Carnival Of Souls

Rating:
Summary: May not be the best or most famous horror film but...
Review: "Carnival of Souls" (the 1962 original, not the 1998 direct to video piece of crap called "Carnival of Souls"), although maybe not the best or most well known horror film ever made, is certainly one of the most creepy and unsettling movies I have ever seen.

The film is about a young, pretty woman who, after having "died" in a car accident, finds herself being stalked by a pale, ghost-like figure who comes to her in nightmarish otherworldly visions of desperation and despair.

"Carnival of Souls" is a cinematic wonder that just goes to show that you don't need a big name score composer, a big time director and cast, or a huge budget to make a good movie. This is a true-to-form 1960's, black and white, B grade horror film that sets out to do one thing and one thing only, shock the living daylights out of the person viewing it. It may not be the best movie ever made, and at times it can be quite corny and over-acted, but those factors only add to the nostalgic quality of the film.

To sum it all up, "Carnival of Souls" is a true horror movie gem that should not be missed by die hard fans of the genre (or anybody for that matter).

By the way, just in case your reading this review and wondering exactly how chilling this movie could actually possibly be, George Romero once said that "Carnival of Souls" was constantly on his mind while directing the original 1968 horror classic "Night of the Living Dead".

Rating:
Summary: The [ones] who knock this movie were probably scared by it
Review: ... This is everything a horror movie should be and more:a true cult classic. Some of the images from this film will remain etched in your cinematic psyche--it has the mystery and poetic beauty of a David Lynch movie, and yet is as scary (if not scarier) than "Night of the Living Dead". Horror movies like this are as rare as they are a true joy to every student of film or fan of the genre, made on shoestring budgets, with all the objective odds stacked against them, and yet coming through with all the vividness and vitality of a nightmare. "The man" (Herk Harvey) following Mary around is terrifying, and it leaves just enough to the viewer's imagination to make every scene with him in it genuinely chilling. He and the other 'carnival zombies' (for lack of a better term) are straight out of a nightmare and the whole thing just works beautifully. If you're into surrealism, horror, or just great movies, don't just rent but BUY this obscure masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: sacred or profane; it all sounds like organ music to me
Review: Carnival of Souls is a movie made, apparently, almost on a whim by two men who never made another feature film and stars an actress who was only in one other minor movie. With that sort of background, the rather unique finished product is maybe not so surprising.What is very surprising is that the movie turned out as well as it did.

Some of the other reviews have compared it to the twilight zone, and that is maybe the closest thing. They are from the same time period and have overlapping themes. The plotting for Carnival, though, is loose and leaves you wondering if there was a point -something you could almost never say about the twilight zone. Is it, like another reviewer stated, a hyper literal portrayal of a woman rejecting all the things that make life worth while and becoming an actual lost soul? I don't know that the movie lets us know enough about Mary to come to that conclusion. (Maybe it's all just a dramatized depiction of an undead beauracrat correcting a paperwork mistake.)

Plot, I don't think, is what this movie should stand or fall on.
Atmosphere seemed to take precedence with the film's creators(the director, Herk Harvey, told his writer, John Clifford, that he didn't care what he wrote about, except that he wanted to make a movie that had dead people dancing under the Saltair dome). From this point of view, I think, the movie is very successful. Carnival effectivly creates a tone of strangeness and dread that is sustained almost throughout it's length. It reminded me much more of the silent film, Nosferatu, than any modern horror movie (the nearly omnipresent pipe organ score might have something to do with that).

Candace Hilligloss, who plays the main character, Mary, does an excellent job in her role as a brittle, eccentric young woman, right down to the hand and body movements. She also has the perfect looks for the part; doe eyed and blond, with long, pale hands that look like they were made for playing music (a church pipe organ, in this instance). It's a pity she wasn't in more movies (she, rather admirably, retired from films to raise her children). Another good actor who went on to do really nothing else on the big screen, Sidney Berger, has the only other very important speaking role in the film. He's also does quite well in a very unsympathetic part as Mary's slimy neighbor.

There's one scene in this movie that really sticks in mind; the one where Mary visits the deserted interior of Saltair for the

first time. The scene has no real action, aside from Mary just walking around, but it's effect is quite eery ( it concludes in an utterly sinister shot, which may possibly have been what Peter Jackson was thinking of in the dead marshes sequence of The Two Towers). What I believe this scene trades on is the strangeness, the unwholesome sensation that comes of being alone in a large, festive, public place. A personal experience of mine which parallels this scene -I'm certain it's part of why this movie had such an effect on me- is my memory of walking around the desserted ruins of the massive, domed Baden Springs luxury resort in Indiana (it's since been gloriously restored, apparently) when I was a kid back in the 80's. I've never quite forgotten the lonely and desolate sensation it inspired.

Having said all that, I don't believe it's a perfect movie by any means. There's bad acting from bit players, at least a few near camp moments, mostly at the beginning (I was nearly expecting, was almost afraid, that the deadly drag race at the start of the movie would veer into a wooden PSA from some beefy sheriff). I think how much of an impact this movie has on you will depend on when you watch it, who you watch it with (watch it alone), and whether you will allow yourself to get caught up in it's mood. There's no real violence, nothing that will involuntarily repulse you. If you want to give it the MST3K treatment, parts of the movie will certainly lend itself to that, or if you sit in front of the television, cross your arms and determine not to let this film get to you, then I think you will very probably stand up unfazed. Speaking personally, I think there are a number of things that I'll never quite look at again in the same light, after seeing this picture.

Rating:
Summary: Small Cost, Big Atmosphere
Review: Even being a fan of horror films, I never knew about this great film until the mid-90's. The Sci-Fi Channel was having nightly film festivals in October leading up to Halloween and when I saw the promo for Carnival of Souls, it gave me chills. The next night I watched (and taped) it, and have viewed it many, many times since.

Nothing conveys terror like atmosphere and things barely seen. Director Herk Harvey, whose previous film experience was almost entirely in industrial films, captured these important aspects perfectly. In the supplemental materials on the Criterion DVD, he explains how the sight of the old Salt Lake bath house became the base for this film. When you see the old bath house, it is at a distance at first, in the evening, draped in shadows. You wonder "What is in there? Is it empty? Or could something else be there that shouldn't be?"

In the film, Mary Henry (played by Candace Hilligoss) is the sole survivor of an auto accident. Afterwards she leaves Kansas to take a job in Salt Lake City, Utah. As she nears Salt Lake, she sees, in the distance, the shadowy hulk of an old pavilion on the lakeshore. She begins seeing images of a pale faced man (played by director Harvey) appearing and disappearing outside her car, in her boarding house, outside her window, etc. The film deals with her attempts to come to terms with this vision, her sanity, her brush with death, and what role the old building (a former bath house, carnival, and dance hall) has to do with it all.

The film looks crisp and clear, even in night scenes. No surprise, also, that it has an industrial film feel to it at times. The acting is good, but not great. Then again the occasional stiffness of some characters adds to Mary Henry's feeling of disconnect with the living world. The townspeople have barely more life in them than the pale "zombies" that rise from the lake. Mary's job as a church organist allows for a soundtrack full of pipe organ music that morphs from inspirational to horrific. It is quite effective and adds to the already dreamlike quality that oozes from the film.

The Criterion DVD comes with 2 discs including the original director's cut and the theatrical versions. Extras include a booklet, a photo gallery and history of the bath house, and a panel interview at a convention featuring Herk Harvey (wearing his ghostly make-up no less!), Candace Hilligoss, and Sidney Berger, who played Mary Henry's (...) drunken neighbor.

People spend millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars trying to scare you, and almost always fail. Carnival of Souls succeeds and on a tiny budget. There is a reason that this small film from 1962 is still a cult favorite today. It works. It's scary. It will creep you out. Buy it, rent it, just watch it!

Rating:
Summary: Once again, THANK YOU, Criterion!
Review: The merits of this film are obvious enough to simply summarize: it is the one and only original shoestring budget classic. No, the plot isn't original, but that hasn't stopped others from picking it up and running with it, sometimes in different directions, and sometimes even more successfully (see "Jacob's Ladder" for a deeper, and darker, take). But I doubt that ANYone ANYwhere has made a better film for less money; as someone below wrote, ""Blair Witch", eat your heart out."

And then to have it released on a Criterion DVD, well, it just doesn't get any better than that! OK, we may not need TWO versions, .... And the second DVD isn't just a filler: you get anything and everything you could think of associated with the movie, including "now and then" visits to the film sites, a great hour-long tribute, a history of the film company, stills, probably more than all but the most compulsive fan would want but you won't feel as though you've gotten short-changed! As always, the real reason we love Criterion is the quality of their prints - they are simply THE BEST you are going to see. Anyone who has seen this film on one of its numerous cheapie incarnations on VHS will be ecstatic with this version - you won't believe how superior the picture quality is.

I have to say "get this now, before it's discontinued". This edition can NOT be bettered; you will NEVER EVER see a better version of this classic sleeper.

Now, Criterion, when are you going to release Robert Wise's "The Haunting", hmmmm?

Rating:
Summary: Not of the commonplace
Review: My take on Carnival of Souls: The artistic photography shows real insight and ability, the generally excellent Hilligoss performance is mesmerizing, and I think Sidney Berger, Frances Feist and Art Ellison perfectly fulfill their roles. The minor characters are just acting like folk from small town Kansas (or Utah), so don't expect Lee Strasberg graduates. The Gene Moore score is a custom fit, as is the Saltair setting. The script is lightweight in many spots...the idea that the dead could inhabit a different dimension, side-by-side with the living is depicted visually more than by pointless banter. There are some rough spots with jumpy editing and below par dubbing, and the pace is not intended for a viewer wanting Indiana Jones entertainment. But when viewed as a series of parts that may be greater than the whole, "Carnival" is just an amazing, above average, low budget underdog saved from oblivion because enough people...intellectuals and commoners saw there was something different, something not of the commonplace in this film. I recommend the Critereon DVD edition with crystal clear picture...its way better than previous VHS editions.

Rating:
Summary: Carnival Of Souls
Review: This movie was filmed in Lawrence, Kansas, (a college town full of acting students), in 1961. It was directed by Herk Harvey, who made 400 educational and industrial films for Centron Productions in Lawrence. This was his only feature film. Starring
Candace Hilligoss (Mary Henry) and Frances Fiest (Mrs. Thomas). Herk Harvey plays the main ghoul that Mary Henry keeps seeing. She survives a drag race in a rural Kansas town and then leaves to be a church organist in Salt Lake City. She is haunted by a ghoul (Herk Harvey), and he connects her to a deserted pavillion next to the Great Salt Lake called Saltair. It's great! But it's a little hokey in a phew scenes.

Rating:
Summary: Finally on DVD! One of the spookiest films ever made....
Review: I had the great pleasure of seeing Carnival of Souls in its theatrical re-release in the mid-90s. Having seen it on video beforehand, I had some idea of what atmosphere the film created for the viewer. Seeing it in the theatre though was a completely spooky experience! Though the film may not be shocking or especially terrifying by today's standards, it still holds it own as an outre masterpiece of suspense.

A thousand THANK-YOUs to Criterion for bringing it to DVD. What a great package to have both cuts of the film, plus all the extra features (especially the extended montage of outtakes set to that bone-chilling soundtrack!) The documentary featuring the cast reunion is another bonus, as is the very interesting history of the SaltAir Resort from which Herk Harvey took his inspiration for the story.

The film is timeless in its use of stark black-and white, and light and dark to convey the extreme isolation felt by Candace Hilligoss' character, Mary the church organist. The soundtrack is quite eerie and used so effectively.

It is obvious how many "horror" films have been influenced by Carnival of Souls, in particular NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD by George Romero. The jerky/choppy editing style, the b/w photography, hysterical/hyperkinetic acting are all mirrored by so many present-day films. CARNIVAL is and always will be a unique piece of film-making. The excellent presentation on DVD shows it to its best advantage.

6 stars out of 5!!!

Rating:
Summary: a great cult classic!
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film

This film is one of the best known of classic horror films of th early 1960's. This film has hitchcockian elements and even can remind one of Shyamalan's film, "The Sixth Sense"

The story follows a young Kansas woman who survives a tracic car accident, she later moves to Salt Lake City Utah to be a church orgainist (at a non-Mormon chruch.) While driving there, she passes the old Saltair resort, recently abandoned. She feels an overwhelming compulsion to go closer but does not yet do so. She later has visions of a man who seems to be caling her to the resort. Later she enters an unusual state of mind where noone else can see or hear her. I don't want to say anything else as it would be a spoiler. The movie is filmed on location at the Saltair pavilion. At the time it held the largest indoor ballroom ever built. It since was destroyed by fire but another was built and later flooded.

The film has many special features.

2 versions of the film. The theatrical version and the Director's cut. The director's cut has optional partial length audio interviews with some of the film crew.

Disc 1 has
An illustrated history of the Saltair resort on the lake shore. Theatrical trailer, Outtakes of filming, a vidoe update on filming locations, and a documentary on the 1989 reunion of cast & crew.

Disc 2 has
Interviews with members of the cast and crew, and an Essay on the film's production comapny, Centron.

It also has 5 short documentary films made by the movie's production company Centron.

Star 34; A docudrama about tourism in Kansas

Signals: Read 'em or Weep; a saftey film for the Caterpillar Tractor company

To Touch a Child; a documentary about the school system in Flint Michigan.

Jamaica, Hati, and the Lesser Antilles; a documentary film on the afforementioned countries.

Korea: Overview; a documentary film on Korean culture.

This DVD set was one of the most comprehensive released by Criterion at the time of it's release.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars!!! Another great Criterion Collection release!!!
Review: If you are a fan of this cult classic the the Criterion version is the only way to go!!! This contains two versions of the film(Theatical version and Extended Director's Cut). Both versions are superb!!! The audio commentary from the late Herk Harvey and John Clifford is also top notch!!! The extras are awesome!!! The outakes are super cool and look great to boot!!! Other extras include short film excerpts from Centron:the company who employed Herk Harvey and John Clifford!!! It also contains documentaries and other cool goodies!!! This is one of the best deluxe DVD sets out there!!! Five Stars!!! A+