Carnival of Souls: Amazon.ca: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison, Stan Levitt, Tom McGinnis, Forbes Caldwell, Dan Palmquist, Bill de Jarnette, Steve Boozer, Pamela Ballard, Larry Sneegas, Maurice Prather, Herk Harvey, Herbert L. Strock, John Clifford: DVD

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Herk Harvey's spooky little cult wonder, Carnival of Souls (1962), was, according to the director, initially inspired by the spooky sight of the abandoned Salt Palace. The lonely, crumbling edifice standing on the beach of the Great Salt Lake became the setting for the film's memorably creepy climax. "We hoped for the look of a Bergman film and the feel of Cocteau," remarks Harvey on the commentary track of Criterion's deluxe DVD, but this low-budget labor of love more resembles the lyricism of Curtis Harrington's eerie fantasy, Night Tide. In addition to the commentary track--edited together from interviews with Harvey and writer John Clifford and which leaves a few long gaps--Criterion's gorgeous double-disc set is packed with supplements. Two respectful 1989 documentaries produced by a Kansas TV station celebrate the film's rerelease with interviews, a cast and crew reunion, and a "then and now" tour of locations. Clips and short films from Harvey's industrial film company, Centron, are curious artifacts of a bygone era. The generous collection of outtakes (accompanied by the film's organ score) gets a bit tedious, but reveals some interesting experiments with special effects and the then-novel zoom lens. Criterion offers two different cuts of the film--the 85-minute director's cut and the shorter theatrical version trimmed of 7 minutes by the producers. Both prints are clean, clear, and luminescent. Carnival of Souls probably never looked this good in the theaters. --Sean Axmaker

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An ultra-cheap B-horror movie, filmed in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1962, with a really creepy Twilight Zone-style premise and some great shoestring atmosphere. Wandering into a small town after an auto accident, to begin her new job as a church organist, young Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) begins to pick up strange vibes: none of the normal people in town seem to be able to see her, and she keeps being accosted by freakish pasty-faced types who seem to be dead on their feet. The nightmarish finale benefits from its one-of-a-kind "found" setting, an empty amusement park rising like a ghostly castle from the prairie landscape. This is much less aggressive and violent film than George Romero's original Night of the Living Dead, but for sheer skin- crawling spookiness, it's in the same class. --David Chute --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

88 Reviews

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

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4.3 out of 5 stars (88 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not since The Shining has a film created such a primal sense of fear & foreboding, Mar 10 2007

By

Rob Larmer (Harvey,NB,canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carnival of Souls (DVD)

When I saw a copy of Carnival of Souls together with Night of the Living Dead for a measly buck, I figured I would go ahead and take advantage. After all, I could always use a backup copy of Night of the Living Dead, and this Carnival of Souls looked good for laughs. So I bought the set, having a bit of change on me, and that night I readied myself for some fun.

When I put Carnival of Souls into the player, I was at first a bit unimpressed. I mean, nothing really happened that related to any sort of plot. Then, about 25 minutes into the film I started feeling very uneasy, a feeling I was unfamiliar with in film with the exception of Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'. the story is simple, to put it short a woman survives a car accident, and delves into a dissolute surrealistic nightmare.

The surreal atmosphere, the sudden realizations of fear, and the general feel of the film gave a VERY foreboding atmosphere, which haunted me the entire following week. The film is just so foreboding, I could not help but remain uneasy, even the second time around.

The film also was also fairly technically impressive, at least more so then I thought. This film had come six years before George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, but the use of camera is very similar, and it is very evident that Romero has been influenced by this film's direction. It is a shame that Herk Harvey did not expand on his talent, this is his only feature, yet there is nothing amateur about it. It is very advanced considering what it is, and I was overtly impressed with it.

I suppose Carnival of Souls could, and maybe should warrant an 8/10, I gave it 7/10, but it is truly an original film, and one that I feel holds up very well in the present day. I think it is a must see for fans of surrealism, horror, or just experiences.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Horror Film of Pure Genius, Dec 1 2011

By

A. Wheeler (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Carnival of Souls (DVD)

Carnival of Souls is a perfect example of how a film can be brilliant and entertaining without a big budget. Originally made for just $33,000 in 1962, you would never guess viewing this film that it was a low budget independent film. The creative energy of those that made this film is rather startling. The director, the screenwriter, musical score writer, and the actors all did a fantastic job in creating a film akin to catching lightning in a bottle. There is something uniquely special about this film that is difficult to describe.

However, I would suggest that there are four primary reasons:

1. The musical score of this film is absolutely fabulous, and adds a huge factor to the eeriness of the film. Written by Gene Moore, the sound score is wonderful. A professional presentation it there ever was one, it could hold up with any big budget film sound score. The use of the organ music conveying the different moods of the film is exceptional.

2. The screenplay by John Clifford is simply above average for a horror film. Centred around the main character of Mary, the film brings in the viewer to experience with Mary the foreboding terror that awaits her.

3. The actress who plays Mary, Candace Hilligoss, is a professionally trained actress with talent and ability. The film needed an actress with ability to carry this film, otherwise it would have failed. A beautiful woman, Hilligoss does a great job of conveying the disorientation and confusion of her character. It is one of those curiosities in film history that she never did any other movies of note after this film.

4. Finally, the director and visionary of this remarkable film, Herk Harvey. A director of documentaries prior to doing this film, this was the first and last feature that he ever directed. His ability to make this film work, particularly in regard to the atmosphere and mood of this film, is great artistic inspiration. However, the most impressive thing about his contribution to this film was his ability, irrespective of the low budget he was working with, to recruit the talents of Moore, Clifford, and Hilligoss to work on this film.

A truly great film of the horror genre.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carnival of Souls: Criterion Collection, Nov 8 2003

By

Clob Lane (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carnival of Souls (DVD)

I am reviewing this item not for the feature (as I already reviewed this excellent film a while back), I am reviewing the Criterion Special Edition DVD, which is a two-disc set packed and
loaded with tones of special features. The first disc contains the original theatrical version which director Herk Harvey edited some sequences and scenes out. The first disc also contains a really neat look back on the film in a 1989 documentary "The Movie That Wouldn't Die". There is also a very neat extra of 45 minutes of rare outtakes seen for the first time, and accompanied by the eerie organ music of Gene Moore. Some rare songs not heard in the original movie are here for your scary enjoyment. There is also a theatrical trailer feature.
A very interesting look back on the locations for Carnival of Souls is included, and it talks about the history of the Saltair Resort, which has a very magnificent history and was used for the carnival location, this is an illustrated history.

On the second disc, there is a director's cut of the film, including some scenes not even shown on the VHS "director's cut" editions. One scene that is most notably absent from the original
is the scene where the priest talks to the church carpenter about how strange Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is. This disc also contains a selected audio commentary by screenwriter John Clifford and the late Herk Harvey. Some excerpts of films made by the Centron Corporation. As well as an essay on the history of Centron. Some printed interviews with film illustrations are featured here as well.

This DVD-set is the best DVD-set I've ever seen. The image quality of the black and white transfer is unbelievably clear, and is the best image transfer I've ever seen. The special features are very cool, and believe it or not, the outtakes featured here are remastered in picture quality as well, along with the music score.

I was blown away with this DVD, and I'm sure you will be too. It is one of the best treatments to a cult classic every put on screen. I am so pleased with this DVD-set I could just burst. I thank the Criterion people for making this a dream come true :)

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Silence is golden, but my eyes still see
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Published 20 months ago by bernie

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Okay, well, if you've read the title you basically know what I'm going to start out with.

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