This was an especially busy week considering it was the first of presentations, so I’m going to jump right into Carnival of Souls. Directed by Herk Harvey and released in 1962, Carnival of Souls follows the lasting effects of a drag racing accident on Mary Henry, a young organist. The film begins with a drag race between two cars carrying a gaggle of young men and women. When they attempt to cross a narrow wooden bridge, creating a sense of anxiety as the cars begin to bump into each other, one of the vehicles to drives off the bridge into the river below. This uneasy feeling remains for the rest of the movie. Law enforcement and rescuers assess the situation and search the river for the car, soon after, a barefoot Mary wobbles out of the river covered in mud and alone. In the next few scenes we watch Mary travel to Utah to accept a new job as a church organist, odd circumstances considering the accident had only happened a few days prior. The film alludes to the Mary’s unusual situation when she begins to have visions of a ghostly man.

Before the movie began, Dr. Schlegel warned us that the movie can feel slow. But I think the slowness adds to the overall anxiety of the film, we are constantly wondering what is wrong with Mary? Throughout the film I found myself trying to decide whether the strange events Mary experienced were psychological or something more paranormal, the idea of purgatory didn’t dawn on me until the end of the film. Perhaps the alignment of the carnival theme with purgatory threw me off. Nevertheless, it was an interesting concept that offered great opportunities for scenes inside the pavilion, specifically the eerie dance hall scene. The slowness of the film might also contribute to the theme of purgatory, souls stuck in limbo between heaven and hell. While some signifiers were clear; Mary’s insistence that her work with the church was strictly business and her ability to see the dead. Others stood on the border between symptoms of the dead and symptoms of personality; how easily she seemed to move on from the accident and introverted attitudes.

I enjoyed Carnival of Souls, it was beautifully shot and some parts were actually scary (windows are terrifyingly reflective at night). One question that has bothered me since the screening, who is the man in the church stained glass window? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an answer to this question, but I did find this house listing for where the boarding house was shot.

A few elements of the film that I personally enjoyed:

The organ, for its use as a connector between the church and the carnival but also because of how amazing it sounded.

Look at the size of that organ!

While on the topic of organs, Mary’s musical trance inside the church was definitely my favorite scene. I loved the way her hands and feet moved across the keys and pedals.

The shots from the dashboard of Mary’s car and from the outside looking in through the driver’s side window. Wow! Different from looking back at the road as we saw in Detour.