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Carnivore - "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" |
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Sorry to say they already killed it… died a horrible death before embarking on its own killing spree! How's that? Anything that involves "Great artists from the '80s," and is bold enough to proclaim it on the marketing plan and a "featured list" for the cover art must be either a pleasure seeking sadist or I don't know what… Unless of course there are those fans in circulation still singular enough to admit their underground love affair with all things evil, sleazy, and cheesy… then maybe we might suggest a successful revelation. "Carnivore" is of the Sci-fi/Horror variety-a B-movie binge revisiting the glory, gory days of yer fave Fangoria chapters and featuring full on scream queens, murder scenes and abhorrent violence of the gratuitous kind all dressed up in full black and back in the day garb, poor production, and a wealth of bands that sound like Marchello… or Holland, as the case may be; and they're one o' the better ones! If you like this kinda stuff, and let's face it, we all ate it up in those wondrous days of innocence and all-nighter summer in the suburb weekenders when the big screens held more esteem than housing patchy regrowth for dormant lots… it's a squinty eyed look back in what has been a very seriously hyped and apparently well received film throughout the rest of the world. The soundtrack ain't half bad; loaded up with those flavorful names pulled from yesterday's news-Holland, Nitro, L.A. Guns, and others like them still telling the tall tale in this inglorious new age of don't look now music anxiety that sees something like Blair Witch come away with a head under each arm… Book ended by Doug Lofstrom's foreboding pre and post score/scare tactics, some archived '80s style Rock and recall with titles like "Sacrifice," "L.A.'s Burning," and "Making Monsters," and some back page pin-ups of a bygone guitar rock generation-easy to tell, the solos give it away-we're not thrown in the grip of something like Cradle of Filth or black rain and blood red, instead we're getting Slave Driver, doing double duty on the dark side with echoic vox and down tuned E's… very chilling indeed. Not that I want to split hairs here but by pulling tracks two and five through eight on the overall soundtrack of ten, they're effectively cutting the heart out of the film… I could live without an explanation as well as L.A. Guns' "It's Over Now" originally of their brutal "Hollywood Vampires" release, but some things just leave ya wondering. But it's an "enhanced" CD, so suck it up! Yeah, this is of the Freddy Krueger circa 1987 type landscape where key grips and gaffers play too big the role and smoke and shadows slow to lifting once the camera rolls. So Carnivore makes its U.S. debut on VHS, DVD, In-demand pay per view… and soon to be surfacing on a sleazy street corner near you. Carnivore? Never been done before? One of those you figure must have at somewhere, some time… and not the original Steele-led street team, though similiarly shared filth is purely coincidental. I mean, how many times could they rewrite The Howling, or The Omen, or They Live, or whatever, and no Carnivore-The Movie? So hey, most of what we're getting is new… or newer than one might expect, only with that vintage vinyl markdown and nostalgia kick. You'll do well to visit those fanatics over at Dark Star Recs or better yet, click the (www.carnivoremovie.com) web site for all the gruesome details plus a few extra snippets and fast facts surrounding the flick and the audio composers thereof. Taste the blade, eat a bullet,
catch your death… then catch a few classic styled MP3's while you're
out there… now if there's only some god willing way to get that Nitro
singer's voice out of yer achin' head! Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] P.O. Box 20252
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