As any independent filmmaker sweating-and-fretting their way through 2012 knows all too well, the present channels for distributing their product can be a deceitful morass of bald lies, lopsided profit splits and an overall disintegrating DVD market. Despite industry experts touting online streaming and On Demand pay-per-view as the business model of the future, there is another option available to creators who’ve already managed to gain some level of note or notoriety: The travelling theatrical roadshow.

Part film screening, part glad-handing public appearance and part concert tour, the roadshow concept has filmmakers connecting with their fans and presenting their latest product in person. Remember a few years ago, when director Kevin Smith schlepped his horror-foray RED STATE to the Sundance film festival, ostensibly to find a buyer for his self-financed flick? Remember the derisive snorts from observers when Smith declined all offers, packed his bags and headed home? Smith’s sleeve card was that he knew he could rely on his fanbase; the promise of of his mere presence at RED STATE screenings sufficient to drum up media attention and by offering one of his famously candid Q+A sessions after each engagement, he could command a premium price for tickets.

Director Darren Lynn Bousman and writer/composer/star Terrence Zdunich are exploring a similar paradigm, after having toured their cult success REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA on several previous occasions. This time, it’s the pair’s musical follow-up THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL, and the supplemental festivities that come with the film are a gaudy circus-themed party designed to match CARNIVAL’s midway setting. The show made its Toronto stop earlier this week, and with the kind permission of CARNIVAL’S associate producer Spooky Dan Walker, your Fango correspondent was allowed to sit in on the exclusive pre-show Q+A that Bousman and Zdunich staged for their hardcore fan contingent. This Q + A was a lively dialogue between about thirty fans and the two creators—no stock questions or pat answers here; when was the last Q +A you attended where the first query was for the guests to describe how they lost their virginities? More to the point, when was the last Q+A where the subjects cheerfully answered that question in squirmy, humiliating and hilarious detail? (Mr. Bousman, your poor mother…)

The remainder of the fans were let in and quickly packed the hundreds of seats at the Toronto Underground Theatre. It soon became obvious that this party was a costumed one, with most attendees decked out in some degree of gothic fancy dress. There were the expected REPO replicas, and also loads of outlandish makeup, hoop skirts, and corsets laced up tighter than the cowhide on a baseball. It’s not often that the costumes in the audience meet or better the quality of what’s found onscreen, so a salute to Toronto’s fan ingenuity and sewing machine virtuosity is in order. From this point, the show unfolded fairly close to how Michael Gingold reported NYC’s CARNIVAL experience in his review, but there were a few deviations. First, a female emcee warmed up the already-boisterous crowd and then made way for a burlesque troupe with a, let’s say, inclusive approach to membership. These performers of varying ability and gender had the audience laughing and hooting out their baser impressions.

The next to take the stage was the Mental Floss sideshow, the barker of which treated the audience to a ‘human blockhead’ demo by pounding a six inch nail into his sinus cavity. The barker then put a revolting exclamation point on his act by licking the nail after sliding it free of his face; the audience shuddered and groaned accordingly. The REPO making-of footage was then shown to an elated, sing-along reception; most considerate as REPO was shot in Toronto and many of its cast and crew members were scattered throughout the crowd. Next, the actual DEVIL’S CARNIVAL: Short and strange, CARNIVAL fulfills Zdunich’s billing of it as ‘TALES FROM THE CRYPT meets the anti-GLEE.’ A far more modest undertaking than the studio-backed REPO, CARNIVAL is a different beast with a more organic approach to music (purely analog instrumentation, with the conceit that the songs should feel like they might have been recorded by an actual band of demented carnies) and a prominent, pulsing tuba line that Zdunich calls ‘more metal than Slayer.’ Finally, Bousman and Zdunich reappeared for a victory lap and second Q + A, pulling an endearingly reluctant Erin Deck, CARNIVAL’s Toronto-based editor, onstage. The trio covered the topic of a REPO! sequel (While they’d both be game, the possibility is out of their hands due to rights issues, says Bousman) to fielding requests—strike that, demands for Zdunich to unleash his buttery baritone live, which he obliged by singing a verse of a Tom Waits song (backed by sustained shrieking from his female fans).

Regardless of one’s impression of the CARNIVAL film itself, as a moviegoer it’s impossible not to thrill to the electricity of a house at capacity with engaged, appreciative spectators. With this roadshow concept, Spooky Dan, Bousman, and Zdunich wanted to provide an energetic evening, (“…something that couldn’t be downloaded, and if you could… why would you want to?” reasoned Zdunich onstage) and that aim was certainly accomplished. The buzz, the anticipation and the plain, unabashed love radiating from all present is something this correspondent will recall wistfully when next confronted with a typical theatre audience, the glowing screens of their phones lighting up the aisles like an airport runway as they text numbly away during lulls in the onscreen action.

Spooky Dan’s hank of long black hair could be seen whirling around the edges of the theatre throughout, filming the show and the audience response for what will hopefully emerge as a DVD extra or standalone documentary. It would still be a pale substitute for actually being there. The tour is now in its home stretch, but as Bousman and Zdunich mentioned in their exclusive Fangoria interview, there are tentative plans to add further dates, including a visit to the U.K. So please, seek out THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL if it happens to roll through your town. It’s almost worth selling your soul for.

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MOVIES/TV - Fearful Features