Stream it now Carnival of Souls 1962

 

The low budget is something that strikes through the whole movie, but this is a proof that not just because a lot money has been put on it, it necessarily have to mean that it is bad. They use some basic but very effective elements which adds a lot to the suspense.

With about the same technique that Sam Fuller used in some of his B-horrors and the style George A. Romero used in Night of the living dead. Disturbing music (organ music ect.) and the strong ligthning makes this movie really really creepy, no matter how cheap it is. It is like always in horror movies, the tone, the atmosphere that really matters. That creepy feeling. And this movie actually achieves it!

A young girl survives a car accident without any scratches, while her friends died instantly. After the accident she moves to a new town, and takes a job in a church as an organist. The people living in the town are really quite some characters (not to mention her male neighbour!), and she soon hears and sees visions of a carnival that the town used to set up annually, but had stopped years ago. But it is not only a carnival she sees visions of but also an old man with piercing eyes who seems to be following her. And another thing she has started to notice is that people has started to look through her. Literally!

Small-town, bleak America, anticipating David Lynch; car crash wreckage, an alluring misfit organist heroine (frenzied performance from the wonderfully named Candace Hilligoss) and delirious, hauntological scenes at a seaside funfair.

A 'serious', middlebrow film like "The Pumpkin Eater" (1964) tries but fails quite to achieve the sense of social isolation evoked here in this eerie, uncanny gem of 'B' movie. It is all the better for being low-budget, using a wistful soundtrack, subtle effects and memorable make-up: the main spectre resembles Luke Haines! A superb film - truly an experience to savour.

One of the few films to genuinely scare me. The Man (as the ghoulish creature stalking Candace Hilligose is credited) played by director Herk Harvey, sends a shiver down the spine that better known Horror icons like Jason, Freddie & Michael Myers lack. The low budget grainy look & sound coupled with the lack of any major stars gives the film a sense of unfamiliaity to adds to the unease. If you get the opportunity see this film. Recommend viewing method, watch alone, late at night.

I watched this movie whilst tripping acid and it was a good time. But what it's a good time on acid? Seriously.
I don't know if I'd watch it sober though.

Carnival of Souls is a gem of a horror film, although a bit of an unpolished one. The acting leaves something to be desired, and the dialogue is occasionally awkward - however, Carnival of Souls manages to rise above its obvious low-budget restrictions to become a haunting horror classic. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this film - the black-and-white cinematography and organ music was truly chilling. In addition, the premise is fantastically creepy and very original for the time. Overall, despite its shortcomings, Carnival of Souls is a chilling and gothic work of art.

3/4--Creepy and forbidding! "Carnival of Souls" is like a very long twilight zone episode. Do not watch this film alone on the dark. Unfortunately this film is mildly forgotten.

This movie has the right atmosphere but there is something missing. The plot is not much of interest otherwise it is a creepy movie

Carnival of Souls
Directed by: Herk Harvey



Two initial observations: 1. Julie Delpy is a pretty good director. Has potential at least. 2. Adam Goldberg needs to take over the Woody Allen roll in future Woody Allen movies that would have the classic Woody Allen character, not Jason Biggs or anybody else like that.

Anyhow...I actually need to see this movie again to know for sure. I only kinda saw it this time. You see, I'm in Poland, and it was advertised as being "in English with Polish subtitles". Problem is, 1/3rd of the movie is in French, and I can't speak French and speak very little Polish. And the French was subtitled in Polish, not English.

That said, that kind of just made it the "Adam Goldberg Edition", because the joke is that he can't understand most of what's going on either because unlike his fiance, he doesn't speak French either. So the Americans in the group were in the same position as he was.

That said, I know what happened and all the relevant suff. My Polish friends translated for me all the big scenes, if not when they were happening, afterwards.

So, this movie is basically about an American who's engaged to a French woman who goes to Paris to visit her family and friends. It ends up him meeting virtually all of her ex-lovers while he doesn't even know that half of them are making fun of him and he doesn't get it.

Adam Goldberg does a great insecure, muttering Jewish (actually, not technically Jewish, only his Father was Jewish, which leads to a series of jokes) New Yorker who's constantly worried that he's about to lose his fiancee (A.K.A. a Woody Allen stand in). Julie Delpy is her usual charming self, essentially playing a less sensitive, more nurotic version of her Before Sunrise/Sunset character.

It's hardly a great movie, but I laughed through most of it, and it had enough insight to make it interesting. Worth a watch.


7.5

Truly creepy and weird Twilight Zone-ish movie.

I can not say much about this film that hasn't been said already. However....this is a must see classic. You can not be into old time films, classics, or B-movies without seeing this film!