Review of Carnival of Souls (1962) by Steve M — 27 Jul 2006

Carnival of Souls (aka "Corridors of Evil").

Starring: Candice Hilligoss, Sidney Berger, and Stan Levitt.

Director: Herk Harvey.

After the car she is riding in pluges into a fast-moving river, Mary (Hilligoss) survives unscathed. However, as she leaves her hometown to take a position as a church organist in Salt Lake City, she is pursued by a strange stalker that only she can see and she is strangely drawn to an abandoned dancehall on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

I first saw this film in college, on a double-bill with "The Brineshrimp That Ate Salt Lake City", a film so obscure and goofy that it isn't even listed at IMDB. To be honest, the movie with the giant brine shrimp made a stronger impression on me at the time than "Carnival of Souls.".

I'm actually not surprised that the film hasn't stuck with me. While it is definately a nice piece of work--there's an oppressive mood that hangs over the film that grows stronger as the events and people around Mary get weirder and weirder, and it's a mood that's evoked mostly through the film's visuals--the film suffers from the fact that no one featured appears to be doing much in the way of acting.

I don't think I've ever seen a film of this vintage that felt more like the cast were running lines during initial rehearsals. I'd like to give the director the benefit of the doubt by saying that the deadness of the actors was intended to illustrates Mary's alienation from the world... but I think a far more likely explanation is an absense of talent all around. (The closest we get to a performance is the one given by Berger, and his character is basically a repulsive horndog on the make.).

With every actor not really infusing their character with life, we're left with the growing mystery of what's happening to Mary, and, while it is certainly enough to sustain the film, it's not something that ends staying with you. Essentially, we have a film that's all flash and no substance. (It's impressive flash, but it's flash nonetheless.).

I think it's worth seeing as a study in what can be accomplished through creative use of visuals and editing--I love the transition between Mary asking for directions at the gas station and her being at the rooming house, for example--but the admittedly haunting images of "Carnival of Souls" aren't ones that will haunt you for long.

(BTW, that abandoned "pleasure palace" at the edge of the Great Salt Lake is real. It was still standing as late as the mid-90s... and it was still abandoned and creepy-looking.).