Carnival of Souls (1962)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Herk Harvey

Writer:

John Clifford (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

2 November 1962 (Finland)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

She Was A Stranger Among The Living.

Plot:

After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | Spirit | Church Organ | Salt Lake City Utah | Apartment

Cast

Candace Hilligoss	...	Mary Henry
Frances Feist	...	Mrs. Thomas, Landlady
Sidney Berger	...	John Linden
Art Ellison	...	Minister
Stan Levitt	...	Dr. Samuels
Tom McGinnis	...	Organ Factory Boss
Forbes Caldwell	...	Organ Factory Worker
Dan Palmquist	...	Gas Station Attendant
Bill de Jarnette	...	Mechanic (as Bill De Jarnette)
Steve Boozer	...	Chip, Man at Juke Box
Pamela Ballard	...	Dress Sales Lady
Larry Sneegas	...	Drag Racer
Cari Conboy	...	Lake Zombie
Karen Pyles	...	Dress Store Customer
T.C. Adams	...	Dancing Zombie
Sharon Scoville	...	Mary's Girlfriend
Mary Ann Harris	...	Mary's Girlfriend
Peter Schnitzler	...	A Walking Corpse
Bill Sollner	...	Lake Zombie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Reza Badiyi	...	Bus Ticket Customer (uncredited)
Ed Down	...	Man At Bridge (uncredited)
Herk Harvey	...	'The Man' (uncredited)
Wayne Shmille	...	Sheriff At Bridge (uncredited)

Directed by
Herk Harvey

Writing credits
John Clifford		(written by)
Herk Harvey		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Herk Harvey	....	producer

Original Music by
Gene Moore

Cinematography by
Maurice Prather		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bill de Jarnette		(as Bill De Jarnette)
Dan Palmquist

Makeup Department
George Corn	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Lanny Fellers	....	assistant production manager
Larry Sneegas	....	production manager
Richard Walker	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Reza Badiyi	....	assistant director (as Raza Badiyi)

Sound Department
Ed Down	....	sound
Don Jessup	....	sound

Other crew
Dan Fitzgerald	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Harcourt Productions
• Off Color Films

Distributors

• Herts-Lion International Corp. (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmipojat (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (1990) (Canada) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Harcourt Productions (1987) (USA) (all media)
• Criterion Collection, The (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• BFS Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Rhino Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• VidAmerica (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Hart Sharp Video (2004) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Pan Vision Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Clint Hickman Productions (2001-2007) (worldwide) (all media) (3D version)
• Englewood Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (DVD) (as Enjoy Movies)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Video Home Library (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Clint Hickman Productions  3D process
• Legend Films  colorization
• Legend Films  restoration

Runtime:

78 min | 91 min (original version) | USA:84 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1991) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (1990) | USA:Approved (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) (1997) | USA:PG (re-release) (1990) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (2002) | UK:X (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) (1962) | Finland:K-18 (re-rating) (1962) | Germany:12 | UK:12 (DVD re-rating) | UK:12 (re-rating) (2009) | Australia:PG | Norway:16 | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Centron Studios - 1621 W 9th Street, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Company:

Harcourt Productions

Trivia:

The Saltair that appears in the film actually burned down in the early '70s. In the early '80s another version of Saltair was rebuilt, although it was a much smaller design. Shortly after it was built, the Great Salt Lake rose and flooded it out. In 1993, the building was remodeled and reopened, now it's mainly used as a small venue for musical acts.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Mary is first in the doctor's office her arm is on the desk, then in the next shot it's on the arm chair.

Quotes:

Mary Henry: I don't belong in the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zombie Nation (2004)

No frills classic horror, probably the best ever....

This is probably the best ever low budget horror film ever made, back in the dark days of 1962. It has an eerie quality that's hard to explain to anyone that hasn't seen it. A young woman is the sole survivor of a car that went off a bridge into a river, but no one seems to understand how she survived. She goes off to Utah to play the organ at a church (which is just a job to her) and is haunted by a white-faced specter that no one else can see. Some of this is filmed at an old pavilion out by a lake which is creepy in itself. As the movie progresses Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) experiences strange periods where she seems to have trouble interacting with others. Being a person that doesn't care for human company anyway, she is still disturbed by these incidents. An excellent twist ending at the pavilion is probably one of the most surreal & finest pieces of film making I've seen. And now a slight commentary: I bought this on a slim-pack DVD from a big discount chain store for $1.00. A seller of "important films" markets this for about $39. My cheap DVD plays just fine and how much better can this film be? Anyway, off the soapbox, this movie rates 9 out of 10 in my book, if you have't seen it, where have you been?