CARNIVAL OF SOULS is the story of Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss who only starred in one television series before and one movie after, 1964’s THE CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE) who finds herself in a very unfortunate situation: she’s a passenger in her friend’s car when a couple of guys challenge them to a drag race one afternoon. The car is run off a bridge, into a river, and Mary is the only survivor. Two days later, she’s packed all of her belongings and arranged for a new job in Utah as a church organist. Mary isn’t a particularly religious person, it’s just a job, nothing more. On the way there, she finds herself intrigued by a pavilion in the distance (the abandoned Saltair Amusement Park outside Salt Lake City) and this attraction will begin to haunt her more and more, drawing her in even though Mary herself doesn’t understand the pull the empty place has on her.

She sets up a new life, having arranged to rent a room from Mrs. Thompson (Frances Feist), across the hall from John Linden (Sidney Berger, who never starred in another movie before or after until the 1998 CARNIVAL OF SOULS remake by Wes Craven). Mary divides her time between practicing the organ, fending off the unwanted advances of Mr. Linden, and suspecting herself of losing her mind as she finds herself haunted by a mysterious figure (played by Herk Harvey) that appears almost everywhere she goes: reflected in her car window, outside her room, downstairs in the hall of Mrs. Thompson’s house. Mary also begins to experience periods of displacement where she can see everything around her, but there’s no sound, and no one can see or hear her. Somehow she knows everything is connected to the pavilion and when she goes there to find out the truth about what’s happening to her, she discovers reality isn’t everything she believed it to be.

Producer/Director Herk Harvey (1924-1996) put his previous experience to good use here (this is his only movie, even though he’d made over 400 educational, industrial and documentary films for Centron Productions in Lawrence, Kansas) with some interesting camera angles and a great sense of composition. I also loved his use of light and shadow. Sometimes during a black and white movie I find myself wondering about the colors, but black and white suits this story and the way it was shot. There are periods that seem to drag a bit, but looking at the movie as a whole, you see how meticulously Harvey was building tension without giving everything away. I loved that there was no cheesy exposition scene where someone came in out of nowhere, had way too much knowledge about the movie’s events, and laid everything out for us. Instead, Harvey allows the story to tell itself, just like a good movie should.

He also puts Mary’s profession to good use as a great deal of mood is established with pipe organ music, giving the movie a very gothic feel.

The cast is small, focusing almost entirely on Mary and, unfortunately this may have been one of the few flaws in an otherwise good movie. Candace Hilligoss is pretty, but vacuous. Mary Henry is much happier on her own. She has no interest in seeing her family, goes to work because it pays the bills, and generally just doesn’t need another living soul to make her place in the world an easier one to inhabit. I believe this may have been Harvey and screenwriter John Clifford’s intention, making Mary such a sourpuss, but there were a few times Hilligoss let go and tried to inject some passion into her portrayal and all I can say is, “Thank God Mary’s such a dud because I don’t think I could have taken 91 minutes of that.” Like I said, Mary’s pretty, let’s leave it at that. Then again, in retrospect, maybe that dead expression was just what the part called for. The most surprising gem here was Sidney Berger who played such an incredibly slippery worm in John Linden, I can easily see him having been typecast on this performance alone. He didn’t just steal all the scenes he was in, he beat Hilligoss over the head with them.

I’ve seen CARNIVAL OF SOULS twice now and will almost definitely see it a few more; much like the films it obviously inspired, it’s not the destination that counts but the journey. Although none of the principles involved with this movie went on to much else of note afterward, they’ve already established themselves in this horror classic--and while it might not necessarily inspire unease or terror in anyone, it’s definitely a well-made movie and its influence is still felt today.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older