Carnival of Souls in '60s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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Carnival of Souls

Author	Comment
.		#81	[-]
Apr 13 11 6:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Carnival Of Souls is one of the eeriest and most impressive horror films I have ever seen, as well as one of my all time favourite movies. I love the eerie disjointed feel of the movie and memorable iconic scenes at the carnival. The first time I ever saw this movie around 1990 or so, it had a really interesting effect on me. There was a bizarre sense of deja vu as if it reminded me of a dream or some long forgotten memory. And in the scene where Candace Hilligoss is being chased along the beach, I got the chills. It was as if there was something "off" in some unearthly but very real way (like the feeling I got from the famous final scare scene in Ring). It was like I was watching documentary footage that had gone horribly wrong (the kind of feeling that the makers of "found footage" films like Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity would later tap into and manipulate), even though I knew of course that was just a feeling. The ghost figure's sometimes sudden appearances and otherworldliness reminded me quite a bit of Bob's sudden appearances in Twin Peaks and I couldn't help feeling that a film like this must have had some influence on David Lynch. I love the film's unique feel and can't rate it enough.
Servant of Legendre		#82	[-]
Apr 14 11 6:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Agreed. I watched it again recently for the first time in years and was amazed at just how creepy it was. That 'Dance of the Souls' sequence is just so weird.
DougGorius		#83	[-]
Aug 2 11 11:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts
Jonatwork		#84	[-]
Aug 7 11 7:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Watched this again last week and it's still creepy as heck. When the dude first appears in the window of her car I jumped! Then I backed up and watched him appear again! What a great location. “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” Joseph Priestley
MyDarkSide		#85	[-]
Sep 18 11 2:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	taraco wrote: Welcome, Madman. As you'll find, the measure here isn't just expertise but how much we care about these films, and your post is what these boards are all about. Name-dropping, I had the pleasure of briefly introducing Candace Hilligoss at a Monster-Mania Convention showing of the film last year, and to prepare I watched again the Criterion DVD of CARNIVAL OF SOULS. And indeed, this is no arthouse accident, nor some guilty pleasure, but a full-blooded, mature and sure-footed horror classic in every meaning of the term. It is a Twilight Zone taken to a new level and totally creepy and unforgettable. Anyone who hasn's seen CARNIVAL OF SOULS truly is mssing one of the genre's true highpoints. A terrific and terrifying little film. david A Good Post Deserves....uh....Re-Posting. I agree, David. Almost something new to see each time I re-watch COS. Case in point, because I've been reading some Shirley Jackson, and just watched this again tonight, it seemed as though all the characters were very Jackon-esque.
Monster Jungle Xray		#86	[-]
Sep 19 11 4:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	While the twist in COS may seem old hat by now, here it is portrayed with such a creepy atmosphere that I don't think I've ever seen another film quite like it. Very effective low budget film making, and Herk's The Man is certainly one of the most memorable apparitions in film history. A truly unique film. One of the things that I like about COS is that many of the dialogue scenes seem inspired by the educational films that Herk Harvey directed. Especially the exchange towards the beginning between the minister and the carpenter when Mary first leaves. Everytime I see that scene after the cut I cannot help but imagine the carpenter suffers an "industrial accident".
Godziwolf		#87	[-]
Sep 26 11 10:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Monster Jungle Xray wrote: While the twist in COS may seem old hat by now, here it is portrayed with such a creepy atmosphere that I don't think I've ever seen another film quite like it. Very effective low budget film making, and Herk's The Man is certainly one of the most memorable apparitions in film history. A truly unique film. One of the things that I like about COS is that many of the dialogue scenes seem inspired by the educational films that Herk Harvey directed. Especially the exchange towards the beginning between the minister and the carpenter when Mary first leaves. Everytime I see that scene after the cut I cannot help but imagine the carpenter suffers an "industrial accident". It's fun to compare this to The Blob, which had filmmakers with a similar background. Where those guys went for grounded realism (and it worked), these guys went for a very offputting near-reality, and made that work.
cosmicjim		#88	[-]
Dec 9 11 9:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Brilliant film. I try to describe it to others almost like a Twilight Zone episode, though it's much different, of course. In researching some old newspaper files recently, I found that it was first telecast no more than only a year or two after the 1962 release date. My impression of the storyline it that the principal character dies but had a seemingly-lengthy dream about everything that came next, before she died, but then she was seen by others, so maybe she was in a ghostlike state of being, between the dimensions, as it were? I like films that allow interpretation without being clouded by confusion, and this film works on every level. I still have a return letter from Harvey after writing him years later to thank him for the film.
skelton knaggs		#89	[-]
Jun 23 12 8:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow! "You can't smell any reefer, can you"?

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