Carnage Park, Heroes and Madmen

1978!  America is in the midst of a healing process. Corrupt government and confusing wars played havoc with the sensibilities of decent people.  Anti-war films were popular.  These films eventually fell by the wayside as they were seen as unpatriotic.  In truth, these films were less anti-American than they were anti-killing for ambiguous causes.  Films like "The Deer Hunter" hit the screens in 1978 and spoke to our social conscious.  In 1981, a less popular, but just as biting film, "Southern Comfort" told a similar message with a more domestic flavor.  I'm not sure if 2016's "Carnage Park" is an anti-war film, but the deterioration of the human psyche as killing is normalized, is a prevalent theme.

It'll get quite bloody.  We will be introduced to lots of seedy and vicious sorts.  Wyatt (Pat Healy) went to Vietnam and came home...deranged.  The government let him down and now he hunts on his huge tract of land in the desert. Not elk, not deer, not moose...humans.   Unlike deer or elk, some humans may deserve to be hunted.  Not Vivian (Ashley Bell). This sweet, pretty lady only desires to save her dad's farm from greedy bankers.  Now she will be tormented by Wyatt and two schmuck bank robbers (James Landry Hebert and Michael Villar)  Wyatt doesn't discriminate.  He hunts the good and evil.

Vivian appears outmatched.  She is much too clean and soft to stand up against evil incarnate.  As she flees the mad sniper, she meets dozens of Wyatt's prey, mostly dead ones. The gore-fest that unfolds before Vivian might be to her advantage.  Like Wyatt, Vivian is changed by the carnage.  Will this metamorphosis be enough to even the odds against our lunatic sniper?  Is Wyatt the true villain in this tale?

Perhaps a cross between "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and a Coen Brothers film, or between "Southern Comfort" and "The Most Dangerous Game," director Mickey Keating has made a horrific film with plenty of social commentary, just as relevant today as in 1978.  Available on Netflix, and not for weak stomachs, see "Carnage Park."  For two other Mickey Keating films reviewed on  my  blog, click on these two links Pod and Darling