Carnival of Souls (1962)

All throughout this film, I kept thinking how it reminded me of a long episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’. It was only until after that I realized that this was inspired by ‘The Hitch Hiker’ (1960), which is….wait for it….one of my all time favorite episodes of ‘The Twilight Zone’. So I feel stupid now. It’s fine. But yeah, that’s what this film is, a fun, quick psychological trip that honestly had me a tiny bit freaked out. It pulls a Sixth Sense and saves its twist for the very end, which I was happy about. All this weird stuff is happening, and it’s only at the last minute where you’re just like, “Oh. I see what you did there!” It’s not the best written film, mostly because it does take very heavy inspiration from ‘The Hitch Hiker’, and is almost a remake, just longer. But it does introduce new characters and a spooky carnival that genuinely made me feel uneasy. The lead performance from Candance Hilligoss was decent, and though her vocal work seemed very bland at times, she has some facial expressions that definitely stick with you. Physically, she fit the role very well. My last thought is how I love how the creepy dead people are literally just extras with makeup. Nothing too out there, no special effects, just real life. In fact, this film actually inspired Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’. Overall, this was spooky and unnerving, and I can easily see this becoming a yearly autumn rewatch for me. It’s got the same goofy charm that horror classics like ‘House on Haunted Hill’ and ‘The Ghost and Mr. Chicken’ have. I would recommend it to all classic horror fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!