Author: Justyna Wróblewska
I don't belong in the world, that's what it is. Something separates me from other people. Everywhere I turn, there's something blocking my escape. – Mary Henry, "Carnival of Souls"
A woman suspended between life and death. Strange, always a misfit. This is the heroine of "Carnival of Souls" , the film that inspired the milestone work of the horror film "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), as well as the work of David Lynch. Herk Harvey's picture, considered a cult classic in some circles, does not enjoy sufficient recognition, disappearing in the shadow of more popular horror classics. Wrongfully, because it is a unique film, seductive with an atmosphere suspended somewhere between Gothicism, dreamlike, silent cinema and German expressionism. A perfect example to start recommendations from the "retrogroza" , in which I will focus on films with a gothic atmosphere, full of magic and darkness.
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) and her friends are on a car ride when a group of men stop them and encourage them to run a race. The competition ends tragically - the girls are pushed off a bridge and the car sinks into the river. During the rescue operation, it turns out that Mary was the only passenger to survive. Some time later, the woman moves to another small town to take up the position of church organist. From the very beginning, Mary avoids people, tries to do her job carefully and not draw attention to herself. Over time, she begins to have nightmares and hallucinations, during which she sees a ghostly man (played by the director himself) following her every step. Is the woman's traumatized mind starting to play tricks on her?
was probably inspired to create "Carnival of Souls" by two works - an episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "The Hitchhiker" (1960) and the short "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1961). However, what affected Harvey the most was the sight of an abandoned amusement park he passed while driving through Salt Lake City. The mysterious park will return many times in the film - Mary, fascinated by it from the very beginning, feels a kind of bond with this place, as if she was summoned by it.
Despite the low budget, the team managed to effectively use the available funds and the existing landscape, proving that sometimes less is more. Harvey's goal was to create a film formally reminiscent of the works of Bergman and Cocteau, but by choosing a form of horror aimed at drive-in cinemas, he managed to escape genre stereotypes. Just like the titular carnival, which, according to the British lecturer, prof. Chris Baldick's film was intended to overthrow the existing order, and Harvey's film caused confusion in the world of film studies. A horror film with unquestionable artistic value? This still baffles some critics who treat horror cinema as a second-class genre.
Expressive acting, close-ups of terrified faces and simple yet effective makeup of the ghosts immediately bring to mind German expressionism. The sequences shot in an abandoned amusement park delight with an aura of surrealism and skillful creation of an atmosphere of horror. The park is a liminal space between the land of the living and the dead, between rationality and the unknown. Mary tries to convince herself that it is just an abandoned building, but soon the place reveals its true face - a limba, where dead souls dance a waltz and wait for her. The horror sequences, topped with music played on an organ, have a touch of strange theatricality.
The pace of the picture is unhurried, the action unfolds like a somnambulistic main character. The dreamy atmosphere is also enhanced by the static camera work, which moves rather rarely. "Carnival of Souls" resembles a nightmare from which you cannot wake up. Both in technical terms (black and white image, close-ups of details that fascinate the main character) and partly in terms of plot, the picture may evoke associations with "Repulsion" (1965) by Roman Polański. Both films certainly share a disturbing atmosphere, as well as the protagonist - in both cases, alienated, strange, incompatible with social norms. Mary, stuck in a liminal state, does not fit the reality she knows and is passive. “I don't belong to this world,” he says. Neither a priest nor a therapist nor attempts to indulge in mundane pleasures will bring solace. Maybe her place is in a demonic amusement park, alongside the ghosts dancing the dance of the damned at night?
Similar movies ➔ "The Sweet Sound of Death" (1965)
Poster of the film "Carnival of Souls" (1962).