Carnival of souls - (b & w) (1962)

Read more

A young woman in a small Kansas town survives a drag race accident, then agrees to take a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she becomes haunted by a bizarre apparition that compels her toward an abandoned lakeside pavilion. Made by industrial filmmakers on a modest budget, the eerily effective B-movie classic Carnival of Souls was intended to have “the look of a Bergman and the feel of a Cocteau”—and, with its strikingly used locations and spooky organ score, it succeeds. Herk Harvey’s macabre masterpiece gained a cult following on late-night television and continues to inspire filmmakers today.

An introverted church organ player named Mary, mysteriously emerges onto a river bank dazed and uninjured hours after a serious car accident. Mary is pursued by a terriflying, ghoulish apparition beckoning her. Although she tries to run from this grinning stalker and the nightmarish goings-on in an old pavilion, there is no escaping the fate that awaits her.

It is nearly impossible to watch this film and not be haunted by this combination of music, silence and imagery.