Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood (1973)

Released with The Witch Who Came from the Sea and The Premonition as part of Arrow Video’s American Horror Film Project, this movie is all about the Norris family looking for their lost son who got lost at an evil carnival. As a cover, they get jobs working in the carnival. And then things go wrong…

The carnival’s manager, Mr. Blood, is a vampire. Go figure, with a name like that. Meanwhile, the evil owner Malatesta is in charge of an entire army of goons who watch silent movies and eat human flesh. Hervé Villechaize from TV’s Fantasy Island is one of them.

After directing this movie, Christopher Eric Speeth went on to work in documentaries. This film is, well, a mess. You’re never sure when something is a flashback or a dream; things appear in a fuzzy multicolored haze, much like you’ve been staying up all night doing drugs and listening to overly loud jam bands. I’m not saying I don’t like it. I’m just trying to tell you how it is.

If your idea of a good time is watching people do autopsies while singing show tunes, then you’re on the right spectrum for this one. Want to see it for yourself? It’s on Shudder.