If you're trying to get a grip on what kind of film the original Carnival of Souls is, it's kind of a traditional 50s/60s horror (like House on Haunted Hill or any of the other William Castle jobbies) spliced with something a lot more edgy, like Night of the Living Dead or a French new wave film. While written in a traditional 50s/60s style, it avoids the trappings of Noir and other movements that were going on at the time, instead taking a more pseudo-documentary take on things, opting for realism over stylisation. This leads to a cold, chilling movie that is incredibly taut and gets right under your skin.
The level of realism makes the films hallucination sequences all the more creepy. The film concerns a young woman who survives a horrific car wreck, attempts to continue on with her life as she had intended but discovers something is very wrong, that her world has changed irreparably and she is being stalked by a ghostly figure. This premise lends itself perfectly to a black and white movie, the high visual contrast making the hauntings all the more stark and shocking. The woman's slow loss of her grip on reality, and the shocking conclusion, are gradually unveiled in a way that's now been copied by a thousand movies, but never quite recaptured in the same way.
Still, despite being a fantastic 'descent into madness' chiller, Carnival of Souls stumbles at a few hurdles. The movie hasn't been treated well by time, having been largely forgotten by a fairly fickle industry, so finding a half decent copy is going to be hard. The copy I watched (a R2 DVD from a company called Dark Vision) had a pretty decent image, but the movie's stock has aged a lot and certain scenes had become indecipherable. Also some of the dialogue had become very muffled, giving the impression the actors were talking into their shoes.
On the subject of dialogue, Carnival is not strong on characterisation. It's a mood piece, and with the exception of the main character, very few of the characters are painted in anything more than broad strokes. If you're looking for a highly emotive movie, Carnival isn't it, all of it's emotion comes from it's visuals.
These are minor gripes though. If you track down a decent version of the film (a remastered colourised version is available in the States for instance) and are happy with watching a consciously art-house movie then this comes highly recommended. Carnival's cult classic status is well deserved, and it hands out some of horror's great enduring images during it's runtime. If you're not moved by any of this film, you may want to check your pulse.
The level of realism makes the films hallucination sequences all the more creepy. The film concerns a young woman who survives a horrific car wreck, attempts to continue on with her life as she had intended but discovers something is very wrong, that her world has changed irreparably and she is being stalked by a ghostly figure. This premise lends itself perfectly to a black and white movie, the high visual contrast making the hauntings all the more stark and shocking. The woman's slow loss of her grip on reality, and the shocking conclusion, are gradually unveiled in a way that's now been copied by a thousand movies, but never quite recaptured in the same way.
Still, despite being a fantastic 'descent into madness' chiller, Carnival of Souls stumbles at a few hurdles. The movie hasn't been treated well by time, having been largely forgotten by a fairly fickle industry, so finding a half decent copy is going to be hard. The copy I watched (a R2 DVD from a company called Dark Vision) had a pretty decent image, but the movie's stock has aged a lot and certain scenes had become indecipherable. Also some of the dialogue had become very muffled, giving the impression the actors were talking into their shoes.
On the subject of dialogue, Carnival is not strong on characterisation. It's a mood piece, and with the exception of the main character, very few of the characters are painted in anything more than broad strokes. If you're looking for a highly emotive movie, Carnival isn't it, all of it's emotion comes from it's visuals.
These are minor gripes though. If you track down a decent version of the film (a remastered colourised version is available in the States for instance) and are happy with watching a consciously art-house movie then this comes highly recommended. Carnival's cult classic status is well deserved, and it hands out some of horror's great enduring images during it's runtime. If you're not moved by any of this film, you may want to check your pulse.