After a car accident a woman is haunted by a terrifying ghoul.
A true horror classic, director Herk Harvey and writer John Clifford both waived their earnings in order to get the film made. Upon release in 1962 the film was a failure in the box office, thankfully its subsequent airings on late night television helped to gain it a strong cult following so Clifford and Herks work was not all in vain.
The delightful Candace Hilligoss is perfectly cast as the troubled woman that after surviving a traumatic car accident, that kills her two friends, becomes haunted by a frightening ghoul and drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival. It's a shame that Hilligoss only acted in two features as she gives an impressive performance as Mary Henry who is refreshingly independent thinking and self-sufficient pushing boundaries of 1960's America.
The music is very creepy and a little too intrusive in places, however, for it's time and budget it is a well crafted film. Carnival of Souls many not be as sleek and stylish as the Haunting (1963) but it is far more eerie. The zombies are not as imposing as in Night of the Living Dead, however, they are vastly creepier and macabre.
Oozing atmosphere it's a creative and unnerving film that concludes with a common place twist but back in '62 it was ahead of it's time, a true cult classic.
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