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Carnival of Souls (1962)

post #1 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:07pm
Thread Starter 
One of the best horror scores of all time. I really really adore this film and it's atomsphere.
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post #2 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:20pm
Utah horror!

Criterion did a great job on their release of this film. Nice supplements, a restored cut, and a decent patch-job of a commentary track.

I like that you're burning through the classic obscurities. Give Last Man On Earth a spin soon.
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post #3 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 
I recently bought on of those "50 Horror Movie Classics!" sets for a little under 13 bucks (which comes to about 26 cents a movie) so I'll be watching a lot of these. Last Man On Earth is included in that set (it's one of those films that's in all those sets like White Zombie and Night of the Living Dead) so I'll be sure to check that one out next.

Carnival of Souls, as a shitty as the transfer was, was amazing, though, and I really dug the obvious German Expressionist influence. It was like Cabinent of Dr. Caligari meets the Twilight Zone.
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post #4 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
Carnival of Souls, as a shitty as the transfer was, was amazing, though, and I really dug the obvious German Expressionist influence. It was like Cabinent of Dr. Caligari meets the Twilight Zone.
That's a really great way to put it, and I agree with you completely. I love this movie, and the score is fantastic.
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post #5 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:30pm
That's a nice economical way to do it, but alas, Last Man On Earth might be unwatchable in bootleg form. MGM has a widescreen option for $10, and it looks amazing compared to other versions I've seen.
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post #6 of 18
10/16/07 at 5:32pm
That Horror Movie 50 Pack is incredible, good on you for buying it.

This was a great little movie, the short bit with the bus to try and leave town had my skin crawling.
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post #7 of 18
10/16/07 at 6:59pm
This film has been a firm favourite of mine for quite some time now. I'd say it's among the best traditional ghost stories I've managed to run across.
Pity the criterion DVD hasn't yet hit the UK, though.
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post #8 of 18
10/16/07 at 7:53pm
Fantastic, I love this film, good on you for checking it out. The atmosphere, the weird angles, the lighting, and simple but chilling score all work in this films favor. George Romero claims this was the main inspiration when making Night of the Living Dead, a classic that spawned a classic.
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post #9 of 18
10/16/07 at 8:14pm
I'll add my love for this little film. Not much to add that hasn't been said already and I'll also agree that The Last Man on Earth is also great.
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post #10 of 18
10/16/07 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
I love how the main character is this beautiful woman who is also a misanthrope. You almost never see that.

Also, I love how she's a church organist as an excuse to have the film feature so much organ music. Normally you get plot devices in horror films that are excuses for sex or violence, rarely for score.
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post #11 of 18
10/18/07 at 7:30pm
This movie makes a fool of M. Night Shyamalan. I too have it on one of those public-domain-movie-crammed box sets; I've considered the Criterion but it's like 65 damn dollars here.
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post #12 of 18
10/18/07 at 7:39pm
Eerie flick. "Cabinent of Dr. Caligari meets the Twilight Zone" is pretty spot on.

Kicks the Wes Craven produced remake and Soul Survivors to the curb.
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post #13 of 18
10/19/07 at 9:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by innsmouthlook81
Fantastic, I love this film, good on you for checking it out. The atmosphere, the weird angles, the lighting, and simple but chilling score all work in this films favor. George Romero claims this was the main inspiration when making Night of the Living Dead, a classic that spawned a classic.
Although there are grounds for arguing that The Birds was just as big an influence.
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post #14 of 18
10/25/11 at 5:22pm

TCM had it on last night and it lives up to its reputation. I'd almost call it Kafka-esque in it's scenes of alienation and isolation. It manages to work a series of dread in such mundane places as a department store, without ever having to resort to zombies. Really great cinematography. It's a gem.

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post #15 of 18
10/30/11 at 12:20pm

Don't understand the love this particular movie gets at all. I will have to watch it again...

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post #16 of 18
10/30/11 at 12:40pm

Elaborate, man, don't just drop that in people's laps. It sounds especially silly when you do it in a thread where people are actually pointing out what they love about it. And for the record, I think it's great.

 

 

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post #17 of 18
10/30/11 at 6:21pm

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have posted at all, but I saw the thread and the unanimous praise, and I was compelled to say something. I watched it years ago and I just found it boring and aimless -- I have vague memories of the director in pancake makeup, and little else. I was shocked to discover after I watched it that it was in the Criterion Collection. Maybe I'll watch it again in the next couple of days to try and have something more substantial to say.

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post #18 of 18
1/27/12 at 4:19am

50 years old this year and still a masterpiece. I love this movie ever so.

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