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Carnival Of Souls
R1 - America - Hart Sharp Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Roger Nicholl (1st June 2005). |
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The Film
 Imagine putting one of those cheesy horror films from the 50s and 60s in your DVD player, say Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) or The Killer Shrews (1959), and finding that it wasn’t a cheese fest at all. That was what happened to me when I watched Carnival of Souls, an atmospheric, and (unusual for the genre) well acted tale of a young woman on the boundary between life and death. The film is about Mary Henry (Candice Hilligoss) and the strange events that happen to her after she’s in a car accident. Three of her friends died in the accident when their car plunged off a bridge into a river during a drag race. But long after the accident she miraculously makes her way out of the river plastered with mud. The accident seems to make her withdraw into herself and become cynical. She deals with people in a clinical and soulless manner. Despite having lost three of her friends she goes ahead with her plan to move to Utah the next day to take up a job as a church organist. It’s a job she approaches much like she approaches people; as a mere mechanical act, not something with any emotional meaning. As she drives to Utah she has strange visions. She starts seeing a white-faced man (played by the film’s director Herk Harvey) who stalks her throughout the film, and passes a large abandoned carnival on the salt flats at the edge of town. The white-faced man seems to have some connection to the abandoned carnival, and the carnival has a strange pull on Mary. In Utah, Mary moves into a small boarding house. But her visions start getting worse. She sees the white-faced man again, though no one else can see him. She also has other strange experiences. And without turning into utter campiness where left with several compelling question. What happened to her after the accident? Who is the white-faced man? And what is in the carnival? Carnival of Souls is haunting, beautifully shot, and impressively written. The black and white photography heightens the sense of other worldliness that gives the film such a strong atmosphere. And even though the film’s conclusion has been borrowed so many times that it may no longer be surprising, it’s still an effective conclusion. Despite its themes being used by numerous subsequent films, Carnival of Souls still seems original. Original and good which wasn’t a common combination in 60s horror films.
Video
Presented in the film’s original theatrical ratio of 1.33:1, Off Color Films have included two transfers on this disc, a colorized version and the original black and white. The color transfer was created by Legend Films. Using a relatively new 48-bit colorization process to achieve a final image in high definition or to film quality as stated in their official site. And while it’s true that colorization of film has vastly improved from efforts in the past but does not genuinely look like a film shot in color. So it’s still easy to tell whether the film has been colorized. The color is generally well added, enhancing the image at times and giving definition to some scenes. The colors are muted in tone and color depth is limited, it doesn’t stand out too much which is a very good thing, the last thing you want is the color to look like it’s caked on power make-up. For a film of its age the transfer is quite clear, there are however the occasional signs of age such as scratches, minor print damage and dirt appearing onscreen but does not cause a major distraction. If you are not particularly fond of black and white films then you should be content with this version. Personally I prefer to view the film in its original black and white format that was intended by the director and thankfully Off Color Films have included that on the disc. The black and white transfer is very good, despite its natural film grain the image is maintains a consistent level of sharpness throughout, the blacks, grays and whites are well balanced, however the blacks were not as bold as I would have liked them to be. Shadow detail holds up well and demonstrated hardly any low level noise. There was evidence of print damage, hairline scratches and the occasional speckle of dirt popped up now and then it’s not a perfect image but it holds up perfectly well against Criterion’s release.
Audio
The color version and the black and white version feature different soundtracks. The color version includes English tracks in DTS 5.1 (half-rate) and in Dolby Digital 5.1, while the black and white version only has an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track. Both the DTS and Dolby 5.1 tracks on the color version did not seem all that different, they are basically mono tracks spread over the 5.1 channels, so depth is limited and immersive it is not. Most of the activity is focused on the centre speaker, but it is very clear and distortion free. The Dolby 2.0 Mono track present on the black and white version is much like its 5.1 counterparts, clear and dialogue is easily heard without any distortion. It basically does the same job as the 5.1 tracks do but only in 2.0 Mono, it’s not as loud and prominent but for this type of film it does the trick. I could not detect any signs of major weakness usually associated with films of this age such as hiss, pops, and crackle. The disc does not include any subtitles, so those that are hard of hearing are sadly out of luck.
Extras
The audio commentary can be viewed on either version and is by Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame. Nelson chimes in on occasion with a joke or random funny comment about the film, its makers, stars and locations - creepy Mormon amusement park anybody? Amongst his quips he provides us with some brief facts about the film. While the commentary is amusing there are far too many silent gaps for my liking. Maybe next time Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot can be included to fill those empty gaps? The disc also includes the film’s original black and white theatrical trailer, plus bonus trailers for The Flesh Eaters and Night of the Living Dead. Three text pages of production notes entitled "More about Carnival of Souls" is included with brief factoids about the film and its makers, which is a nice touch that includes some interesting trivia tidbits. Finally a liner card is included in the case with a letter from Mike Nelson thanking you for buying the DVD, on the reverse is the chapter listing.
Packaging
Off Color Films have packaged Carnival of Souls in its Director’s Cut version in a Limited Edition release featuring an autographed cover by Mike Nelson from Mystery Science Theater 3000 who has provided an audio commentary for this release.
Overall
Carnival of Souls is a dark and moody atmospherically creepy horror flick that has great performances and a well written script, it’s best viewed in its original black and white form that gives it an other-worldliness haunting feel. A color version is included for all you saps that can’t bear black and white, Off Color Film’s have included an adequate transfer paired with decent audio and series of extras that are amusing but frankly leave you wanting more.
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