FILMMAKER CARNAHAN LEAVES `BLOOD GUTS' CALLING CARD.

Byline: Marla Matzer Daily News Staff Writer

Like Quentin Tarantino and Billy Bob Thornton before him, filmmaker Joe Carnahan has created a hoped-for starmaking vehicle for himself in ``Blood Guts Bullets & Octane.'' Carnahan wrote, directed, co-produced, edited and starred in the film, which debuted as a midnight movie at last year's Sundance Film Festival. It's a notable if derivative first effort.

Carnahan plays Sid French, half of Bob & Sid's (B & S) Auto Emporium in Needles, Calif. The story moves quickly from a bloody, ``El Mariachi''-style opening to a ``Glengarry Glen Ross'' satire of used-car dealers and their tactics. Car salesmen are a pretty fat target, but Carnahan gets some real laughs out of his character and a competing salesman, Danny Woo (a Stetson-wearing Cal Worthington type, played by Dan Harlan).

Carnahan's co-star and co-producer, Dan Leis, is less effective as Bob. Leis captures the slick superficiality of predatory car dealers (``I don't think they ever publicly referred to it as a `time bomb,' '' he assures a hapless nerd looking over an old Pinto), but fails to really flesh out his character.

Desperate to save their crummy little business from eviction, Bob and Sid agree to house a mysterious '63 Pontiac for a few days in exchange for $250,000. Here, the ``Reservoir Dogs''-style tale of a bungled crime begins.

In a series of quick-cut flashbacks, we see some of the violent history of the car as it makes its way to the desert. Some more of the car's route is filled in by the FBI agents who are on the trail of the car and a trail of killings left in its wake. What we don't know, until the end, is the motive.

Inevitably, Sid and Bob immediately find themselves in over their heads. ``Forget the car ... we are way, WAY out of our (expletive) league,'' Bob shouts at Sid after Sid gets shot in a dispute over the Pontiac. The ending is coolly downbeat and as bloody as the final scene of a Shakespeare tragedy.

Largely as a cost-saving measure, Carnahan cast a number of friends and relatives in the film. The movie lacks a known star, a la Harvey Keitel in ``Reservoir,'' which might have given the picture an extra kick. But despite a couple of bad miscastings of minor characters - whose desert white-trash accents come and go - the cast is pretty solid. Particularly fine are Carnahan and Ken Rudolph as the lead FBI agent on the case.

Like Robert Rodriguez's ``El Mariachi,'' ``Blood'' was supposedly made for only about $7,000 (it was blown up to 35mm by Lions Gate, which acquired the film for distribution). The film is low budget and looks it. At times this doesn't matter, as the action holds your interest. Other times, the film looks and sounds like a well-made but budget-strapped student film.

In the end, the antihero (who we won't name) turns out to be an amoral sleazeball with a heart of gold. Do such characters exist in real life? Maybe. But surely not as often as we see them in the movies.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Blood Guts Bullets & Octane'' (R; violence).

The stars: Joe Carnahan, Dan Leis, Ken Rudolph, Dan Harlan.

Behind the scenes: Directed and written by Carnahan. Produced by Carnahan and Leis. Released by Lions Gate Films.

Running time: One hour, 26 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Sunset 5, West Hollywood.

Our rating: Two stars.

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Photo

Photo: Joe Carnahan, left, and Dan Leis in the extremely violent ``Blood Guts Bullets & Octane.''