Carnival of Souls

Carnival of Souls is a 1962 cult horror film. If not for the organ score more than half of this movie would be silent. Criterion has this in a 2-disc set.

Entertainment Weekly notes that director Herk Harvey

never directed another feature after Carnival of Souls. But what this beautifully restored version of his near masterpiece demonstrates is simple: They really don't make 'em like this anymore. And they should.

This is a must-see, an eerie film of isolation and loneliness. Buy it. Or watch it online and then buy it:

1000 Misspent Hours considers it "one of the all-time great cinematic variations on the theme of the haunted person". Roger Ebert's review says it "still has an intriguing power." Moria calls it

one of the real sleepers of 1960s fantasy cinema. While highly acclaimed, none of the people involved ever worked in the industry again and it was little seen until a major revival in 1988

and Moria especially likes the female lead, saying, "Candace Hilligoss is excellent in the part. Perhaps one of the great crimes of the age is that Hilligoss never went on to become a major Hollywood star". Criterion Confessions has a review as part of their ongoing posts on Criterion films.

1/23/2009:Arbogast asks if this is a ghost story.

10/19/2009: I watched this today with The Daughter, who hadn't seen it before and likes it, and The Younger Son.