Seminal studies of the horror genre from the late 60s through to the late 80s lacked reference to the film, their indices skipping from the car 1977 to carrie 1976 without so much as a byyourleave. In carnival of souls, a young woman is haunted by spooky apparitions of a ghostly stranger after surviving a drag race accident and eerily beckoned by an abandoned lakeside pavilion. This is a fan page for the 1962 independent horror film carnival of souls starring candace hilligoss. Luminous new digital transfer of the original theatrical version of the film. Turner classic movies presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from one of the largest film libraries in the world. Where most horror films go for the obvious effects of gore and.
The pere ubu film unit performs a live underscore to the 1962 cult bmovie film carnival of souls dir. Of the two the theatrical cut does look better and thats probably because of the source materials. But as fresh air rock critic ken tucker hears it, the band, led since the late 70s by cofounder david thomas. Carnival of souls is a 1962 independent horror film starring candace hilligoss. Carnival of souls 1962 movies, tv, celebs, and more. Carnival of souls would be the only feature film by the kansasbased harvey, who nonetheless, over the ensuing years, would become irritated by questions from the film s fans as to why he never directed another film. Carnival of souls 1962 american independent horror film. The thrills of this carnival are cold ones, bits of death. I enjoy this type of movie very much for the clothes, cars, wooden acting and overall lobudget 60s feel. Extremely eerie film of a girl pursued by a phantom figure and her attraction to an abandoned dance hall pavillion after she has been seemingly drowned. The film revolves around mary hillgoss, the survivor of a recent car accident. Carnival of souls is a 1998 american horror film, a remake of herk harveys 1962 horror film of the same name, although it has very little in common with the story of the original. Mary candace hilligoss born august 14, 1935 is an american actress and former model.
Really deserves the cult following that its earned. Criterions avc encoded 1080p high definition transfer presents carnival of souls framed at 1. Mary candace hilligoss august 14, 1935 age 84 huron, south dakota, u. Carnival of souls was of course a box office disaster and faded from memiry until the 70s and 80s where the movie was frequently shown on late night tv. Carnival of souls is one of the only movies made under the influential spell of psycho that catches some of that film s deadend dread, but it also looks startlingly forward to the sixth. Janus films is proud to present a touring retrospective spanning abbas kiarostamis nearly fivedecade career.
Harvey is best known for his sole feature film, carnival of souls, a low budget 1962 horror film starring candace hilligoss. Lets discuss carnival of souls spoilers steve hoffman. Carnival of souls has a good plot and some interesting dialogue, but the film is ruined by incompetence, including a cast that cannot act, and a director that cannot direct. She relocates to a new city, where she finds herself unable to assimilate with the locals, and becomes drawn to the. Nov 28, 2014 carnival of souls is a 1962 independent horror film starring candace hilligoss. With candace hilligoss, frances feist, sidney berger, art ellison. This film revolves around our main protagonist, alex grant. At last, my favourite horror film of all time receives the attention it deserves.
Though fondly remembered by many horror fans, herk harveys carnival of souls 1962 was close to being a lost film for thirty years. Beautifully remastered and accompanied by lots of tantalising bonus material, this is the only version of carnival of souls that you should purchase. En route, she is haunted by a bizarre apparition that compels her toward an abandoned lakeside pavilion. The text notes get in depth on its purpose, the various disasters that have befallen it over the years, and how it has been used in film, which not only includes carnival of souls but also the 1991 cheapie film neon city. Its plot follows mary henry, a young woman whose life is disturbed after a car accident. The final sessions also known as simply carnival of souls is the seventeenth studio album by american rock band kiss, released in 1997. A young girl witnesses the brutal rape and murder of her mother by a circus clown and begins to have nightmares when the carnival comes back to town when she is an adult. In 1962, carnival of souls came and went with little notice, playing the drivein circuit to the usual audiences before fading into obscurity. Carnival of souls works well enough as chillupthespine cinema, and one might even go further and argue that marys anomie, her disengagement from the living, suggests something more an. Carnival of souls is an influential piece of moviemaking, and is rumored to have given george romero a couple of ideas for night of the living dead.
Reporters have asked why carnival of souls is still recirculating, playing theaters 30 years after it was madewhen hundreds of other lowbudget blackandwhite films have been long forgotten. They cannot find the car, but the protagonist of the film somehow gets out of the car and staggers ashore in a daze, telling police that she doesnt remember how she got out. She relocates to a new city, where she finds herself unable to assimilate with the locals, and becomes drawn to the pavilion of an abandoned carnival. She gained fame for her role as mary henry in the independent horror film carnival of souls 1962. Herk harveys one and only film, the haunting lowbudget classic carnival of souls, plays next wednesday evening at londons regent street cinema. With bobbie phillips, shawnee smith, larry miller, paul johansson. Thanks in great part to the efforts of texasbased film. This nobudget, poorlyexecuted cult classic is unsurprisingly free of suspense, and being dated has nothing to do with it. Lost in darkness, lost between worlds, and lost in history are both the story of mary candace hilligoss, and the film by herk harvey known as carnival of souls. Contains both the original theatrical version 78 min.
Carnival of souls is scary because it builds up and up until the ending explodes with insanity. Carnival of souls pg 1h 18min horror, mystery 2 november 1962 finland after a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival. In 2012, the academy film archive restored carnival of souls. Made by industrial filmmakers on a very limited budget, the strikingly macabre film is an effective chiller with a nightmarishly surreal and darkly gothic. Carnival of souls 1962 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
All critics 35 top critics 5 fresh 30 rotten 5 occasionally a feature film emerges from the midwest, although this is the first ever out of lawrence, kans, where a group of commercial film pros veered off into a try at producing theatrical entertainment. Now its out on video and headed for dvd, and then the soundtrack cd shows up, which is doubly impressive for a 1962 movie that got buried in theaters and had to build its audience through television screenings over a 20year period. In fact, some people consider it to be the best b movie ever made. Like a lost episode from twilight zone, it places the supernatural right in the middle of everyday life and surrounds it with ordinary people. However mary is haunted by spirits and is frequently drawn to a nearby abandoned carnival, where she discloses a dark secret. Eleven years ago, you couldnt find a copy of carnival of souls on video or television for love or money. Carnival of souls herk harvey, 1962 is a strange, atmospheric and unforgettable lowbudget horror film.
These flashback sequences to the main characters childhood and the murder of her mother happen so frequently, that the audience has no idea whats going on. In the final scene i am positive i saw the eyes blink of the middle corpse in the car pulled from the river. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to utah and takes a job as a church organist. Sep 18, 2014 pere ubus new album, carnival of souls, is a reference to the 1962 cult horror film. Carnival of souls goes even further, digging into the bands darkest, most challenging realms as well as surprisingly serene ones. It is the bands final album with lead guitarist bruce kulick, as well as their last album with drummer eric singer until 2009s sonic boom. Johnny hayes house of temptation utilizes the haunted house as a metaphor to juxtapose the story of a simple family in the midst of a serious test of their spiritual values. It was harveys only feature film, and did not gain widespread attention when originally released as a double feature with the devils messenger in 1962. Significantly, carnival of souls was the only feature film to be directed by industrial and educational filmmaker harold herk harvey. Carnival of souls also billed as wes craven presents carnival of souls is a 1998 american horror film, a remake of herk harvey s 1962 horror film of the same name, although it has very little in common with the story of the original. Soultaker 1990 the entire plot is a ripoff of the 1962 film carnival of souls.
Carnival of souls simple english wikipedia, the free. Many of these songs came from pere ubus score for the movie, which they developed and performed during the lady from shanghai tour. The strange story behind the greatest horror movie youve. An intelligent and genuinely unsettling horror film. Jim oheir, best known for playing jerry gergich, the lovable object of mockery on parks and recreation, has made a surprising jump to star in the new indie dark comedy, middle man. Carnival of souls is a 1962 american independent horror film written, produced, and directed by herk harvey, and starring. Carnival of souls was released on august 21, 1998 on a limited theatrical run, and eventually came directtovideo in the united states and other territories. The album is a departure from the bands classic hard rock style, in favor of a dark and. Just as carnival of souls was harveys first feature film, it was also. Carnival of souls is an odd, obscure horror film that was made on a low budget in 1962 in lawrence, kan. After completing carnival of souls, harvey was to return to making industrial and educational films before. Mary henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. The movie is being revived in art houses around the country for halloween, and its possible that it plays.
Carnival of souls 1962 film completo sub ita by cinema. There is little unreal to get between the actors and the viewer. Made by industrial filmmakers on a small budget, the eerily effective bmovie classic carnival of souls was intended to have the look. Carnival of souls is a 1962 american independent horror film written, produced, and directed by herk harvey, and starring candace hilligoss. A true original of lowbudget artistry, carnival of souls is creepy, bizarre and dreamlike, at times perhaps resembling a lost episode of the twilight zone. And while i havent seen the original yet, i probably shouldve spent money on that one rather than spending money on the 1998 version. After completing carnival of souls, harvey was to return to making industrial and educational films before retiring in the late 1980s he died in 1996. Aug 12, 2011 carnival of souls starts out where a young woman in a car with 3 other people veers off a bridge and plunges into the water. As an adult it can all be taken in and appreciated much more now. What is amazing about the film carnival of souls is that the cheap budget works so much in its favor.
Carnival of souls is the story of a young woman who goes along for the ride when two hotrodders hold a drag race and are forced off a bridge, plunging into the flooded river below. The album is a departure from the bands classic hard rock style, in favor of a dark and dense. He said the movie was an eerie and imaginative low budget effort. An ultracheap bhorror movie, filmed in lawrence, kansas, in 1962, with a really creepy twilight zonestyle premise and some great shoestring atmosphere. Its been claimed that this movie inspired night of the living dead and the work of tim burton and david lynch, but i find all of these claims highly unlikely. The film focuses on a young church organist mary henry candace hilligoss who is haunted by visions of a ghoulish netherworld after surviving what appears to be certain death when a car in which she is a passenger, plunges over the edge of a bridge into the river below. I myself caught an original airing and was petrified of the movie. Completing the script in just three weeks, clifford dreamt up the story of. Find video, photos, forums, blogs and shop for some of the best movies ever made only at tcm. Berger would eventually work with her on the film, playing oily john linden. More than 45 minutes of rare outtakes accompanied by gene. Pandemia film completo ita post apocalittico hd full movie eng post apocalyptic hd duration. More importantly, hilligoss only found out after the scene was completed that if she and her.
A young woman candace hilligoss in a small kansas town survives a drag race accident, then agrees to take a job as a church organist in salt lake city. Carnival of souls the current the criterion collection. The ghost story, on a format more familiar in literature, has candace hilligoss, a. All i know is that the movie was created, directed, filmed, and edited by people who loved the idea of making a picturenot to exploit anything or. Its plot follows mary henry, a young woman whose life. This series includes new restorations, undertaken by the criterion collection and mk2, of the koker trilogy, taste of cherry, the wind will carry us, and rarely screened shorts and documentaries. The resort had been completed in 1893, only to burn down in 1925. Film locations for carnival of souls 1962, in kansas and utah. The film has an almost hypnotic quality to it, you get pulled in pretty much right from the start. Carnival of souls, a twoact opera based on the brilliant 1962 cult horror film, is the. A young organist survives an accident that kills two of her friends and she begins to experience strange occurrences. Many of todays viewers will see the ending coming, but i like to think it wowed them way back then. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man.
The story of carnival of souls, a documentary on the 1989 reunion of the cast and crew. I had a bit of trouble getting through the first half but the second half made up for it with some great visuals and its spooky atmosphere. Criterions original 2disc dvd edition for herk harveys carnival of souls presents both the 78minute theatrical cut and 83minute directors cut in the aspect ratios of 1. The fact was, harvey made hundreds of films as a director for the centron corporation, an independent production company. Carnival of souls original motion picture soundtrack gene. Carnival of souls is one of those movies that has the protagonist caught up between flashbacks, dreams, and reality, which irritatingly confuses the viewer time and time again. The good people at criterion have rereleased the film on bluray for the first time with a stunning 4k digital transfer. Jul 09, 2016 carnival of souls is a 1962 american independent horror film starring candace hilligoss.
Each film is presented on their own duallayer discs. Complex magazine said carnival of souls was number 39 on its list of the 50 scariest movies ever made. The film was released on dvd by lions gate on february 23, 1999. Carnival of souls analysis herk harvey the professional name of harold arnold harvey, born 3 june 1924 was a student of the theatre, first as an undergraduate then as a graduate at the university of kansas, acting and directing and afterwards remaining at the university to teach. The sole survivor of the accident, mary, accepts a job in a new town as a church organist where she is repeatedly troubled by visions of a nearby abandoned carnival. Carnival of souls is a laughable attempt at horror. It stars bobbie phillips and comedian larry miller, and was directed by adam grossman and ian kessner. Also here is an extensive photo gallery with a large number of photos taken at the facility over the years, beginning in. Anybody that produces a film runs into problems when they come to. Leonard maltin gave carnival of souls twoandahalf out of four stars. That film is about a young girl candace hilligoss who died, but doesnt know that she died, and is being chased by a mysterious figure played by herk harvey. Carnival of souls is a 1962 american independent horror film starring candace hilligoss.
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