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Carnival of Souls Movie Review

Carnival of Souls is a 1962 psychological horror film directed by Herk Harvey and starring Candace Hilligoss. It’s an exceptional horror that is a real underrated gem.

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“I don’t belong in the world“

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After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival. I stumbled upon this movie while browsing horror lists on a night when I had no movie planned. It was a rare spontaneous discovery for me that ended with huge success as it’s the best film I’ve watched in quite a while and definitely one of the greatest horrors of the sixties.

This is an underrated gem that has only recently started to gain cult status, but it deserves even more attention for being so effortlessly spooky and undeniably artistic. First off, the story evokes Hitchcock in its first act, especially ‘Psycho’ as we see a woman arrive to a strange small town. But then the story moves into ‘The Twilight Zone’ territory, making for a perfect companion piece to that iconic show.

Yes, the ending did leave things too definite and unambiguous in my opinion. It was a shocking twist ending that ultimately worked as it made sense within the context of the story. I did get the idea that it would go there, but I still did not expect it because the movie hid it from viewers so well. It was a very chilling, effective ending that did not impact too much the plot that came before it.

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I am talking about its major theme, which is obsession, paranoia and above all else madness. The movie depicts anxiety as this very disturbing, horrific force that threatens to derail this woman’s entire life. The creepiest moments actually weren’t those scenes where she would constantly see this creepy man with excessive make-up, though those were also effective. Instead, the most horrific moments came when she would be walking down the street and nobody would notice her as if she wasn’t there. The fact that everything turned silent also made for a highly scary scenario.

Carnival of Souls is one of the most purely cinematic horror films of its time. The fact that it was made on such a small budget only further led to my huge admiration of what this director did here. Herk Harvey needs more respect for managing to elevate the storyline and small budget at every moment with impressive technical aspects.

Not only is the score wonderful and quite ominous, but it also factored into the story with the woman’s music background. The sound design and mixing were stupendous, making those almost silent sequences hugely effective and disturbing. The cinematography is also phenomenal as the movie is shot with so much care, attention to detail and excellent use of shadows and lighting to heighten the eerie mood.

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The production design and atmosphere are quite chilling too. This is a horror flick that is pure Americana in its small town setting, long-forgotten carnival and a rooming house. It seemed positively stuck in time in its memorable imagery. The beginning is an effective hook that made me invested in an instant. Candace Hilligoss delivered a surprisingly strong performance from an actress who isn’t well known. She was very believable as this manic, anxious woman who sees things and starts losing it. It wasn’t an easy role, but she mostly pulled it off. The suitor character was also interesting and their dynamic was well realized, but the second half focused too extensively on that pairing at the end of the day.