Review of Carnival of Souls (1962) by Jens R — 08 Jul 2008
The acting is terrible. The dialogue is excruciating. Yet, this film is mysteriously spellbinding.
A woman suffers from harrowing hallucinations of a living dead man after a near death car crash.
The hallucinations become more frequent as she arrives to a new town where she is to start work as a paid organist for a church.
What follows is a spooky cinematic waltz, involving a deserted, haunted theme park, complete detachment from reality, exploration of pathological frigidity (which in some ways feels like a precursor to Polanski's Repulsion) & bizarre apparitions which actually did make my skin crawl on several occasions!
It's difficult to put your finger on what makes this film so great, maybe that's why it's so great. It completely envelopes you in its eerie, elusive mysterious atmosphere, so much that you completely overlook its (abundant) technical shortcomings.
This review of Carnival of Souls (1962) was written by Jens R on 08 Jul 2008.
Carnival of Souls has generally received positive reviews.
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