Carnival of Souls: the penultimate Halloween video

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If only, if only I could have this video tonight.

Instead I shall make do with The Toxic Avenger and Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, which at least has a lovely and gratuitous ass shot of Viggo Mortensen as Tex. The apron scene is a must-see as well.

[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY7lOYrnhBI ]

Oh, fine. Be that way.

Made in 1962 on an extremely low budget, Herk Harvey’s classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS has become legendary for its ability to create a tensely creepy atmosphere with virtually no special effects. A young woman (Candace Hilligoss) is involved in a car crash when her car falls off a bridge while drag racing with some friends. After she pulls herself from the river, she moves to a new town to take a job as a church organist. Meanwhile, a distinctly eerie and hollow-faced man seems to be following her wherever she goes, while an abandoned lakeside amusement park beckons her with an almost gravitational pull. The effective organ score enhances the film to great effect, as do the bleak landscapes of Utah’s salt flats. Of course, the colorization ruins everything that I just said.

And there’s also this Roy Orbison music video with scenes from the movie. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, do.

3 thoughts on “Carnival of Souls: the penultimate Halloween video”

  1. Hi raincoaster,

    I’ve barely been able to read Boris the last few days, never mind post on it. No trouble with other websites, so it seems to be a problem at Boris’ end. Have you been having the same trouble?

    I emailed Melissa about it, and she said said she’d get on to it right away.

    And I love Roy Orbison. Blue Bayou springs to mind.

    idlex

  2. I’ve got an uncolorized DVD of Carnival of Souls – it is truly one of the creepiest flicks I’ve seen. It resurfaced as a cult flick around 1990 – I remember because the VHS tape was issued with some fanfare while I was a video store assistant manager.

  3. idlex, I’ve been having that trouble on and off for about a week. It was particularly bad yesterday though (I guess that would be day before yesterday for you). It blew up when I was right in the middle of doing a “Congratulations on your week’s work experience k, congrats on getting the job R” post, so now I just look bitter. Oh well. Glad to see it seems to be fixed.

    We could always say it was Mac interfering so everyone had a chance to calm down.

    FE, I’m so jealous of you! I couldn’t tell you why it works: the effects are cheap, the acting isn’t the world’s greatest, but still it stands up. Just a beautiful little work of art.

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