The Daily Dig: Carnage (1984)

Come for the promise of sleaze but stay for the cheap gore in “Carnage”—a ghost story from exploitation legend Andy Milligan.

A newly married couple moves into a new house, which is haunted by the ghosts of a past couple who met a tragic end on their wedding night inside the home. Let’s dig into 1984’s CARNAGE, directed by Andy Milligan!

As I See It

The opening is like an out-of-focus cover shot from a 1970s issue of Southern Living Magazine. With the Victrola spinning, the crystal bowl, and the multitude of colored candles lit atop the piano. We witness a murder/suicide of a freshly married couple, still in their dress and tux, and transition directly into the title and a new, newly married couple moving into the same house.

There’s no ceremony to the implication beyond the act of killing. Milligan doesn’t pretend this new couple will have it easy or live happily ever after. It is a horror movie after all.

Filmed in Staten Island, as were most of Milligan’s films, the house can be considered a character in its own right.

Milligan employs numerous simple gags to convey a poltergeist-like scenario. Nothing that is going to make you lose sleep at night, but it still works. He was known to take on many roles during his production, from costume making to the obvious directing.

I never thought I would see a silly string attack in a horror film. That is a definite first. There is plenty of silly gore—spaghetti guts, 3M blood, and flying stabby things. I don’t even care that you could see the fishing line in most scenes, pulling objects out of hands and into tubs.

This type of movie was made specifically for dingy, dark, tiny theaters in Greenwich Village.

Famous Faces

Milligan infamously cast friends and locals in his productions, and this film’s cast is no different.

Of Gratuitous Nature

You have to expect a newlywed couple to be all over each other, and you’d be correct. The face-mashing (literally) make-out sessions are frequent in the opening twenty minutes.

Heartthrob

Many of Milligan’s films, although shot in the undeservedly labeled “bastard borough” of Staten Island, reflect Manhattan’s 42nd Street and the culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The seedy, prostitute laden area where queer culture thrived in a way that can’t be considered prosperous. What surprised me most about this film was that it had absolutely none of that, and to find a new flair in his oeuvre was a rewarding discovery.

Ripe for a Remake

Surprisingly, yeah. Sometimes it’s a well-structured slasher or ghost story that can be an enjoyable night at the cinema. For some reason, I can see plenty of tropes and cliches about newlyweds being tormented by murderous ghosts being a blast on a Saturday night.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Severin Films released a massive collection: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan, which contains fifteen of his films. It may be one of, if not the best, releases they’ve ever put out. When a filmmaker’s work is considered chiefly “lost”, any effort for posterity must be applauded. Physical media is by far the best way to watch, but a few digital options exist.