Home / Carnival of Souls

Carnival of Souls

Year:

1962

Duration:

78 min | 91 min (original version) | USA:84 min (director's cut)

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

IMDB rate:

7.2

Director:

Herk Harvey

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1962-11-02

Filming Locations: Centron Studios - 1621 W 9th Street, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Cast

Actor

Character

Herk Harvey

Carnival of Souls

Candace Hilligoss

Mary Henry

Frances Feist

Mrs. Thomas, Landlady

Sidney Berger

John Linden

Art Ellison

Minister

Stan Levitt

Dr. Samuels

Tom McGinnis

Organ Factory Boss

Forbes Caldwell

Carpenter in Organ Factory

Dan Palmquist

Gas Station Attendant

Bill de Jarnette

Mechanic (as Bill De Jarnette)

Steve Boozer

Chip, Man at Juke Box

Pamela Ballard

Dress Sales Lady

Larry Sneegas

Drag Racer

Cari Conboy

Lake Zombie

Karen Pyles

Dress Store Customer

T.C. Adams

Dancing Zombie

Sharon Scoville

Mary's Girlfriend

Mary Ann Harris

Mary's Girlfriend

Peter Schnitzler

A Walking Corpse

Bill Sollner

Lake Zombie

Reza Badiyi

Bus Ticket Customer (uncredited)

Ed Down

Man at Bridge (uncredited)

Wayne Shmille

Sheriff at Bridge (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

This film was shot on location in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Lawrence, Kansas, with interior shots at the Centron Studios in Lawrence. Centron was an industrial film company, producing industrial and educational films and "social guidance" short subjects in the 1950s into the 1960s. Most of this film's technical staff, including director Herk Harvey and screenwriter John Clifford, were Centron employees.

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Star Candace Hilligoss' agent refused to represent her any further after seeing this film.

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The damage to the bridge in the opening scene of the film cost Herk Harvey $17.

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Goofs

When Mary talks with the doctor at his office in a shot we see him with glasses but in the next he is without.

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Many of the long shots were looped in the crowd scene following the accident, and other shots were dubbed with the audio track from other shots with which they were intercut. The audio and the mouth movements of the actors drift in and out of sync across the various shots in this scene.

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Mary Henry's hair is dry and blows in the breeze right after she has supposedly climbed out of the water.

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Quotes

Mrs. Thomas: You just let your imagination run away with you.

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Minister: You cannot be our organist. In conscience, I must ask you to resign.

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Mrs. Thomas: You can take all the baths you want.

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Faq

Is this available on DVD?

Countless distributors have released Carnival of Souls (1962) onto VHS and DVD, sometimes with a bad picture and unintelligible sound. This film seems to be in the public domain, which means any distributor can legally sell copies without paying royalties. Beware. Many small distributors market copies of public domain films with poor picture and sound. Others are more reputable and deliver good transfers of the best available prints. Shop around. We recommend The Criterion Collection's DVD release. You can find it on Amazon.com here.

Can I watch this film online?

Watch Carnival of Souls (1962) on: archive.org here

What have critics said?

"Eerie little film. ... Imaginative low-budget effort." -- Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide"Absurd but occasionally compelling independently made horror film which would have been better in half-hour form." -- Leslie Halliwell"It ventures to the edge of camp, but never strays across the line, taking itself with an eerie seriousness." -- Roger Ebert, rogerebert.comSources: John Walker, Halliwell's Film Guide (Eighth Edition), 1991 | Leonard Maltin (ed.), Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide, NY, 2006

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