Carnival of Souls
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Movie Reviews of Carnival of Souls
Movie Review: A whodunnit with (without?) a corpse
Summary: 4 Stars
I first saw "Carnival of Souls" on the late-night show of I forgot which Australian channel. Black and white, as the original. We didn't have colour TV back then (it must have been 1969).
Wow! Eerie, haunting, and the sound track disturbing, but spot on, jarring, but rightly so, almost as jarring as Kurt Weil's "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny", or Shostakovich's "Charge of the Teutonic Knights" in Eisenstein's "Alexandr Nevski". Did I write "almost as jarring"? Quite as jarring.
What is it about? A woman who drives off a bridge, into the river below, and is rescued.
Now, spoiler ahead....
Scroll down
and down...
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Do you really want to know?
It is still time...
All right, here it is...
She has not been rescued, she has died, but she does not know it. The whole film is about how she slowly fades away from the world of the living, until she ends up in the carnival of souls (a carousel) where she is torn apart by the dead.
No horror, no special effects, only subdued terror.
I was so happy when I found this DVD in some shop, almost 30 years later, going for a song ($10 or so). If you do happen across it, do not hesitate one moment.
Movie Review: More than a Cult Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie! I saw this film a while ago (the Criterion Collection edition) and was amazed by the interesting storyline. And the film is just over an hour so it's a fast paced story.
Herk Harvey and John Clifford came up with an interesting concept: Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) gets into what should have been a fatal car accident during a drag race. She is uneasy in town, but she is leaving anyways to take a job as a church organist (although to her its just a job and the church is a place of business). On her way there, she is stalked by a ghostly/ghastly man (scarily played by Herk himself). She becomes even more paranoid when it appears as though people treat her like she doesn't exist. The story comes to a thrilling conclusion with visually stunning scenes at the old carnival.
I cannot explain why I like this film, I just do. I think the colorization is actually well done. I have yet to listen to the humorous commentary so I cannot rate that. Although, if you have the extra money I would go for the Criterion Collection: the film is cleaned up so the great cinematography at the end is crisp, as well as having the director's cut.
But this copy more than satisfies my cult obsession with a low budget masterpiece. Highly recommend!!
Movie Review: Eerie horror movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This dvd has several good features. You can choose to watch the film in black and white or colorized, with Mike Nelson's(MST3K)commentary or without. Mike's commentary is pretty much the same kind of commentary as was typical for the MST3K movies - and it runs throughout the film. Some extra info is included about the film and also the original movie trailers. The colorization is not bad, although you can tell it's been colorized because of the flatness of the colors. The black and white is scarier, I think, because in color the carnival souls look about as frightening as Brain Guy from MST3K.
This movie was made in the early '60's and it is remarkably similar in plotline to a Twilght Zone episode entitled "The Hitch-hiker." After being in a car wreck, a young woman drives cross-country to take a job as a church organist in Utah. She passes an eerie Mormon amusement park which has been closed down and is strangely drawn to it. Throughout the film she notices something is wrong!~ But what can it be? I won't give away what happens for those who haven't seen it yet.
Mike's best line: "It's a bad sign when your creepy new landlady tells you to take all the baths you want."
Movie Review: A story so unusual it will burn itself into your mind
Summary: 4 Stars
The tagline reads Is there death after life? The movie is a weird tale of the unnatural and it will haunt you.
Mary is out enjoying a ride with two friends. The women accept a challenge to a drag and are forced off of a bridge. It appears that all are drowned, until quite some time later Mary amazingly emerges from the river. Three days later Mary accepts a job in a new town as a church organist. On her way there she begins to be stalked by a mysterious phantom figure that seems to reside in an old abandoned carnival. It is here that Mary must confront the personal demons of her spiritual indifference.
This movie will take you on a surreal supernatural journey into the afterlife. One can't help but wonder if this film was a major influence for 'Final Destination'. This film is a great classic and worthy viewing for fans of the genre. FYI Sidney Berger who played John Linden would go on to star in 1998's Wes Craven Presents 'Carnival of Souls' as a Cop. This was not a remake and shared only the same title.
Movie Review: Not good but I was entertained
Summary: 4 Stars
I can think of only three reasons why you would be reading this review:
1. You want to know if the movie is good.
2. You want to know if the Mike Nelson commentary is good.
3. You are extremely bored.
For group 1: the movie is not good by todays standards but it is acceptable compared to other movies from the same period.
The acting it mostly bad and there isn't a plot; however, some of the shots of the carnival are quite interesting visually. While watching this I did keep wondering what was going to happen, which is good. Unfortunately, nothing does happen.
I'm feeling generous so the movie by itself gets 3 stars.
For group 2: Mike is pretty funny throughout the movie but if you are a Mystery Science Theatre fan you will notice the absence of Tom and Crow. The movie is definately more enjoyable with Mike's comments so the DVD as a whole gets one bonus star taking it up to 4.
For group 3: If you get this disk you'll be less bored for a while.