By Rosie Lu
I am no horror movie fiend, but believe it or not, I promise that the carousHELL trilogy will have you in for a joyful round of screams. In this cinematic masterpiece that seamlessly blends comedy and horror, we follow the journey of Carnivorous Clown and his cannibalistic accomplices over three movies, each part of the trilogy more deliciously thrilling than the previous.
The first installment, also titled carousHELL, introduces us to a vibrant, cheerful theme park setting, children hurrying to line up for rides and couples exchanging romantic glances on the Ferris Wheel. When Carnivorous Clown enters the park with his handful of balloons, it still seems that all is well—until jolly fellows begin to cross him the wrong way.
My favorite part of this horror-com is how the horror and comedy fluctuate in an ironically proportional relationship. Those balloons from the intro? Each one is filled with various body parts. When a child accidentally pops his balloon, dropping a dismembered hand with a Rolex watch on its wrist in the process, the child’s father comments on how sometimes death can bring fortune—so obviously an element of foreshadowing that it’s comical. Obviously, that father gets his karma later as the others of Carnivorous Clown’s circus commit more treacherous acts than their ringleader. One of the funniest parts is—hear me out—when a fire breather follows a lost toddler through the amusement park, hoping to disembowel the little boy in secret. But little does the wannabe stealthy ninja know, he’s left a trail of fire behind him, leading the police right to the scene to find him with the unfortunate remains.
The hour-long movie ends on a celebratory feast for Carnivorous Clown’s rise to power, where we meet more of his strange crew as they dine on carousel ponies. A fallen (yes, broken tailbone and all) trapeze artist strictly diets on leg meat, hoping to one day deprive all of Earth’s species of the legs he once lost. Then there’s Tick-Tock Tammy, a juggler who nests swarms of ticks in her hair to infect the theme parks with deadly diseases—and she always likes a drop of Corpse Flower Extract in her cuppa, because it keeps the ticks from gnawing at her own scalp.
CarousHELL will leave you dying to binge the entire trilogy, and the dynamic personalities of our supposed antagonists make the story much more complex than a generic horror film. I’d ask you to stay tuned for the next review, but I’m going to an amusement park soon—tell my story, everyone.