Bloodtype Online

    If there is something that reminds me as my days as a youth it was the carnival.  I remember when I was a little kid that summertime had a few repeat occurrences every year.   Going to the local amusement park, swimming, and playing outside with friends were just a few of those things.  But going to fair's and carnivals are just a part of Americana every year when the weather gets just right.   Or at least that's the way for the people that live outside of the areas in which the weather is nice all year around.  But one of the things that I remember one particular summer was when I actually got to experience my first "sideshow".   It was quite the unique experience although most of it was pretty hokey.  Now sure the lady with the beard kind of creeped me out, but it wasn't anything that special.   But then again that "sideshow" was hardly anything of the sorts so I found this movie to be a pretty interesting display of what the real "sideshow" is like.

    Director Nick Basile brings us this very in depth look into the world of the carnival and all of its usual attractions.   From introducing us to people who work in these types of shows, to showing us performing their acts this one is about as an extensive documentary as one could ever expect.  It explains the ins and outs of the carnival business from the performer and promoter standpoints as well as showing just why there aren't many running today.  The main portion of the film itself is dedicated to Coney Island where the original sideshows ran and ran pretty successfully.   We get a glimpse at Coney Island in all of its world famous glory and this one shows basically how it was on it's last leg.  We also get to follow along Coney Island with Todd Robbins who is the leading man in the world of the carnival.   He's truly the mentor and admired by all who are in that industry so it's very interesting to see how he does his thing.  Although they show you more than just him, he is by far the most interesting and compelling part of the documentary.  

    Now I should tell everyone that if you aren't at all interested in this type of subject matter that this documentary isn't for you.   I'm not all that interested in them either but I did find some merit to what they were trying to do.  This is definitely something that I can see people watching if they by chance were to catch it playing on television.  

    Overall it's a pretty well made documentary that managed to capture my attention even though I wasn't all that into the subject matter at hand.   It's jam packed with information and history on the sideshow and I left with the feeling that I had watched something that was filled with research, time, and effort.   As far as I go, that's exactly what I ask out of what I'm watching so I can say that this one is at least worth a rental.

Rating - **1/2

-Ed Demko