Carnival of Souls (1962) Review

I watch a lot of old b-movies, and I've found that a most of the time it's either a hit or a miss when it comes to old horror; sometimes the film is just plain bad, and other times a movie is decent, more or less. Carnival of Souls is neither. In short, it's a brilliant film. It's relatively obscure, which is a shame since it deserves a wider audience.

After surviving a car accident, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) moves away to a different town where she gets a job as a church organist. As she begins to adjust to the new town, she becomes uneasy due to her occasional hallucinations. That eerie abandoned carnival outside town isn't helping, either.

The only problem I found with this film is that a few scenes ran a bit long. I also noticed some dialogue that wasn't significant to the story and should have been cut.

The evening I watched this, I was thoroughly entertained, as well as impressed that the filmmakers could pull this off on such a small budget. It may not be perfect, but it's far better and more intelligent than almost all modern horror films. It shows that a great script can get you a long way.