087 - Carnival Of Souls (1962)

DVD Box

Carnival Of Souls tells the story of a woman who is stalked by a demon after miraculously surviving a car crash.

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is a local church organist. After being passenger in a car crash during a drag race where her car is forced off a bridge she somehow escapes with her life despite having been underwater for hours.

She tries to resume a normal life but after moving to Utah to escape her previous life she is haunted by a mysterious demon apparition.

Theatrical Poster
Source: Wikipedia

Carnival Of Souls has been touted as a brilliant amateur film that is spectacular because of its low budget of just $33,000. Unfortunately though, just because a film has a low budget it doesn't mean it should get preferential treatment.

Even for an amateur film the sound dubbing is horrifically unsynchronised. While the sound effects don't matter too much, the actors are often off-screen when their words are said so that the sound syncing isn't seen. On the subject of sound the incessant high pitched organ noise is a constant irritant.

The film has an interesting storyline concept, but it is ruined by the script writers who insist on getting the characters to explain every single piece of their predicament in a soliloquy ("why can no-one see me?") - this in turn makes the story very predictable.

Only for the real movie fanatics.

• Empire Review
• Internet Movie Database
• Wikipedia
• Amazon

Full Feature (Public Domain)