Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival (2015)
Staci Layne Wilson
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Starring Terrance Zdunich, Paul Sorvino, Emilie Autumn, Adam Pascal
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
The musical seems to be dead, what with all the superhero and action films dominating big box office these days. But that’s okay… God (Paul Sorvino) and Satan (Terrance Zdunich) are dead too, and that doesn’t stop them from busting out into song. In Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival, crafty Lucifer sets an insidious plot in motion against Heaven’s disciples, and all hell breaks loose.
Following collaborations on 2008’s Repo! The Genetic Opera and 2012’s The Devil’s Carnival: Episode One (review), cult filmmakers Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich are back with the another installment of their dark fantasy/musical film franchise. Bousman directed the film, while Zdunich stars and wrote the screenplay and music and lyrics (with the help of co-composer Saar Hendleman).
Using silent film style title place cards and zippy flashbacks, the movie opens with a little refresher course on the first slew of Satanic shenanigans. We get a quick overview of the Devil’s domain, which is depicted as a creepy carnival populated by sinister souls (lost and otherwise). While The Devil’s Carnival: Episode One gave us a glimpse into each of the hell-dwellers’ roles and past sins, Alleluia! focuses firmly on four central characters: the aforementioned head honchos, Painted Doll (Emilie Autumn). and The Agent (Adam Pascal).
Which is not to say this isn’t an ensemble – the cast is huge, and to recount each and every person’s role would do you a disservice… the movie needs to be seen and heard. (But I will say that I loved Ted Neely in his role – it’s Jesus Chris Superstar himself, and he’s still got those heavenly pipes! Two other standouts, big-time, are Jimmy Urine and Chantal Claret channeling sadistic, screwball comedians of yore.)
While the songs are becoming progressively less rock ’n roll with each subsequent Bousman musical, one certainly can’t fault the chops of Zdunich (who is also the best singer in the cast) and Hendleman for firing on all cylinders when it comes to channeling fractured and twisted ditties from heavenly and hellish spheres – the soundtrack and score are as strange and singular as can be. I guarantee you will not hear new tunes like these anywhere else. Also, when it comes to the look and feel of the film (makeup by Vincent Guastini, costumes by Mildred Von Hildegard, and cinematography by Joseph White), you are in for a unique treat – it’s like Depression Era cartoon burlesque meets Dame Vivienne Westwood on acid.
If you’re in the mood for a true spectacle that’s as dark as it delightful, you must see Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival in all its gory glory.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
