The Trailer:
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Main Cast: Paul Sorvino, Adam Pascal, & Emilie Autumn
Plot: Lucifer (Terrance Zdunich) and his carnies enact a plan to finally dismantle God (Paul Sorvino).
Ahhh, so amazing!!! I can't tell you how long I've waited for this film to come out and finally watching it made the wait so totally worth it. It is everything I expected and more! The songs are fabulous, the new characters are entertaining, the sets are eye-catching, and the story brings to light God's inherent desire to keep all his denizens in check by any means necessary. Alleluia! is sometimes a sequel, but most times a prequel to what we saw in The Devil's Carnival.
The creating duo of Terranze Zdunich and Darren Lynn Bousman did it again. They created a gorgeous world that serves as their vision of Heaven. The sets and designs are well crafted, almost seedy. Heaven has this gritty, 1930's speak-easy feel to it. There is a warm, fuzzy glow to everything, but that fuzzy dreaminess only seems to be there to mask what's going on just beneath the surface. God rules over his angels as a tyrant would: he walks around with this false benevolence, as though he actually cares about his denizens. Underneath his jolly charm, though, he is a cruel master who forces his angels to bend to his every whim under the cloak that it is for the betterment of Heaven. He holds this sentiment that his angels should feel so lucky to exist in his Heaven, and so should never question his actions or authority. He is much like an abuser in that way: he intimidates his angels into submission, making them believe that when they are punished, for seemingly silly things, it is their fault. This God is not the wonderful God we hear of in daily life, this is a cruel God who abuses his power to get what he wants. This cruelty lends itself to the reasons why Lucifer seeks to destroy God and his Heaven. This film isn't a direct follow-up to what happened in The Devil's Carnival, but instead starts a few months after Lucifer has been sending trains full of "redeemed" sinners to Heaven, much to God's dismay. But Alleluia! also works as a prequel to tell the story of one of Lucifer's carnies, Painted Doll, or June as she is called in this film, (Emilie Autumn) and her fall from Heaven. And while there is some going back and forth between past and present, it never becomes confusing. Though, I will say, that the film spends much more time in the past than in the present, but that's not without purpose. The purpose of showing so much of June's time spent in heaven is to capitalize how much of an oppressive ruler God is over his Heaven. The Aesop Fable chosen to highlight June's life in Heaven is The Ass and the Lapdog, a tale which the writer chose to tweak a bit to fit the overall plot of the film, but not so much that the story's moral lesson is altered. I won't go into detail about the plot as it is much better, in my opinion, to go in and let the story unfold in front of you rather than you knowing before hand what it's about. I will say, though, that it is tragic and heartbreaking.
So let's move on to the many famous faces we see in Heaven. We are introduced to a slew of new characters, characters I hope will be returning for the next film. In Heaven, first we have Cora (Lyndon Smith), an applicant in Heaven and June's friend. Then there's the Publicist (Ted Neely), who serves as a sort of radio broadcaster to broadcast the songbird's songs that teach of God's greatness. Next is the Designer (David Hasselhoff) who designs all of God's and the angels clothes. Then there's the Librarian (Tech N9ne), who protects the books of God's word, and makes sure everyone is living by the book. Then there's the Agent (Adam Pascal), who is quite literally God's lapdog, kind of like an assistant. Then the Translators— Translator Batez (Chantal Claret) and Translator Bentz (Jimmy Urine)— who are the ones who dole out punishment for anyone going against the word of God. Last of Heaven's denizens, there is the Watchword (Barry Bostwick) who is like Heaven's TMZ. Now in Hell, first there is the Smith (Danny Worsnop), the blacksmith who creates weapons for Lucifer's attack on Heaven. The Rosy Bayonettes— Click (Brea Grant), Lock (Carla Harvey), and Twist (Heidi Shepherd)— who are the warriors of Hell. Then of course we have all the characters who we were introduced to in The Devil's Carnival. The Scorpion (Marc Senter), the rebellious badboy of Hell. The Twin (Nivek Ogre), who can shapeshift into any person. The Ticket Keeper (Dayton Callie), who keeps Hell running smoothly and is like Lucifer's assistant. Ms. Merrywood (Briana Evigan), one of the lost souls sent back to Heaven. The Major (J. LaRose), leader of the Hell Harmonic. The Magician (Bill Moseley), who is a bad magician. And lastly, The Fool (Mighty Mike Murga), who apparently fools people. As you can see there are quite a few characters, most of Hell's characters, or actually Lucifer's carnies, don't spend a lot of time on screen in Alleluia!, (they had their chance in The Devil's Carnival) but remain as lovable as ever. Most of Heaven's denizens, or angels, have a bit of screen time. Most of them have a chance to sing their own song which serves as an introduction to them and what they do in Heaven. Overall, all of them did fantastic jobs at their parts and sang wonderfully. The songs, by the way, are just as amazing if not better than the songs in The Devil's Carnival. My favorite being Hoof and Lap/ The Devil's Carnival sung by Emilie Autumn :
Don't you just love that German chorus? But in all honesty, all the songs are my favorite. I literally listened to the soundtrack on repeat for about a month straight before I ever even saw the movie. Like most fans and followers of The Devil's Carnival, I ordered the soundtrack months ago as that was the only way I could become familiar with the film when it wasn't out for sale yet.
I know, I didn't tell you much about the film. Especially if you're not familiar with The Devil's Carnival franchise (is it a franchise? that seems like such a commercial word for what these films are), this may not even register to you as praise or recommendation. But trust me, this is a film you don't want to miss. If you love movie musicals, especially those with some fun horror elements, you have to watch this. Though I would recommend you watch The Devil's Carnival first, then Alleluia!. But beware, once you watch you will be obsessed. And you will definitely have to pick a side: are you a sinner, or a saint? Anyways, this film is fucking amazing and I can't wait to see how the battle between Heaven and Hell, Lucifer and God, will go down. (Side Note: I am definitely a sinner and hope for Hell's victory! Hail!!)
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