A solidly entertaining and, at times, pretty creepy supernatural horror film which doubles as a psychiatric character study. After surviving a car wreck, Mary, an aloof organist, is haunted by repeated visions of a man who seems to be pursuing her. She becomes increasingly distressed, and eventually seeks answers in a nearby abandoned carnival which she feels strangely drawn to.
For an older horror film, Carnival of Souls really does have some surprisingly effective and unsettling moments and has a lot of things going for it. It has a nice, creepy organ score, simple yet effective ghoul makeup, memorable locations like the abandoned carnival, and most off all, a warped and dream-like atmosphere. The best and most memorable sequences in the film really draw you in to Mary's troubled mind and make you feel like you're living in her confused version of reality.
Mary reminds me quite a bit of the schizophrenic protagonist in Roman Polanski's Repulsion as well as a bit of Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin. She's attractive and seems put-together, but has an icy, distant quality and doesn't relate well to others. Although by the end of the film it becomes clear that the story is supernatural in nature, part of what I really liked about it is that much of the film also works as a portrayal of a first-break psychosis. Mary's character fits some criteria for schizoid personality disorder in that she is pathologically unable to connect with others, and furthermore lacks any interest in forming relationships. Individuals with schizoid personality disorder can have brief psychotic episodes, which are essentially defined by losing touch with reality and frequently involve hallucinations. Psychotic episodes are also commonly brought on by extreme stress, so given her recent near-death experience the pieces really do fit together nicely to explain her symptoms from a psychiatric standpoint.
In addition to the positives, there were definitely some things that brought this film down for me, the most distracting of which was probably the acting. Some of the dialogue scenes in this movie just feel so incredibly wooden. There are many instances when the characters feel like they are simply reciting their lines rather than actually having a conversation with one another. I guess you could kind of forgive Mary seeing as her character is meant to be aloof and awkward, but really no one in the film was any better and it often broke the immersion. And speaking of immersion-breaking, wow they really didn't even attempt to make it appear like Mary was actually playing the organ. Her hands don't come even remotely close to matching the music that she is supposedly playing and it's pretty distracting. Maybe it's just me though - it's a pretty big pet peeve.
Part of me feels like this movie would have been even better if it was a silent film that was completely backed by the great organ music. They honestly wouldn't have to change much of the story at all. The best scenes in the movie are already long, hallucinatory, organ-backed, dialogue-lacking sequences. If it had just cut down completely on the immersion-breaking dialogue and went fully avant-garde with it, the movie could've really, really shined. Regardless, Carnival of Souls was definitely a solid and creepy horror film and it's worth the watch for sure, just be ready to cringe a few times between the best parts.
