath that they wouldn't record anything shown in the theater, and then the movie began.
And I fucking loved it.
Storywise it's fairly simple: three people wind up in Hell and are tested based on mistakes they made in their lives. Their stories are told one by one, by Lucifer to a little boy, in the form of Aesop's Fables. The Devil telling the stories is cut with the three characters actually going through their tests, and each story gets about two songs to go with it. The music is full of interesting visuals, dream logic and, as I said before, cool costumes, a lovely color scheme and a cast of awesome people. Admittedly I don't know who most of the folks in the cast are. But they're awesome. Ivan Moody's performance of the Hobo Clown's song A Penny For A Tale was the thing that made me certain I absolutely needed the soundtrack. Admittedly I didn't like all the songs as much as I could have, but the gems made up for the less memorable pieces.
The problem is, as with Repo!, the director got up before the movie and encouraged people to be noisy during the film. Which meant a lot of people were shouting jokes and insults at the screen, which, you know what, I don't fucking care that the director told you to. Don't fucking do that! It's insulting and it's disrespectful. I understand yelling shit at bad movies; they suck and they should be told they suck. Why would you even want to yell insults at a movie you like? First of all, now I've missed something because you thought you were being clever (you weren't) but, more than that, why would you want to yell insults at a movie you like? That's like being in love with someone and trying to show them that by belittling them. You're not eight fucking years old anymore, so knock it off!
Oh well, Darren told them to. I guess I shouldn't complain.
I'm looking forward to listening to the soundtrack and really absorbing the music. And I hope that the movie will be released on video (they said before the movie they wanted to put together a moviegoing experience that can't be downloaded, which I respect, but that doesn't mean I don't want to give them money so I can watch it in the privacy of my own home without attention whores yelling dumb stuff).
Okay, okay, I know, I'll lay off. Sorry. In fact, I have to admit there was a part in the movie where I did want to shout at the screen, but it wasn't a joke or an insult: near the beginning all the carnies are being mean to The Magician (played by Bill Moseley, whom I love), full on in-your-face taunting, and it upset me so much it was all I could do to not scream "Stop it!" But they wouldn't have listened to me 'cause it's a movie.
The point is: happily, The Devil's Carnival was wonderful. If anyone happens to be reading this and happens to live near any of the cities on The Devil's Carnvial Road Tour, and if that city's screening happens to not be sold out, I highly recommend you go.
Before the movie I got to meet Ogre. He called me "sweetheart." We all love the Pavi.

End of line.
-Sally