Carved (Hulu)- A Spooky Season Review
I would not be surprised at all if the VFX didn’t live up to the expectations of sighted audiences. Luckily for Carved, you can have Asylum level VFX, and I’d have no idea, but I can just assume this production didn’t have the highest of budgets. that’s not to say you need a large budget, and for something like Carved, it would be hard to play broadly.
Carved is a horror comedy about a mutated pumpkin that reaches its breaking point, coming alive, and murdering all those who dare to carve a pumpkin on Halloween. It is one of those premises that sounds like critics couldn’t possibly understand what audiences see in a film like this, except that sentiment is changing. just look at the serious buzz behind body horror sensation The Substance. Recently, the ASTRo Awards just named Naomi Scott in the Best Actress race for Smile 2. It is taking some time, but horror is slowly gaining a deeper appreciation on a broader scale. there will still be the fringes of horror where things like Terrifyer lives, but wasn’t that always the case? Wasn’t there always a section of horror pushing boundaries?
Carved is just a silly, gory movie. I think it overplays its hand, trying too hard to make some jokes work. For example, the stoner here is a bit much, and I have no idea what Chris Ellliot is even doing. Outside of Schitt’s Creek, i think that summarizes most of his career, but here, he just seems like he’s pushing the film into a different brand of comedy. Yes, a giant pumpkin killing people in horrific ways is shocking, and hilarious, but Carved really needed the right consistent rhythm. It is what makes a really solid, really great horror comedy, is that the tone is established and pretty consistent. It doesn’t start getting more absurd, or having humans who feel unrealistic. Thinking about all the great ones I rewatch, like Shaun of The dead, Cooties, Tucker and dale Vs Evil, and The Cabin In The Woods, they all pretty much have the same level. Here, I’d cut a few characters, or recast/rewrite them so they feel like they match the rest of the cast, instead of feeling like they fell out of a Scary movie sequel.
In terms of audio description, the violence and gore is well done, and the pumpkin is mostly well described and tracked. but, based on what was happening in the movie, and how it plays out, I was never really sure how big the pumpkin was. I’m pretty sure it continues to grow and mutate, so a larger than normal pumpkin, but size relativity would have helped a lot here. It was the only thing that really truly gave me pause.
It’s not my favorite horror comedy, and it could have had deeper character development for some core characters, while rewriting and recasting others, but some people will probably find this to be pretty silly dumb fun. Still, when I think of how successful something like Rubber was, which made no sense as a concept, I think Carved could have aimed higher. Instead, it feels like what it is. A streaming exclusive.
Final Grade: C
