Review of Carnival of Souls (1962) by Kyle E — 01 Jul 2010

A horror masterpiece. Made in 1962 with literally no budget, "Carnival of Souls" still manages to be one of the creepiest films nearly fifty-years later.

The film starts off with a young girl, Mary Henry, and her two friends as they are out driving around on a warm, summer afternoon. They are challenged by some boys in another car to a race. As they race over a bridge, they lose control of the car and dive off the bridge. Three hours later, as police look for the car in the river, Mary appears out of no where, alive and fully well. Thus begins the weird chain of bizare events that plague her.

For a director using an insanely low budget of only $30,000, Herk Harvey makes it work. The biggest element that adds to the overall creep factor of the film is the musical score, which consists of nothing but organ music. It's fitting, and it still manages to set a creepy mood that creeps me out, and I'm 23.

I also have to give mad props here that the make up is spectacular, being on that low of a budget. Sure the ending here, although still shocking, has been done in more recent horror films (although I don't want to name those films or it gives away the ending here), but "Carnival of Souls" is perhaps one of the greatest B movies I've ever seen. You should do yourself a favor and give it a watch.