Art Ellison, Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist

Mary Henry is enjoying the day by riding around in a car with two friends. When challenged to a drag, the women accept, but are forced off a bridge. It appears that all are drowned, until Mary, quite ...( read more  read more... )some time later, amazingly emerges from the river. After recovering, Mary accepts a job in a new town as a church organist, only to be dogged by a mysterious phantom figure that seems to reside in an old run-down pavilion. It is here that Mary must confront the personal demons of her spiritual insouciance.

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71% liked it

7,443 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

30 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Herk Harvey

Release Date: September 26, 1962

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DVD Release Date: May 16, 2000

 

Stats: 557 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (557)


  • November 14, 2009
    This is one of those rare films where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. The budget is low, the acting is suspect, the editing is choppy, and the makeup is downright cheesy - and yet Carnival of Souls is wonderfully creepy. A horror classic.
  • April 26, 2009
    I love this film! It's one of my all time favourite movies and I'd rate it as a deservedly acclaimed cult classic and the eeriest, most strangely compelling, most unforgettable and greatest horror movie of all time.

    The camera work is beautiful. The organ music, creepy carnival ...( read more)and director Herk Harvey as the figure of Death are all unforgettably eerie. The first time I saw this film (I had already read about it's making in an issue of Fangoria) was on BBC2's Moviedrome introduced by Alex Cox (himself the director of Repo Man, the lacklustre and innacurate Sid & Nancy and the amazing Well Did You Evah music video. On watching the film I was captivated and fascinated and ultimately at the film's conclusion had a strange feeling of deja vu, as if I'd seen it before in a dream or something, long ago.

    There are a number of surreal and creepy scenes in the film. The scene where Mary (Candace Hilligoss) goes to the abandoned carnival during the day has a surreal, dreamlike and sensual beauty. Whereas the later scenes

    of Mary playing the church organ and seeing in her mind, the dead rising from the sea and the film's carnival/beach conclusion are at once dreamlike and yet somehow documentarylike at the same time. It's unforgettable imagery like this that makes this film such an unforgettable experience. On the other hand, the drunk lodger's attempts to seduce Mary are amusing and some of her biting dialogue and sarcasm helps keep the non horror moments entertaining. The film is also notable for having a clear influence on

    films and filmmakers like George A Romero's classic "Night Of The Living Dead" (another 60s b/w horror classic) and David Lynch (compare Herk Harvey's ghoul with Killer Bob's surreal and frightening appearances at unexpected times in Twin Peaks). Be warned however, once you experience the dreamlike qualities of this eerie masterpiece, I can't

    guarantee you'll ever awake from it.
  • April 15, 2009
    I was disappointed by this film when I saw it a few years ago, but I re-watched it before seeing the 1998 remake. It really is a terrific movie with a fresh, interesting concept that was copied later by many. A certain amount of maturity is required to appreciate its subtlety, ...( read more)but it is a wonderfully creepy film that I would absolutely recommend to fans of vintage horror.
  • March 29, 2009
    A church organist survives a drowning accident and finds herself seeing visions of a pale, ghostly man while she's drawn towards a mysterious abandoned amusement park on the outskirts of town. Made for next to nothing by a first-time feature director, written by a first-time fea...( read more)ture screenwriter, and featuring a first-time actress (the mesmerizing Candace Hilligoss), the haunting CARNIVAL OF SOULS is a masterpiece of bargain-basement atmosphere and a small miracle on film.
  • June 18, 2008
    One of my favorite older horror films. Definitely on the top ten of older classic horror movies. This is one spooky ride. Drenched in creepy atmosphere beyond belief and one of the spookiest horror scores I have ever heard. This movie reminds me of just one long Twilight Zone epi...( read more)sode, which is great, because The Twilight Zone is probably the best horror series ever to be created. Carnival of Souls is the perfect movie for a dark and stormy night, and it wouldn't feel better any other way. This movie was only made for night time viewing, period. Even better, a great movie to watch around Halloween time.

    Up there with "Horror Hotel", this is one of the most atmospheric horror films ever made. And spooky too. I highly recommend Carnival of Souls(that is of course if you appreciate older horror films). This movie is truly a classic!

    Plot -
    "Mary Henry is enjoying the day by riding around in a car with two friends. When challenged to a drag, the women accept, but are forced off of a bridge. It appears that all are drowned, until Mary, quite some time later, amazingly emerges from the river. After recovering, Mary accepts a job in a new town as a church organist, only to be dogged by a mysterious phantom figure that seems to reside in an old run-down pavilion. It is here that Mary must confront the personal demons of her spiritual insouciance."


    Other Reviews:

    "Creepy, creepy."
    - ColeSmithey.com

    "A genuinely creepy thriller, humble in scope and lacking some polish, but executed with ghoulish intuition."
    - Nick's Flick Picks

    "A cult classic that would have subtle yet meaningful influences on the horror genre for decades to come."
    - eFilmCritic

    "An influential little horror gem."
    - Lawrence Journal-World

    "A chilling ghost story with artistic pretensions."
    - TV Guide's Movie Guide

    "A haunting ghost story."
    - Ozus World Movie Reviews

    "Carnival of Souls works well enough as chill-up-the-spine cinema."
    - Washington Post

    "It depends on crisp black-and-white photography, atmosphere and surprisingly effective acting."
    - Roger Ebert

    "Carnival of Souls is unlike any other movie I've ever seen. I don't think it would make any serious film fan's "best ever" list, but it is unique and at times chilling enough to have carved a niche for itself in horror history."
    - Classic-Horror

    Photobucket
  • November 19, 2009
    Ok so it's basically a B movie, but it's more then that, it's very moody and atmospheric. I loved he crisp black and white cinematography (criterion), and the over all feel of the movie.
  • October 31, 2009
    This is, to put it simply, one of the worst movies I've seen. But I don't hate it at all. Usually when I really hate a film (That's rare) it's because I was bored, and usually I deem a film of that type one of the worst films ever. Carnival of Souls is different because it's real...( read more)ly hard to dislike. It's not what you would call boring, but the editing, acting, directing, the concept, the dialogue, the ending were so bad and dated and unoriginal that I feel as though I cannot under any circumstances recommend it.
  • September 20, 2009
    Good movie. This is pretty much what I imagine it's like to be a woman on any given day.
  • September 7, 2009
    Old ! Yes! Not boring unless you miss the depth of what the plot is. The young woman is this film leads you through a search that tests the metal of your beliefs. Let yourself travel with her, but beware of the final moments.
  • September 5, 2009
    Its pretty good, its kinda creepy

    Plot
    Mary Henry is enjoying the day by riding around in a car with two friends. When challenged to a drag, the women accept, but are forced off a bridge. It appears that all are drowned, until Mary
    ...( read more), quite some time later, amazingly emerges from the river. After recovering, Mary accepts a job in a new town as a church organist, only to be dogged by a mysterious phantom figure that seems to reside in an old run-down pavilion. It is here that Mary must confront the personal demons of her spiritual insouciance.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It depends on crisp black-and-white photography, atmosphere and surprisingly effective acting. full review

View more Carnival of Souls reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Carnival of Souls Trivia


  • The view of the zombies rising from out of the river in Land of the Dead is an homage to the classic scene where the dead rise out of the Great Salt Lake before the dance sequence in which movie?  Answer »
  • Which actress starred in the 1962 horror classic 'Carnival of Souls?'  Answer »
  • Each answer is a film based on a novel or story by Stephen King, compared to another film to which it may bear a VERY striking similarity. Which pairing is the most dissimilar?  Answer »

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