Movie Review: Carnival of Souls (1962)

Carnival of Souls (1962) co-written and directed by Herk Harvey

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is the sole survivor of a teenage drag race that opens the film. Her girlfriend is driving against a car full of boys. Crossing a bridge, the girls' car falls into the river below. The car vanishes under the muddy, flowing water. The locals spend three hours dredging the river, hoping to find the car. Mary staggers out onto a beach and is taken back home. She's accepted a job as a church organist in Utah and wants to leave right away, seemingly to get away from the awkward situation. On the way, she has strange visions of a man who looks ghoulish (played by director Herk Harvey). 

At the end of the drive, she passes an old pavilion and resort that looks rundown. Driving into town, she finds out it was a luxury resort but the lake receded, forcing its closure. Then it was a carnival for a while but has been abandoned for many years. She settles in at a boarding house with only one other renter, a young man with aggressive romantic intentions toward her. Her job at the church is okay and the pastor is sympathetic. But she keeps having weird visions and surreal experiences while she has difficulty connecting with anyone in the new town.

The movie clearly has a very low budget, with some of the re-recorded dialogue not matching up with people's lips. As the movie gets going and the weird stuff starts happening, the occasional mismatches look more intentional, making the viewer wonder about the earlier scenes. The movie relies on the slow-burn nightmare that Mary lives through to keep suspense. Hilligoss performs well enough to keep her character sympathetic while she is clearly spooked out or lapsing into trances. Many of the performances are odd and seem amateurish, but they contribute to the atmosphere of the film. The score is entirely organ music, which enhances the eerie tone but I thought there was a bit too much of it. The odd camera work and stark black and white cinematography are also a bit unnerving. I was a little disappointed with the ending since it seemed like that was where the movie was going from the beginning. I guess it was more about the journey than the destination.

Mildly recommended--you need to have some love for low-budget horror to enjoy this, which I do.