Carnival of Souls (1962)

Best Horror Movie, Year by Year (74 movies items)

"1962 "

“Carnival of Souls may not be a personal favourite or a masterpiece, but it is an incredibly effective film and was an inspiration for many film-makers.

While Carnival of Souls generally doesn't look too bad, especially for the budget it had, there is an occasional crude and grainy look. The story is in places a little too thin and simple, with an abrupt ending with not much signs of a pay-off, and, with the exception of creepy Herk Harvey and especially touchingly vulnerable Candace Hilligoss (who allows one to completely identify with her even with just a telling glance), the acting is not that great with some of the minor players looking as if they weren't sure what to do with themselves.

The setting is beautifully realised however, being both dream-like and appropria” read more

Feature Films shorter than 90 min (212 movies items)

" 78 min"

Movies Watched in 2021 (220 movies items)

"09/04/21 8/10 "

Elokuvat 2020 (530 movies items)

"Nainen hukkuu ja lähtee toiseen kaupunkiin soittelemaan kirkkourkuja. Suuren taivaan alle jämähtänyt keskilännen pikkukaupunki on sopiva miljöö kiirastuleksi. Tilanne ei äidy silti kovinkaan ahdistavaksi päähenkilön kummitusmaisen aneemisen olemuksen, tylsänä moljottavien peuransilmien tähden. Tosin välillä nainen kirkuu ja juoksee yllättävän kovaa korkkareilla. Tyylikkäästi tunnelmoivien kauhujaksojen mykkämontaasimaisuus on elokuvan parasta antia. Myös aavemainen urkumu"

“Herk Harvey’s ‘Carnival of Souls’ is not an unequivocal, sanguinary horror as is the contemporary norm, it does not feature a tangible, monstrous entity or knife-wielding maniac and its existential core principles are indirectly conveyed, manifested in the form of an inexplicable evil. There is an insidiously creeping corniness and awkwardness at play akin to 1950s drive-in movies preceding the appearance of the ubiquitous soul, amplifying the notion of the film being a subconscious projection. Dreams in general are improbable or germane, they are decidedly perplexing and elaborate, perhaps even shabby and amiss, however, this surreal suffusion is a paradox; Harvey used newsreel cameras to meet budgetary restraints, and in doing so, inadvertently intensified the film’s spectral qua” read more