Carnival of Souls on DVD


At a revival showing of CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) in 1989, writer John Clifford described how the movie came to be. Asked to write a story for director Herk Harvey, Clifford inquired what the story should be about. Harvey’s reply: “I don’t know, but I want it to end up with dead people dancing in a ballroom by the Great Salt Lake.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Clifford.

Shot in Lawrence, Kansas and Salt Lake City, Utah, on a budget of roughly 30,000 dollars, CARNIVAL OF SOULS has earned the reputation, through countless late night television reruns and occasional theater and festival revivals, as The Movie That Wouldn’t Die. Though it has some of the defects you would expect from such a low-budget movie – lights reflecting on the sets, acting that sometimes sinks to the level of a bad soap opera - the film remains a spooky classic that sustains an ethereal mood throughout its ninety minutes.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS stars Candace Hilligoss as Mary Henry, a young church organist who survives a car accident in which two of her friends perished. She finds herself not only pulling away from other people, but also slipping in and out of the real world into what can best be called the twilight zone.

To compound this problem, she frequently sees a mysterious ghoulish figure known in the script as “The Man” (played by producer/director Herk Harvey). This ghoul pops up in the most unexpected places and seems to enjoy toying with the girl’s emotions. She doesn’t know this man, but he seems to know her. As her life falls apart, she finds herself drawn to an abandoned pavilion, where she eventually learns the secret of her existence.

Candace Hilligoss, an acting student out of New York, does a wonderful job as the girl, even though her method acting clashed with the story and Harvey’s direction. (When she asked “What’s my motivation for crossing the street?”, Harvey replied, “Try not to get hit.”) Her sad, pretty and almost emotionless face accurately conveys the various stages of a mental breakdown, although she is occasionally guilty of over-acting.

Sidney Berger, a Kansas acting student, plays John Linden, a greasy, oversexed creep whose idea of impressing a date is to put on his best wrinkled suit, and to whom sitting up straight would count as extreme physical exercise. Berger is magnificent in the role, which is basically comic relief.

The copyright of the article Carnival of Souls on DVD in Black-and-White Movies is owned by John Vincent Brennan. Permission to republish Carnival of Souls on DVD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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