| |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|
Carnival of Souls
Carnival of Souls is the best Twilight Zone-feature film ever made, and while this wasn’t its intention, I mean it in the best way possible. All that’s lacking are the Rod Serling bookends and the trademark theme song. Like The Twilight Zone, it is predictable, with a one-note storyline that never steers from its inevitable, “shocking” ending that is so obvious that it isn’t shocking at all. But also like The Twilight Zone, it tells its story well and works within its own limitations to conjure up some genuine moments of horror. I remained compelled throughout the film and often shuddered at its startling images, and this is more than I can say about most horror films these days. The story concerns a young woman named Mary (a doe-eyed Candace Hilligoss) who is in a near-tragic accident in which she and her friends lose control of their car and swerve off of a bridge. As officials fruitlessly attempt to fish the car out of the water, Mary emerges, stunned but seemingly unharmed. Haunted by her near-death experience and the loss of her friends, Mary grows withdrawn and reclusive. In desperate need of a change of pace, she accepts the position of church organist in some faraway city, though she doesn’t necessarily believe in God or the supernatural. Events begin to unfold that give us a feeling that by the end of the film, she will. You shouldn't have any difficultly discovering the twists along the way, but just in case, I won’t reveal too much beyond this. I will say that as Mary begins her new life, she grows paranoid and starts having visions of a pasty-faced man (director Herk Harvey) reaching out to her sinisterly, and he gets progressively closer to her with each dream. These visions seem linked to an abandoned carnival on the outskirts of her new town, and though Mary is terrified of what is happening to her, she is determined to solve the mystery of the carnival and these eerie dreams. Carnival of Souls is certainly an impressive work, if for no other reason than its ability to maintain ingenuity despite its shoestring budget and technical limitations. It was made by a company that never made another feature film, before or since, but it is nevertheless extremely effective, and not unlike the original Night of the Living Dead and Halloween in its ability to use its amateurish qualities to creates its own, original appeal. The obviously white paste smeared on the faces of the ghosts/zombies that beckon to Mary in her dreams are certainly distracting, and most of the acting and dialogue are pretty stilted, but these flaws add to its nostalgic charm and overall eeriness. The final moments, in which Mary confronts her fears at the carnival and discovers the “truth,” are particularly terrifying in the way that they resonate with gripping, surrealistic horror. In the end, not all of the puzzle pieces have been put together satisfactorily, but I didn’t mind so much. Mary’s fate is so obvious that it would have been distracting if the story hadn’t followed through with its clear intentions, and the question marks left hovering over her journey maintain a respectable level of mystery in what is an otherwise predictable conclusion. I think what I like best about Carnival of Souls is the way that it plays on our natural, everyday fears of isolation and the unknown. When I lived in the lower forty-eight, I used to drive alone in unbending streets in the darkness of the night, and it was easy to give into the sensation that I was not alone out there. You have also found, I am sure, that in the quiet solitude of night driving, it is easy to for your imagination to get away with you: Is that a reflection in the passenger-side mirror—some demon or lonely ghost staring at you from the outside? Or when you are alone in the room of an old, dark house of some distant relative: As you smell the ancient dust in the guest bedroom, you think you see a face staring at you through the old, faded curtains. Our wits, of course, eventually get the better of our fears, and we tell ourselves that there is no one in the passenger side window or through the curtains. What is truly terrifying about Carnival of Souls, of course, is that there really is a white, evil face staring back at us. It smiles at us devilishly, with a look that notifies us that it wants no less than our souls. Cue The Twilight Zone theme. Cast: Questions? Comments? E-mail me: danel_the_tinman@hotmail.com |
||
