Carnival of Souls Review

9/10

I honestly feel like when people make a movie, they think that it won't be anything special.  The cool thing is when even decades later, the film is still recognized by people as a masterpiece. One of the great examples of this is the 1962 thriller "Carnival of Souls." The film was never meant to be anything more than a B-movie, but even today, critics still hail it as a landmark in the genre.

The movie starts out with a terrible car crash.  Of all the people In the vehicle, only one comes out of the water in a reasonable time. This person is a girl named Mary, and she is shown to be deeply saddened and shocked by the events that had taken place. In the next few minutes, time skips forward a bit, and we see Mary trying to live her life normally.  She seems pretty good, and she goes for a drive. Things get freaky for her though, because she starts to see ghosts all over the place.  A battle now begins for Mary, and it is to beat the fear of these freaks surrounding her.

One of the things that I really love about this film is how subtle the horror is. There isn't attacks and gore, but there is true grit and terror.  The movie was made on such a small budget and I really appreciate this, because the film rocks!  The emotional toll that the ghosts are creating for Mary is extremely suspenseful, and makes such a feeling of isolation.  Actress Candace Hillgoss really helps this work even more, because she does so well at portraying the paranoia that she acquired. I also love the look of the ghosts, because they're simple and human like, but still creepy at the same time.  The makeup almost looks like the makeup that would soon be used in "Night of the Living Dead." A scene that showed all of these factors perfectly was when Mary is playing organ in the church, and she has visions of the carnival full of ghosts.  It is one of the most electrifying scenes parts of the movie, and I really loved it. 

I really like the organ soundtrack throughout the film, because it gives a haunting and intense feel.  Even when Mary is at the church, if the music comes on; I get a feeling that something weird will happen.  It also brings a weird trippiness to the movie, and I like that a lot. I really appreciate the instrument choice, because it wasn't common, yet it worked so perfectly.  The rest of the instruments are great too, because they bring such darkness, and the songs are extremely original. 

The supporting cast is quite good at keeping a balance for Hillgoss' performance.  Sidney Berger plays the slimy neighbor of Mary named John Linden. He is great because he is partly comic relief, partly annoying, and occasionally a nice guy.  Frances Feist gave a very safe performance as a sweet old lady named Mrs Thomas. She didn't reach any acting achievements in the performance, but she was extremely enjoyable. Herk Harvey was absolutely horrific in the role of "The Man." He had such a perfect walk for the part, and the faces he could make were terrifying. He was an amazing pick for the ghost in my book. 

The ending of this movie was one of the most shocking and brilliant things I have ever seen. There was such a craziness in the carnival part, and as the ghosts chase Mary, there is a feeling of claustrophobia that made me sick. Then directly after, my mind was blown even more when there was a complete plot twist. So many films owe to this ending, because it set a huge standard for the genre. 

Overall, this movie was genius.  It took a budget lower than most films, and made a complete masterpiece.  I have trouble even calling this just a "movie," because it is really a gorgeous piece of art. I highly recommend it to any fans of horror, because it definitely deserves a spot in a list of the greatest horror flicks ever made.