Horror Movie Review: CarousHELL (2016)

You must be this tall… to DIE.

From director Steve Rudzinski who co-wrote it with Aleen Isley comes a horror movie with a point. A pointy end in fact. One attached to the disgruntled head of Duke, a carousel unicorn who has finally had enough of being treated poorly and goes on a murderous rampage.

You should know exactly what you’re getting here. After all, it’s called CarousHELL. Expect low-budget trash and you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you might find yourself having a ton of fun as everyone involved here sees the movie for what it is and embraces it wholeheartedly. From the moment Duke is introduced to the bloody finale, fun will be had.

Teague Shaw plays the young and slightly obnoxious lad known as Lunchbox, a name given to him by his older sister, Laurie (Sé Marie) who barely tolerates his existence. Laurie is forced to babysit Lunchbox when their mother has to go to work (she’s a stripper of course) and takes him to the local park. This is where Duke lives and through his internal monologuing, it’s clear he has already had enough of the way kids treat him.

It’s Lunchbox’s behaviour that sends Duke over the edge though resulting in him breaking free and vowing to hunt the boy down. Duke tracks Lunchbox down to a party that Laurie has dragged him too giving him plenty of victims to kill in a variety of ways.

What could have dragged the movie down (insufferable young adults partying) enhances it. The cast are having fun and while their characters are caricatures, it’s played constantly for laughs. Nowhere is that more obvious then with the jock-style character, Preston played wonderfully by Chris Proud.

It’s hard not to chuckle at some of the sillier moments and even when a joke is run into the ground, such as the pizza boy just wanting to get paid, it still gets a laugh. Director Steve Rudzinski plays this role very well.

If it’s gore though that you’re after, fear not. CarousHELL delivers on that front with plenty of blood and guts too. Sure, it’s not the best-looking effects-wise but more than forgivable considering the low-budget nature of the flick.

At a tight 70 minutes long, you could do a lot worse then CarousHELL. It’s not taking itself seriously in the slightest so neither should you! Switch off and enjoy.