I've seen a lot of Andy Milligan movies, and I think this is one of his most accomplished and coherent. Sure it's a lot like other haunted house films of the early 80s, but there have been haunted house films since the dawn of cinema, and there's enough oddness--not typical Milligan oddness but interesting oddness--that I found it compelling enough to stick with it to the predictable end. As for the acting, not bad for a Milligan film, and I actually found the characters likable, though I missed some of Milligan's long-time collaborators. For being made for 35K, this is certainly one of Andy's better looking films, too. Then there are those moments of hysteria that only Milligan could muster. I give the guy a lot of credit: He had a certain skewed vision that he kept training a camera on for quite a long time. Not for everyone, but then Staten Island is an acquired taste on so many levels. On a Milligan scale of 1-10, definitely a 6.
Review of Carnage
