Carnival of Souls (1998)

For two-thirds of its spare 86 minutes, this remake of the 1962 cult classic is a tautly constructed, engaging, supernatural suspense thriller. Then, right when it needs to kick into high gear, it all goes flooey. Splatter fans will be disappointed by the low gore quotient and deliberate pacing; the film favors psychological horror over physical. The evil screaming worm-people that are intercut throughout the picture lose their shock value pretty quickly. The climax is, well, anticlimactic. And the shaggy-dog ending, which was a letdown in the original, is a letdown here too. But Larry Miller is superbly evil as the pederast and murderer who returns from the dead to terrorize the woman who helped put him behind bars. And Bobbie Phillips, despite her limitations, is nicely effective in the lead, especially in the quieter moments. It's two-thirds of a good movie (but then again, so was Apocalypse Now). Trivia factoid: Sidney Berger, who was the creepy neighbor in the original, plays the older cop in the end sequence. --Geof Miller Amazon.com

C of S- Revisted

This movie is a very good remake of a classic. Theme remains the same, young attractive woman having an in and out experience with reality. I like the troubling problem she has with water thru-out the movie indicating a slow and visual death, including feelings of desire. Shawnee Smith fans will enjoy her singing talent, playing the younger also attractive woman. August 11, 2007

HEAVY DRAMA, LOTS OF LESSONS ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH, BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT A.D.D. FRIENDLY

The 1998 version of the 1962 low-budget horror classic.

It was a bad idea to classify this as a "horror" story, even though some of the events do qualify as horror. But too many people try to match this to the original, and that in itself is a mistake. In the day where original films are passe, at least this tries to make a new story based on a similar premise. That being a young woman is made to face her fear.

The Phillips character (Alex), as a young naive girl, witnesses the rape and murder of her mother, and could have shot this fiend (Louis, portrayed by Larry Miller) before he killed her; he foolishly left his gun on the nightstand. Watching the mother character's neck snap in the hands of Louis, is singularly unpleasant to watch, and downright disturbing. Instead, she panics and runs. He was obviously caught, and served twenty years for his offense, and now he's out to even the score ("I never hold a grudge, once I get even").

It's about sacrifice, facing the thing that scares you the most, and letting your worries go. Many times in the film, the Sandra character (Shawnee Smith) tells her big sister not to worry about her, "You worry too much, I'll be fine." Alex sees herself as the reason the girls were orphaned so early, and denied the relationship with their mother; she could have shot Louis before he killed her mother (the father was absent all along, pretty typical in too many families) and fretted over Sandra as if she were her own daughter. In an act of closure, on the twentieth anniversary of the murder, Alex goes to the seaside to let the wind blow the ashes of her dead mother over the ocean, and when she returns to the car, there's a balloon on her car's antenna. Louis has obviously been stalking her, and at gunpoint, he decides it's time to finish old business. You are forced to drive to your home and watch this monster at work again. So what do you do? With a murderer's gun to your ear, you floor your gas pedal, steer your car off the pier, and even though you die yourself, you rid the world of this filth who has ruined at least three lives.

The entire middle of the film is a personal journey through life in an alternate dimension. Her aquaintences are all there, with their own lives, but everything they say and do, is geared to her dilemma. She's dead, and refuses to face it. She is afraid to leave her sister behind, and afraid of the man who has tormented her for twenty years, and afraid to move to the next. The "beings," I'll call them, are symbolic of crucial times , people and events in her world, and they are called "annoying" by some people, but they are symbolic of personal demons in her life; they pop up at crucial moments. Startling to look at, because they come in so unexpectedly, they are meant to catch you off guard, as they do Alex.

The events are about closure, and moving on, and in one flashback scene toward the end, the old man in the bar asks her, "You're not afraid, are you?" And again, Sandra says "You worry too much; I'll be fine."

It's a movie about life, that's all. July 15, 2006

Not as good as the original, but it didn't suck as much as I was expecting it to.

A young girl sees her mother violently killed at the hands of the live-in boyfriend (who also happens to be a carnival clown). Later as an adult she is haunted by her past when the carnival comes back to town.


I loved the original black and white Carnival of Souls movie and I'm usually a little skittish about remakes. I must admit that I was given some forewarning that Wes Craven changed the plot in this one, which probably helped my overall take on it. So from the start I wasn't expecting much.

In this version the girl and her sister own a bar. There is no church and no organ music, which takes away from the eeriness that we all loved. Hmm how to describe? In another review someone described the original b&w movie as being "darkly poetic and haunting," which can't be said any better. In this version, Wes Craven turns the carnival into a brighter, more chaotic and psychotic place. The ending is similar in the sense that everything is not what it seemed, but obviously with the different plot comes an entirely new scene.

Shawnee Smith is in this film, which is a definite bonus. Also Larry Miller plays a great sicko clown!

I'm giving the movie a 2.5. Compared to the original, the movie deserves a 1 or less. However, anyone who enjoys Wes Craven flicks and sees this movie before seeing the original will probably enjoy it enough to rate it a 3 or 4. So I'll be generous and rate in the middle.

July 10, 2006

Stink, Stank, Stunk!

This 1998 version of the 1963 orignal is a pathetic attempt to scare, with its mundane "slamming-door-type" effects and stolen Jabob's Ladder gouls! I was very disappointed by this cheap imitation to conjour the allure and intrigue of the original masterpiece. I expected more, because of its later date of production. The only pleasant thing I can say about this movie,
save your money and buy the original version, whether it be re-mastered, colorized, or un-cut, but don't buy this! June 14, 2005

They await...

A classic horror film which reaches deep inside the psyche to manifest those dark primal fears.

Some people just can't deal with stress very well. A young lady is transported into the shadowy recesses of her own darkside, cued by the infernal instrument of the organ. Her life becomes haunted by her fears & nightmares, as they slither into reality.

The camera angles are very creativly utilized, & the sense of eeriness is preserved well throughout the movie. I thought it a great touch to present the movie mostly non-verbal but for a couple of occasions, in order to present realistic dream sequences. Mental torment & fantasy / reality crossover rampant here, without the demoralization. Very well recommended. January 19, 2005

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