Watch Carnival of Souls For Free

Good movie but grossly overrated

Expected more

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This is a low-budget quickie that didn't end up as a total waste of celluloid. As happened with Night of the Living Dead the cut-rate special effects and cheap staging added an atmosphere of reality that would have less effective with more elaborate production methods. The opening elements of the movie, particularly the repellant river with its swirling muddy currents, beckons eerie attention. When Candace Hilligoss abruptly appears, apparently alive and well, on a sandbank long after she should have drowned you're hooked into wanting to know how it came about.There's no hint of was Ms Hilligoss' character was like before the accident, but the one that comes out of the water is one cold fish. The abrupt manner in which she drives off into a tenuous future with an emphatic "I'm never coming back" makes you hope she means it. Her features are very attractive in an unorthodox kind of way and her ability to change personalities from charming girl-next-door into weird mama-jama are disturbingly fascinating, even alluring.As her mental deterioration sets in, she appears genuinely terrified, as would anyone who felt the subtle, progressive onset of losing grip on reality. During the final scenes when it appears that it's dawning on her as to just who and what she is emphasizes that sometimes it's best to not know what's going on and crazy isn't always a bad option.There are technical problems that are impossible to miss but if you're able to brush them aside and focus the film instead you'll get a real treat.

Rating is a B for a B movie. 8 stars. 10 stars for balance.I didn't like the very beginning with the drag racing and crashing into the river, and the very end when they drag them out of the water. It just seemed to start from nowhere. The very end was ok as well. It wrapped up the story.What was great was when Mary walked out of the river, as a ghost. That was great. We next see her playing a church organ and then heading off for a job in Utah as a church organist.We have no other background on her, her family or friends, other than she studied organ music in college. She regards the job in the church only as a job, no connection to religion. This is fine. It gives a sense of mystery about this woman. All the performers did fine. Candace Hilligoss as Mary was perfect for the part. The neighbor also did a fine job. The Ghoul man was also great. This is not a zombie movie. It's a ghost story. It's eerie. The story is not perfect. It's been done on Twilight Zone and others have mentioned other earlier shows. But as a piece of work it evokes eerie. I felt sorry for this woman. Especially when she when she was in the doctor's office, the second time, losing her mind, when the doctor turns around and it's the ghoul man. Very sad. She didn't even know she was already dead. Some questioned what does the abandoned Bathhouse/Dancehall/Carnival have to do with her death? Well, I guess we must afford some artistic license to the filmmakers. This is my 2nd viewing. I was more impressed this time. I recommend this movie, along with the following: White Zombie 1932, Bela Lugosi's best movie, check out those zombies in the mill. Last Man on Earth, 1964 with Vincent Price - full on dread. Night of the Living Dead 1968. Messiah of Evil 1972. Footprints on the Moon 1975.

I'd heard of this film for years but just saw it for the first time. There's something to be said for that process; it lingers in the back of your mind as something you intend to watch "some day", and then when you finally see it, it's somehow satisfying. I'm sure there's probably an official term for this phenomenon.The acting isn't that great but it doesn't have to be; the film draws you in with its close-ups, oppressive music, simple but effective special effects, and attempt to make the main character normal when she clearly isn't. Long after you've seen the film, questions about the world it created linger, such as: was it all a dream, or was she lingering halfway between life and death, or was she just a ghost trying to live a normal life doing normal things like moving into a boarding house, finding a job, and getting hit on by a creeper? Was she just a walking corpse the whole time? This movie poses more questions than it answers, which is the hallmark of really good horror.

I've been watching a run of horror films made from the 1930's til now, and I've got to say this is one of the few that really gave me the chills. I've read that it aimed for "the look of a Bergman and the feel of a Cocteau". Actually, it made me feel often like I did in the very first scene of Romero's Night of the Living Dead: uncomfortable in a world with rules I can't quite grasp. Its sensitivity is remarkable, its "woman in a man's world" theme is beautifully rendered. Yes, it has flaws. Yes, you see dead characters blinking. Yes, you end up not caring about any of that.