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CARNIVAL OF SOULS **** out of *****
Directed by Herk Harvey Written by John Clifford Cast Candace Hilligoss....Mary Henry Frances Feist....Mrs. Thomas, Landlady Sidney Berger....John Linden Art Ellison....Minister Stan Levitt....Dr. Samuels Tom McGinnis....Organ Factory Boss Forbes Caldwell....Organ Factory Worker Dan Palmquist....Gas Station Attendant Bill de Jarnette....Mechanic Steve Boozer....Chip, Man at Juke Box Pamela Ballard....Dress Sales Lady Larry Sneegas....Drag Racer Cari Conboy....Lake Zombie Karen Pyles....Dress Store Customer T.C. Adams....Dancing Zombie
 | | Worst pool party ever. | Imagine putting one of those cheesy horror films from the '50s or '60s in your DVD player, say Attack of the Giant Leeches or The Killer Shrews, and finding that it wasn’t a cheesefest at all. That was what happened to me when I watched Carnival of Souls, an atmospheric, and (unusual for the genre) well acted tale of a young woman on the boundary between life and death.
The film is about Mary Henry and the strange events that happen to her after she’s in a car accident. Three of her friends died in a drag racing accident when their car plunged off a bridge into a river. But long after the accident she miraculously makes her way out of the river plastered with mud.
 | Can't a drunk girl piss in a river without
being filmed by some perv? | The accident seems to make her withdraw into herself and become cynical. She deals with people in a clinical and soulless manner. Despite having lost three of her friends she goes ahead with her plan to move to Utah the next day to take up a job as a church organist. It’s a job she approaches much like she approaches people; as a mere mechanical act, not something with any emotional meaning.
As she drives to Utah she has strange visions. She starts seeing a white-faced man who stalks her throughout the film, and passes a large abandoned carnival on the salt flats at the edge of town. The white-faced man seems to have some connection to the abandoned carnival, and the carnival has a strange pull on Mary.
 | "Why do people keep asking me if
I've seen The Sixth Sense?" | In Utah, Mary moves into a small boarding house. But her visions start getting worse. She sees the white-faced man again, though no one else can see him. She also has other strange experiences. And without turning into campiness we're left with several compelling question. What happened to her after the accident? Who is the white-faced man? And what is in the carnival?
Carnival of Souls is haunting, beautifully shot, and impressively written. The black and white photography heightens the sense of other worldliness that gives the film such a strong atmosphere. And even though the film’s conclusion has been borrowed so many times that it may no longer be surprising, it’s still an effective conclusion. Despite its themes being used by numerous subsequent films, Carnival of Souls still seems original. Original and good which wasn’t a common combination in ‘60s horror films.
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