BY SARAH BATY

“Cult horror films, then, are not classics and never will be,” says Welch Everman in our reading “What is a Cult Horror Film.” For her to blatantly state that as a fact is high-key BOLD. She goes on to define Classic horror films as films that influence the entire history of horror movies which is technically just her definition. Classic by definition is a work of art of recognized and established value. If a cult horror movie is defined as “classic” that movie is in turn being referred to as a work of art of recognized and established value. So, there’s no reason that cult horror films cannot be classified as classic. Carnival of Souls surely deserves its title as a classic cult horror film.

Ballin’ on a budget per usual Carnival of Souls was produced with $33,000 using many guerilla filmmaking techniques to finish the production. The film has been noted by critics and film scholars for its cinematography and foreboding atmosphere. The film has a large cult following and has been cited as a wide-ranging influence on numerous filmmakers. Referring back to Everman’s definition of a classic horror film, Carnivals of Souls fits it. Carnival of Souls also has a major cult following, so BOOM! Carnival of Souls can be identified as a cult classic horror film.

According to our reading “Introduction to Distinction” by Pierre Bourdieu, he discusses how an individual develops taste. He says that people develop taste from education and their upbringing and that even in the classroom, the “dominant definition of the legitimate way of appropriating culture and works of art favors those who have had early access to legitimate culture.” Without access to the culture one could miss the deeper meanings behind a story. They could also miss how well the movie is produced by getting lost in all the sights and sounds. Without being predisposed a beholder would lack a specific “code” that leaves them feeling lost in the chaos. He goes on to state how without having adopted the adequate disposition he cannot move from the “primary startum of meaning we can grasp on the basis of our ordinary experience to the stratum of secondary meanings.” I find this to be true when I watch movies with people who aren’t big movie watchers or if I am watching an old movie from my childhood that someone hasn’t seen and they say it sucked because it was made bad. Well when I was 10 this was the best movie I had ever seen so I don’t know what you’re talking about! That’s only because they weren’t exposed to it, they didn’t grow up watching it and adoring it like I did. Of course it’s probably not the BEST produced movie but that doesn’t mean its bad and that goes full circle back to Everman’s reading how sometimes a movie is so bad its good. I didn’t grow up watching horror films but because of my education level I can see how Carnival of Souls was important for its time and how it fits right into the category of classic cult horror films.