Carnival of Souls (1962)'s comments

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Timec

Most of the film was a bit bland, but I have to admit that the scenes at the Saltair pavilion were great and creepy, and a brilliant use of the location. It helps that the site of the original (now destroyed) pavilion is about half an hour from my house, and I drive by it (and its new, rather underwhelming music hall replacement) on a fairly frequent basis.

The final scene, though completely predictable, was also memorable.

12 years 7 months ago

sureup

The production quality of the first minute made me almost turn it off but the rest was pretty good. Some weird and poorly acted scenes but some were so good it made it quite enjoyable in the end.

11 years 6 months ago

Oneironaut

All right, getting down to it, Carnival of Souls is overrated. Sure it had a slight creep factor yadda yadda, but it felt like it was a chore to sit through.

Plus, what were they thinking when they chose to put that sleaze across the hall in the movie? So unnecessary.

12 years 3 months ago

Storaxe

http://www.archive.org/details/CarnivalofSouls

13 years 1 month ago

Emiam

6+/10 (7.1 / 10 on IMDb - 20,576 voters)
A real classic on 5 top lists! Quite common things that lead the story forward, hence "only" the sixth in grades, but the end is so nicely unpredictable, hence the plus. Good length, they could tell stories concisely in the ol' days. Atmospheric music. Some creepy moments.

3 years 6 months ago

Siskoid

Carnival of Souls, a study in eerie cinematography, and a spooky story that at once happens and doesn't, folding even its technical mistakes or off acting into its ambiguity. Cinephiles noting that it was the work of industrial film makers might decide to call it an accidental masterpiece, but being indie outsiders who have mastered their craft works to the film's advantage. The use of previously never-filmed locations in Utah, and a documentarian's eye when dealing with extras and bit parts gives the film a freshness. The story? A church organ player climbs out of a fatal car crash into a muddy river and then tries to escape from her life and that trauma, only to be drawn to a strange, deserted carnival, even as a strange figure haunts her. Is Death after her for escaping his clutches? Are we in some nether space between life and death? Is it all in her head? To all of these questions, yes. Beautiful to look at, with a perfectly appropriate organ score, and odd sound design, Carnival of Souls, once a "forgotten classic", looks influential as hell.

3 years 7 months ago