Carnival of Souls (1962)
The dead don’t speak. But they follow.
Brief Backstory
Thanks to the popularity of the drive-in theaters in the late 1950s and especially in the 1960s, an enormous spike in independent and/or low-budget horror movies took off like crazy; with some being major classics like Vincent Price’s the Pit and the Pendulum and some being bad like the Terror.
Among the revered low budget horror movies of the 1960s was the black and white and spooky Carnival of Souls, starring Candice Hilligoss. After six decades and counting, Carnival of Souls was been given a spot on the Criterion Collection 25ish years ago and was given a great restoration job for showing on Max previously known as HBO Max.
Story
Mary Henry, a church organist, is plagued by visions of a mysterious and scary man. Her visions strain her welcome in Salt Lake City, ultimately leading to her paying two visits to an abandoned carnival.
Random Facts
The atmosphere has some resemblance to 1930s Alfred Hitchcock (I.E. The 39 Steps) although there isn’t some kind of framing going on.
Carnival of Souls is in the public domain.
Ranked as one of the best horror movies (https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/100-greatest-horror-movies-of-all-time/) by several sites.
Random Opinions
The title’s somewhat confusing. Sure there’s some scenes of the abandoned carnival, but it feels more like this needed a different title. Something like “The Mad Ghoul” – no relation to the Universal Monster movie from the early 1940s.
Also, exactly what’s the deal with the mysterious man? It’s like he just shows up and that’s about it.
Like When Worlds Collide and War of the Worlds, I think this one’s been overdosed on positive reception. Unlike those two however, I found this one much more worth watching.
Pros
- For a movie with a very low budget, this actually manages to keep a scary atmosphere.
- The organ music fits the movie well, especially at the part where Mary plays the organ profanely and is fired.
- Decent example of a psychological horror movie, though I think there are better examples like Psycho.
- Eerie atmosphere throughout.
Cons
- I was hoping for more of Mary getting captured and tortured by using the rides at the abandoned carnival by the zombies. Something along the lines of the Batman TAS episode Be a Clown was more of what I had in mind.
- Some of the scenes could’ve been removed. I don’t think the scene of Mary getting coffee needed to be in the movie.
Rating: 6/10 – Decent
This one’s okay for the most part. I think there’s better horror movies of the 1960s, but if you’re looking for something that has a somewhat similar atmosphere to some of Hitchcock’s earliest works, go ahead and watch this.
Otherwise, it’s worth taking a look if you need a quick fix on psychological horror, but you might better off with the Shining or Psycho.
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