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Carnival of Souls
DVD/APPROX. 84 MINS/1962/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 84 MINS/1962/USA UNRATED
7
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Before you watch Carnival of Souls try to get into the mindset of a punter entering a drive-in theatre in 1962, expecting another monster movie or
maybe some cheap sci-fi thrills. Carnival of Souls is a dated film with a lot of its innovations now seeming tired through no fault of the film itself,
rather because of just how many times it's been ripped off in the 40 years since its debut.
A contemporary cinema goer would have seen things rather differently in ‘62. Dispensing with the schlocky ghouls and creaky dark house cliches of
other horror, he or she would have been treated to a tense and creepy supernatural thriller where every moment is dragging you further away
from reality into a ghostly world between the temporal and the corporeal.
Director Herk Harvey (who shows up in the film as a ghoul) found a disused pavilion near Salt Lake City and decided it would make a great eerie
location for a horror film. He worked as an industrial filmmaker and, managing to scrape together meager funding, set about making an American
Gothic masterpiece that would prove to be his only feature film (though you can check out many of his commissioned industrial movies on
Criterion's excellent DVD set)
Scriptwriter John Clifford worked up a script based around the final location, creating a cold, dead atmosphere where the heroine of the piece can
gain neither comfort nor a straight answer as to why her world has flipped inside out. Everything is wrong and yet outwardly all is normal...
The story starts with our leading lady, Mary Henry (Candice Hilligloss) taking a dive off a bridge into a river while drag racing with friends. Hours
later, she crawls out of the churning waters, confused and disorientated, onto a mud bank. Having recovered, she decides to take a job as a
church organist in Salt Lake City despite having no apparent religious convictions..."it's just a job". Life seems to be drained from her and the
haunting organ score that runs throughout the film seems to reflect her malaise.
On route to her new life, a bizarre ghostly man haunts her. He compels her to the pavilion, where the Carnival of Souls is about to begin...
This last sequence is really why the movie has outlasted other films of a similar vintage. Another former industrial filmmaker was profoundly
influenced by the picture. Watch Carnival of Souls then stick Night of the Living Dead on to see how Romero's' zombies compare to Harvey's
ghouls!
UK readers can pick this classic film up in Poundland on a bargain disc with two other movies. There's also a shoddy Elstree Hill budget disc floating
around. The one to go for, though, is Criterion's superb 2 disc set. Featuring a theatrical and director’s cut of the film as well as documentaries,
location visits, an essay on the history of the lakeside resort where the movie was filmed and 45 minutes of outtakes over which the whole weird
organ score is played.
On the second disc there are the aforementioned industrial films which make for ironic camp laughs as well as a history of Centron, the commercial
filmmaking company that Herk Harvey worked for and lots of text interviews with the cast and crew. A nice, well presented booklet and good
packaging round of another must-have disc from Criterion.
Anyone with an interest in the evolution of U.S. horror movies should see this film. If the expensive delights of the Criterion edition seem a little
costly, public domain copies can be picked up in bargain bins the world over. Failing that, just watch it on Youtube... Don't bother if you find ropey
acting and a sometime slow pace off putting. Otherwise, buy on sight!
As an afterthought, avoid at all costs Wes Craven's heinous ‘90s "re-imagining," a shoddy, atmosphere-free load of dreck!
maybe some cheap sci-fi thrills. Carnival of Souls is a dated film with a lot of its innovations now seeming tired through no fault of the film itself,
rather because of just how many times it's been ripped off in the 40 years since its debut.
A contemporary cinema goer would have seen things rather differently in ‘62. Dispensing with the schlocky ghouls and creaky dark house cliches of
other horror, he or she would have been treated to a tense and creepy supernatural thriller where every moment is dragging you further away
from reality into a ghostly world between the temporal and the corporeal.
Director Herk Harvey (who shows up in the film as a ghoul) found a disused pavilion near Salt Lake City and decided it would make a great eerie
location for a horror film. He worked as an industrial filmmaker and, managing to scrape together meager funding, set about making an American
Gothic masterpiece that would prove to be his only feature film (though you can check out many of his commissioned industrial movies on
Criterion's excellent DVD set)
Scriptwriter John Clifford worked up a script based around the final location, creating a cold, dead atmosphere where the heroine of the piece can
gain neither comfort nor a straight answer as to why her world has flipped inside out. Everything is wrong and yet outwardly all is normal...
The story starts with our leading lady, Mary Henry (Candice Hilligloss) taking a dive off a bridge into a river while drag racing with friends. Hours
later, she crawls out of the churning waters, confused and disorientated, onto a mud bank. Having recovered, she decides to take a job as a
church organist in Salt Lake City despite having no apparent religious convictions..."it's just a job". Life seems to be drained from her and the
haunting organ score that runs throughout the film seems to reflect her malaise.
On route to her new life, a bizarre ghostly man haunts her. He compels her to the pavilion, where the Carnival of Souls is about to begin...
This last sequence is really why the movie has outlasted other films of a similar vintage. Another former industrial filmmaker was profoundly
influenced by the picture. Watch Carnival of Souls then stick Night of the Living Dead on to see how Romero's' zombies compare to Harvey's
ghouls!
UK readers can pick this classic film up in Poundland on a bargain disc with two other movies. There's also a shoddy Elstree Hill budget disc floating
around. The one to go for, though, is Criterion's superb 2 disc set. Featuring a theatrical and director’s cut of the film as well as documentaries,
location visits, an essay on the history of the lakeside resort where the movie was filmed and 45 minutes of outtakes over which the whole weird
organ score is played.
On the second disc there are the aforementioned industrial films which make for ironic camp laughs as well as a history of Centron, the commercial
filmmaking company that Herk Harvey worked for and lots of text interviews with the cast and crew. A nice, well presented booklet and good
packaging round of another must-have disc from Criterion.
Anyone with an interest in the evolution of U.S. horror movies should see this film. If the expensive delights of the Criterion edition seem a little
costly, public domain copies can be picked up in bargain bins the world over. Failing that, just watch it on Youtube... Don't bother if you find ropey
acting and a sometime slow pace off putting. Otherwise, buy on sight!
As an afterthought, avoid at all costs Wes Craven's heinous ‘90s "re-imagining," a shoddy, atmosphere-free load of dreck!
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