Carnival of Souls Review
I owned ‘Carnival of Souls’on DVD almost a full year before I actually sat down to watch it, but had I known what I was getting I never would have waited so long. It is one movie that is definitely a cult film, you will either be a rabid fan of it or fail to see just what the hype is about. I was truly fixated on Candace Hilligoss’ performance, the organ music and just the overall look and feel of the film. Even the ambient sounds during various scenes kept me both watching and listening.
Gene Moore did the pipe organ score for the film, haunting in its own right, and used everywhere, from Candace’s role as an organist in the film, to scene scores and it even plays from a radio you see in the film. You never get tired of hearing it.
‘Carnival of Souls’ tells the story of Mary Henry, played by Candace, a professional organist who is the sole survivor in an auto accident. Although you have no idea of how Mary was before the accident it is mentioned early in the film that she’s different for some reason, not herself, changed since the accident.
Not to put her life on hold, she moves to a new town and takes on a job as a church organist. Along the way, she sees an abandoned carnival alongside the road that keeps her attention; she’s brought back to it several times for some reason, haunting her. Mary also encounters moments of strange phenomena where suddenly and for no reason, all the sound in the air is gone, she doesn’t appear to be visible to anyone, and no one responds or acknowledges her in any way. Later, just as quickly as it started, it ends. Ghostly people appear to her randomly, first just one man is seen several times, but towards the end of the film there are many.
While she struggles to understand it all, a neighbor of hers starts to be pushy, wanting to be close to her, the church pastor fires her from her job, a doctor starts to question her sanity. Yet, it’s all done in such a way to make it somewhat interesting and not detract from Mary’s delusions, and in some ways they add to them.
The twist to it all revealed at the end is never fully explained that I saw, but that’s part of what makes this film work. Add in Sidney Berger’s decent performance of her alcoholic neighbor and the intriguing carnival grounds themselves, throw action out the window but psychological suspense in and you have a great way to spend 80 minutes.
