Horror Classic or B-Movie?
Carnival of Souls is a Bit of Both

The 1962 film Carnival of Souls is pretty much what one would expect of a low-budget, black-and-white horror film from that era. It's a simple story, told with an emphasis on setting and character rather than special effects. It's often bad, with cheesy dialogue, wooden acting, and poor continuity. Yet, it's achieved something of a cult status, in part because it is so bad at times. Nevertheless, as I watched it, I couldn't help think it was a good, creepy movie.

Carnival of Souls
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) emerges from a river after her car crashes off a bridge in the eerie horror classic Carnival of Souls. (Herts-Lion International Corp., 1962)
Directed by: Herk Harvey
Written by: John Clifford
Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison, and Herk Harvey

Rated Not Rated
Running time: 84 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.

The film begins with two cars racing on an old bridge. The car filled with three girls is run off the road. The police dreg the river below but without success, assuming the girls are all dead. That's about the time that Mary (Candace Hilligoss) walks onto the river bank.

Mary leaves town to accept a job as a church organist in Utah. On the drive to her new home, however, she begins to see ghostly images haunting her. As she passes an old pavilion on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, she feels pulled and begins to obsess over it.

Mary's new life is not exactly idyllic. John (Sidney Berger), a man living in her boarding house, repeatedly harasses her. She seems torn between fending off his advances and accepting his repeated offers for a night of drinking and dancing. When she does finally give in, she seems detached from her surroundings and refuses to drink.

Mary has also started having breakdowns, moments when she seems to slipping out of reality. In the middle of a crowded store, people will ignore her even as she shouts at them. And then there's The Man, the ghostly tall man (director Herk Harvey in an uncredited role) who seems to be following Mary, leading her back to the pavilion.

The story drags at times, and Mary's motivation seems hard to justify as she wavers between fearing John and accepting him. But the film has a lot going for it. The creepy, all-organ soundtrack is memorable. The scene of the dancing dead in the pavilion is a classic. Most of all, the Twilight Zone-esque ending is a nice twist (although so overused by now that it seems trite).

Filmed partially in Lawrence, Kansas, Carnival of Souls is something of a local legend. In truth, it's one of the most widely recognized films to come out of Kansas, even though most people don't realized it was filmed here. The main action of the film takes place in Utah, where Salt Lake City's Saltair amusement park was used for the cornerstone of the story. The interiors were filmed at the Centron Studios in Lawrence, and many of the technical crew (including director Herk Harvey) were Centron employees.

For the local Kansas fan, Carnival of Souls is a badge of honor. It may not be a classic of modern horror, like Hitchcock's Psycho or Donner's The Omen. In fact, it's a B-movie at best. But it's a film that -- if only because of its local roots -- is a must see.