John Gaines One of the most horrendous "kids" movies ever made, Al Adamson's Carnival Magic takes place in a grimy carnival in the dying days of the American circus, when theme parks were beginning to take over. "Markov the Magnificent", a traveling mesmerist who's kind of a mix of Dr. Strange, the Beastmaster, and Jesus, is very near getting kicked out of the carnival, when it's discovered he has something special in his trailer...Alex, the talking chimp! (Played by Trudi, an elderly female chimp). Can Alex save Markov's employment? Will Alex get involved in poorly filmed Hal Needham knockoff antics? Will the EEEEEEVVVIIILLLL lion tamer try to do something bad to Alex out of jealousy? All these questions and a bunch more you never wanted to ask will be answered over the course of Carnival Magic. Once you get in, be sure to stay tuned so you can see one of the most idiotic "inspirational" endings ever filmed. Grungy, robotically acted, and paced at the speed of a brontosaurus going uphill in January, Carnival Magic has something for everyone to hate.

bensonmum2 Disclaimer – I watched Carnival Magic courtesy of the new MST3K. I am confident in my ability to separate the movie from the show. I'm not one of those who feels a movie is necessarily bad just because it appeared on MST3K. You'll find some real gems that probably didn't deserve the MST3K treatment. With that being said, even though I've rated Carnival Magic a rather paltry 4/10, I was actually pleasantly surprised that it was this good. Knowing that it was directed by Al Adamson, my expectations were VERY low. And with a name like Carnival Magic, I was expected something schlocky along the lines of Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures – a real abomination of a movie. Instead, I discovered a reasonably nice movie, presented in a fairly competent manner, featuring decent acting, and real production values. There's actually little in the way of exploitation – a real shock to me. It's not a great movie, but Carnival Magic is miles better than what I was expecting. The movie tells the story of a struggling carnival/circus. Things start to look up, however, when a magician named Markov begins using his chimp, Alex, in his act. Alex is capable of a few astounding things – he can speak a few words and he can telepathically send messages to Markov. One day, a scientist is in the audience for a performance and wants to take Alex for research purposes. Markov says no. Unfortunately for all concerned, another performer, jealous of Markov's success, tells the scientist that he'll get him the chimp. Things get ugly for everyone involved.Most of the cast is, as you would expect, littered with a bunch of no names. They give it their all and come out looking pretty good. The exception is Don Stewart as Markov. He's very good in his role and actually has a fairly impressive filmography. Impressive, at least, for an Al Adamson film.

ksf-2 Honestly, the only interesting part of this film is the life story of the director, Al Adamson. He was murdered by a contractor, and buried in his own house. He gave his wife Regina roles in 14 of his (cheesey) films. Film quality, terrible. Script -- terrible. Sound, picture ... terrible. Mystery Science Theater 3000 highlighted one of his films, "Carnival Magic". Don Stewart is "Markov", who has a talking chimp, which steals the show in the failing carnival. Stewart spends most of the film shirtless, in an effort to boost the ratings. Awful. Terrible. Did I mention its pretty bad? They keep referring to "Alex" the chimp as HE and HIM, but acc to the credits, the chimp is actually a male, and in addition, is voiced by a female, in spite of the fact that Alex has a low, weird, gravelly voice. Mystery Science 3000 version, currently showing on Netflix. Mildly interesting, but ain't no thang. Turrible. Turrible.

cshep Al Adamson noted/notorious for making less than average films, outdoes himself with this creation "Carnival Magic !"Take several aging would-be actors, place them in a sub-standard setting(Carnival), add a chimpanzee with an incredible ability, stir the pot and voilà', a hysterical look at the American culture, albeit a limited slice of the pie but still a slice. Don Stewart as Markov the Magician has amazing powers , yet one of them is not having the ability to stay employed, unless , enter Alexander the Great(the chimp), who has the power to talk..wow...Nice gimmick, except like the rest of the film, it is poorly executed.Even Alex looks aged.Spoiler Alert, Alex is or was Trudi the Chimp in real life. Not since "The Crying Game" has the gender bender been played so royally...except this time they used an animal, like "Lassie."So, the jealous animal trainer doesn't like being second banana and arranges for the abduction of our talking hero, to the confines of a medical laboratory for a closer look, if you know what I mean.So obviously the story has to resolve getting Alex back, but not before a chimp/police chase, hilarious or could have been under better supervision. The closing credits roll over the carnival parade in Gaffeny, South Carolina, which has been a host to no less than 7 other films, what a hoot ! Watching Don tongue an underage girl in her teens is Classic, I guess his powers include perversion and statutory rape. Nice.Oh, look for the Shriners, it wouldn't be a parade without them ! BTW, the joke I referred to in the summary title, is that you can build a TV Show/Film and/or Video Vehicle around a chimp, i.e."The Monkees", "BJ and the Bear","The Hathaways", it is done over and over because they try to reinvent the wheel or at least disguise it for a buck. Al Adamson was no different, he just failed to use demographics and threw this film against the wall, to see if it would stick. 3 stars out of 10, but filled with unintentional laughs, once you know the joke. Chimps are funny, people are too, but that is a different show.