The Breakdown: After being the only survivor of a terrible car crash, a young woman begins to see a strange man, everywhere she goes.
Watch If: You like psychological movies.
Not If: Your interest in this film is solely because the word 'carnival' is in the title.
SECONDARY FACTS
Overall Rating: 3.6
Length: 1:18
Country: USA
Language: English
Gore Factor: 0
REVIEW
THE QUICK AND DIRTY
Carnival of Souls is an interesting film that, while it may not hold up to the action-packed standards of today, is both entertaining and thought provoking, if a little slow.
PREMISE: 4
I am a sucker for a well down "decent into madness" style flick, and this one's pretty well done. A woman is traumatized by a near fatal accident and starts seeing a strange man everywhere she goes. There really isn't that much to complain about, and even left if I don't want to spoil it. The ending is even entertaining.
ACTING: 4
Any time an actor is responsible for portraying a character that's going through intense changes or manic alterations in personality, good acting becomes a requirement. Candace Hilligoss did an amazing job with this one, offering a realistic, recognizable concoction of emotions that excels at showcasing the main character's fluctuating emotional state.
AUDIO AND VISUALS: 4
This is an older film, and that lends itself to a few... questionable effects, but by and large it manages to steer clear of any tone breaking effects. The quality of the film is great, and the lighting throughout is phenomenal.
There's also this neat thing they do where parts of the sound are muted out, and the eeriness of that is pretty tangible. All in all, for an older horror film, it's definitely better than it could have been.
ATMOSPHERE: 3
Carnival of Souls banks pretty intensely on suspense and the main character's growing paranoia, and this results in a lot of build up. Most of this set up does come back around and matters later, but there were definitely a few points where I caught my mind wandering, and one occasion where I zoned out so hard that I was listening to the film rather than really watching. It's not that the movie is boring, just that the slow build really doesn't lend itself well to a modern, instant gratification kind of audience, and if you have trouble paying attention to things, make sure you have something else to do while you're watching this.
DELIVERY: 3
Its neat little film that deserves a place in the hearts of anyone with a weakness for old-school horror. While it's not action packed or captivating, it is interesting, and is honsetly pretty similar in town to certain parts of Rosemary's Baby. It also manages not to hyper-explain things, which is a pitfall that all too many psychological thriller style films find themselves victim to.
The only real downfall is that it gets quite slow in the middle, and it can be difficult to maintain focus. But then again, I'm not overly good at focusing anyhow, so perhaps I'm biased. This is definitely a good flick to add to the next Old Horror Party you throw, or even just to put on in the background when you've some chores to get done.
Starring
Written By: John Clifford
Director: Herk Harvey
Producer: Herk Harvey
Affiliate Companies: Harcourt Productions
Music: Gene Moore
Cinematography: Maurice Prather
Make Up: George Corn