Last week, the #ColliderNightmares crew of Perri Nemiroff and Mark Reilly were able to sit down for an exclusive interview with writer-directorMickey Keatingand starAshley Bell, to talk a bit about their latest movie from IFC Midnight:Carnage Park.
Carnage Park is a well made throwback to 1970’s grindhouse cinema, whichfollows a surviving bank robber played byJames Landry Hébertalong with his kidnapping victim, played by Ashley Bell. Aftera botched bank robbery, the two become the prey of a crazed sniper and Vietnam vet, played byPat Healy; who has built a giant prison out of an uninhabited expanse of California desert.
Having seen the movie, I see Keating tipping his hat to not only the 1970’s work ofSam Peckinpahbut also the Grindhouse works ofRobert Rodriguez’From Dusk Till DawnandQuentin Tarantino’sReservoir DogsandDeath Proof.
The cast is full of standout performances with a spotlight shown on the two main leads. Ashley Bell offers another amazing turn here as she did in bothLast Exorcismmovies; making a real case for Scream Queen of 2016.
But she needs a good villain to scream off of and you get it in spades here with Pat Healy’s performance as the man responsible for this dangerous game, Wyatt Moss. Wyatt suffers from Vietnam flashbacks (we hear audio from actual demonstrations from time to time); with a prologue where he rants about psychiatrists having abandoned their responsibilities to veterans. His performance is chilling, and will make anyone wanting to mount a road-trip think twice.
And then there’s the sheriff, played with subtle melancholy by none other than Cameron himself,Alan Ruck. I won’t spoil for you the relationship he has with the cast in general, just that his role is very central to the plot with a hell of a surprise come the final credits.
With that bit of backstory out of the way, here’s where you, the fans, come in. There will be a special screening happening at The Landmark Theatre in West LA and we have some passes available for some lucky Los Angeles folks wanting to join the director, cast and the Nightmares Crew of Perri, Reilly and Schnepp. So Tweet at us! Hit up the @ColliderVideos Twitter handle including the #CarnagePark and #ColliderNightmares asking for a chance to join us. The screening will happen this Wednesday, July 6th. We’ll need your Tweets by end of the day Monday, July 4th, to win. And sorry, this is for LA residents only.
Carnage Parkdebuts in select theatres in New York, and on VOD this July 1st; with Los Angeles screenings beginning on July 7th.
