Carni-Hell Review
Over the last few years, Kernow Scare Attractions have mastered the art of temporary pop up attractions at UK festivals: Last year they took people to the edge of madness with Phobia and now they have returned with Carni- Hell which will appear at four major UK festivals around the country.
Being based inside weekend festivals, it is sometimes hard to get in to review a Kernow show. Fortunately with just one guest pass remaining for the opening weekend of the tour, they invited us along to see what we thought, and so on an extremely sunny afternoon we found ourselves in full festival fever surrounded by dirty campers, grungy music and a load of overgrown men on skateboards and BMX bikes! (NASS is the Action Sports and Music festival)
Carni-Hell itself sat on a slightly raised bluff overlooking the event field and with its eye catching facade, was visible from afar. The giant clown mouth seemed to be calling people over and it was fun watching the reactions as group after group came running OUT of the face. Once the sun had gone down, the impressive facade looked even more menacing as it was lit up with spotlights.
Being based inside weekend festivals, it is sometimes hard to get in to review a Kernow show. Fortunately with just one guest pass remaining for the opening weekend of the tour, they invited us along to see what we thought, and so on an extremely sunny afternoon we found ourselves in full festival fever surrounded by dirty campers, grungy music and a load of overgrown men on skateboards and BMX bikes! (NASS is the Action Sports and Music festival)
Carni-Hell itself sat on a slightly raised bluff overlooking the event field and with its eye catching facade, was visible from afar. The giant clown mouth seemed to be calling people over and it was fun watching the reactions as group after group came running OUT of the face. Once the sun had gone down, the impressive facade looked even more menacing as it was lit up with spotlights.
The attraction sits menacingly at the top of the event field
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A close up of the mouth
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On our first trip through the attraction we had absolutely no idea where we were going or what we were seeing. Freaks and creatures seemed to appear from nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Fleeting glimpses of the costumes showed such diverse things as a bearded lady, killer clowns and of course an evil juggler who just seemed to have a penchant for chainsaws!
The route through the marquee winds back and forth and was completely disorientating in the darkness. From beginning to end it was a mostly dark experience with just a few subtle lights to highlight effects or distract us. Generally though, nothing ever came from where we expected it to. It didn't help that several times we were left just feeling around for a wall to follow and as soon as we felt comfortable again - another impact scare would catch us unaware. Without any scripts or story telling, the actors were able to really improvise and focus on fast impact scares throughout, and with about 7 actors on at any time - it was one of the most populated and scary mazes we have done for ages. And it wasn't just the number of actors but the sheer intensity of them - we went through several times with different groups and each time the actors were literally bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm trying to get the best scares. And it's no wonder - with veteran actors from Tulleys Shocktoberfest, The Sanctuary and Scream at Tussaud's to name just a few - the level of talent rounded up for the show was like a who's who of scares!
Clearly - Carni-Hell is just a temporary attraction in a marquee, but unlike many such attractions it uses sold floors, proper walls and most interestingly a full roof structure to help create close, confined corridors throughout. Consider that at 4pm on one of the sunniest days of the year, there were rooms inside that were pitch dark and could only be traversed by feeling your way through! The level of design and the talented cast throughout was extremely impressive and it's a shame that we haven't been able to visit a Kernow Scare show before this one, because if Phobia was as good as this then we all missed a treat!
If you don't want to miss out - look out for them at a festival soon. Carni- Hell will be talking a small break now and will back later in the Summer at Boardmasters festival in Cornwall, Sundowner in Suffolk and V-Festival in Chelmsford.
The route through the marquee winds back and forth and was completely disorientating in the darkness. From beginning to end it was a mostly dark experience with just a few subtle lights to highlight effects or distract us. Generally though, nothing ever came from where we expected it to. It didn't help that several times we were left just feeling around for a wall to follow and as soon as we felt comfortable again - another impact scare would catch us unaware. Without any scripts or story telling, the actors were able to really improvise and focus on fast impact scares throughout, and with about 7 actors on at any time - it was one of the most populated and scary mazes we have done for ages. And it wasn't just the number of actors but the sheer intensity of them - we went through several times with different groups and each time the actors were literally bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm trying to get the best scares. And it's no wonder - with veteran actors from Tulleys Shocktoberfest, The Sanctuary and Scream at Tussaud's to name just a few - the level of talent rounded up for the show was like a who's who of scares!
Clearly - Carni-Hell is just a temporary attraction in a marquee, but unlike many such attractions it uses sold floors, proper walls and most interestingly a full roof structure to help create close, confined corridors throughout. Consider that at 4pm on one of the sunniest days of the year, there were rooms inside that were pitch dark and could only be traversed by feeling your way through! The level of design and the talented cast throughout was extremely impressive and it's a shame that we haven't been able to visit a Kernow Scare show before this one, because if Phobia was as good as this then we all missed a treat!
If you don't want to miss out - look out for them at a festival soon. Carni- Hell will be talking a small break now and will back later in the Summer at Boardmasters festival in Cornwall, Sundowner in Suffolk and V-Festival in Chelmsford.
For more information check out their website at www.kernowscares.co.uk
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