Best movie of this year hands down!

Very well executed

Absolutely brilliant

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The lethal and mythical beast the Jersey Devil is being shown as the main attraction at an eerie traveling carnival. The monster escapes and terrorizes a small town. It's up to stalwart sheriff Atlas (a solid and likable performance by Lou Diamond Phillips) to stop it before it's too late. Director Sheldon Wilson relates the entertaining story at a steady pace, presents a flavorsome seedy'n'sinister carnival atmosphere, maintains a serious tone throughout, and sprinkles in some neat bits of grisly gore. The smart script by Douglas G. Davis tweaks the standard premise in a clever and surprising manner (in an especially inspired touch, some of the human characters prove to be every bit as dangerous as the beast). The sound acting by the capable cast keeps the movie humming, with stand-out work from Alan C. Peterson as shady carny owner Cap, Vlasta Vrana as hell and brimstone preacher Owen, Dominic Cuzzocrea as Owen's meek assistant Quinn, Dan Petronijevic as redneck yahoo Luke, Simone-Elise Girard as fetching psychic Samara, and Joe Cobden as eager deputy Rogers. Moreover, extra props are in order for both the scary'n'nasty monster and the surprisingly good quality make-up for the grotesque carnival freaks. Danny Nowak's slick cinematography makes neat use of a mobile camera. Ned Bouhalassa's shivery score hits the shuddery spot. Only the shoddy CGI effects and rather abrupt ending leave a little something to be desired. A fun fright flick.

Doesn't anyone read anymore? The creature, setting, and story line were lifted whole cloth from F. Paul Wilson's "Repairman Jack" series. The creature is called a "rakosh", a demon from Indian mythology. Read the Wilson story (it's available on a free download from the Guttenberg Project) Then re-watch the movie. When plots and other things are lifted from other sources and no credit is given, it's very irritating, if not downright dishonest. Imagine if someone made a film about a scientist who tried to animate a dead monster that he stitched together from stolen body parts, and tried to pass it off as an original plot. If the screenwriter had Wilson's permission, then why not list it in the credits? Shame on you SyFy.

Though somewhat rushed to conclusion, what precedes it is good. Good flying monster, good story, good character development, and good location photography. Lou Diamond Phillips is totally acceptable as the small town sheriff, and the evil carny owner is well played by Alan C. Peterson. There are some unexpected twists, and some pretty good jump scares. "Carny" is superior to two other "Jersey Devil" movies, "The 13th Child Legend of the Jersey Devil" (2003), which is terrible, and the somewhat interesting "The Last Broadcast" (2006). Thus, this is flat out the best "Jersey Devil" movie out there. ................... - MERK

I had the recent misfortune to watch this "film" which was probably the worst I have ever seen, my initial expectations of a good plot for "Carny" were about psychopathic carnival people luring their victims in with trickery but no! It involved a "monster" that was neither iconic, frightening or interesting to any degree. As soon as the "monster" was seen I knew this was going to be a bumpy ride into the land of cliché, hammy acting and scripting. I wouldn't classify this as a b movie, b movies can at least make you laugh but this was serious all the way.Quickview: One dimensional characters, terrible script, no suspense, poor effects.