Carnival of Souls

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Justin T 1d This was certainly enjoyable but really let down by the decade it was made. The apparitions that are seen look really menacing and are effectively creepy. I would love to have seen this when it originally came out as I would have been able to appreciate it for what it was. There are scarier and better horror movies around now and have been plenty since the eighties (and even some made in the seventies). It was a good ghost story but I prefer more modern takes like The Grudge (2002) or even Presence (2024). It was creepy but severely dated. This would have been awesome in the sixties. See more Robert L. @Tomato524 Feb 5 Saw it many years ago and it gave me some silly nightmares. Still a ‘cool’ film to me…. See more Isaiah Y @zayman2 Oct 31 Very well made for a low-budget independent horror film See more Mark B @Mbindon Oct 26 A bit of the 1950s low budget cinema that really works. It is well acted by the lead actress. Plenty of creeps and artsy direction that was the style of the time. See more Xian C. @Filmclass Oct 26 Spoiler - she’s dead but doesn’t know it. I’m sure it was ground breaking when it came out but it is kind of tiresome today. Too much mordant organ music, too much running and screaming for no apparent reason. At only 80 minutes it still drags. The heroine is beautiful but has Benzedrine eyes - her pupils are as small as the pills that caused them in those days (amphetamines). I liked it but not that much. See more DanTheMan 2 @DanTheMan2150AD Oct 7 Almost akin to that of a lost episode of The Twilight Zone, what Carnival of Souls lacks in budget, it more than makes up for in inventiveness. A film that fully embraces its shortcomings, where the low budget, gritty footage, and rough, amateur performances combine to create not only an unsettling atmosphere of dread but also a study of existential angst in the face of unimaginable horror. The workmanlike approach only serves to highlight its spectral qualities. An effective piece that nudges the feelings of loneliness we often face with a moody, nightmare-tinged quality. More than just a paranormal haunting, conformity itself drives the lead character, Mary, to madness, exploring the dark side of the '50s American ideal of a perfect society. The film's subdued black and white photography and Herk Harvey's impressive direction contribute considerably to its poetic, deathly palette of physical and emotional coldness. The occasional off-frame camera positioning makes the most mundane places and people seem like ghastly hallucinations, and shows a flair for elegantly employing existing locations and lighting to maximise disorientation value. The film's biggest strength lies not in the big reveal, which is almost painfully evident from the outset, but in the unsettling mood it creates and the striking images Harvey puts on the screen. Kicking the fight-or-flight response into overdrive, what might appear to be a relic of amateur expressionism, Carnival of Souls stands as a small marvel of creativity in the face of limited resources, with an uncanny knack for making your spine itch, evoking menace and a nameless dread, without ever resorting to explicit violence. Not a complete stunner but certainly a minor classic. See more Read all reviews

Carnival of Souls

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