Carnival Of Souls DVD

Advantages: Very little
Disadvantages: Poor story | None-eventful | Not scary at all

...to do with him. Carnival of Souls is one such choice where he is listed as executive producer but that doesn’t seem too likely. Given the quality of the film he probably took his money and ran like the wind. Carnival of Souls is based loosely on the 1962 film of the same name but gives it a full colour makeover…and little else. Alex Grant (Bobbie Phillips) is a girl with a lot of worries. As a child she got lost at a fair only for the Louis Seagram ...
...she is drawn to the carnival opening up once again across from her but the hallucinations are getting worse and Alex isn’t sure what is reality and what is fiction. Despite sharing the same name as the 1962 film that’s where the bond ends. The old black and white version was considered by many who have seen it quite a cult classic and an effective horror. The modern day equivalent quite simply isn’t. The biggest flaw of the film is that it is very ... Read review

Advantages: Something to watch
Disadvantages: you have to pay rental/buying cost

Wes Cravens Carnival of souls. This film comes with sub titles such as: “Wes Craven unleashes another stylish SCREAMER”, and “A nightmarishly surreal roller coaster ride of shocks and scares!" But does this 18 certificate DVD live up to the dramatic sub titles? The film opens quite peacefully with a young lady picking flowers. Having a basket full of them, she runs home to show her mummy. However, when she enters her home and calls ...
...But where does the carnival come in? Apparently it all started at the carnival (or glorified fun fair). It was here her mother met a ‘clown’, and took him home (and most people are happy with a goldfish!) Little does her mother realise her fate ahead, when she lets him into her house, or does she realise the fate of the daughter! It’s a strange film with hardly any scary moments in it. But at the same time is unsuitable for a younger ... Read review

Advantages: Having a FastForward button on your VCR
Disadvantages: Boring, pointless and confusing.

...on pieces of crap like Carnival of Souls in the so called "Wes Craven Presents" series, then he can kiss his reputation goodbye. Carnival of souls is torture to sit through. It seems to be lacking in everything, except an array of boring and pointless dream-like snippets filled with pink squealy things. For gods sake, this is even worse than "Mind Ripper" Unfortunately I have not seen the original so I cannot compare the two but there is no way ...
...been pretty good to warrant a remake. Fortunately this stinker was released straight to video where hopefully it will be forgotten about. There is no way I could have sat through this at the cinema without the use of a fast- forward button I couldn’t wait for this movie to finish so I could see what the point was supposed to be. Turns out there is no point but to bore the viewer. This is possibly the worst horror movie of 1999 - to be avoided at ... Read review

Advantages: truly unique
Disadvantages: Creaky special effects

...of the title. The original Carnival of Souls was a low budget black and white mvoie of unparallelled beuaty and strangeness. A car bearing four teenagers crashes from a bridge into a river. A sole female survivor walks seemingly unscathed from the crash and into a strange town where she takes a room in a boarding house. There she is stalked by a mystery face at the window. Now admittedly the make up is low budget and appalling, but in some ways, ...
...The bulk of the film is set in brilliant sunshine reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, and the glare of the sun, like Camus's L'etrangere only serves to heighten the oprressive mood. I won't spoil the ending, but the final scenes in the abandoned carny display a sensational knowledge of Grand Guignol at its darkest and the revelation that all this madness actually makes sense is truly shocking. A rare cult masterpiece which I gather is soon to be ... Read review

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Short story padded out with boring, weird crap

I thought carnivals were supposed to be fun... I rented this film on video because the trailer was one of those ones that gives you a hundred ideas of what the film could be about. Unfortunately it wasn't about anything vaguely interesting or horrific. I also thought that Wes Craven's name on it might make it something a bit special, but it certainly wasn't. It could have made a very interesting short story, about a girl's fears and madness. Instead ...
...out, which bored the hell out of me. The story could have been good, a child was abused by a clown, or maybe he killed her mother, I can't really remember, years later she hears of the clown's release from prison, and thinks that he is coming after her. Only he's already dead, and she is just paranoid. I think there was an interesting twist at the very end, which would have been great if the film was 30 minutes long. But it wasn't, so it sucked. ... Read review

Advantages: Really challenging psychologically
Disadvantages: No special features

...’s not long before this brand new life starts to topple around her ears. All the time the burning desire to go to the pleasure park…… Carnival Of Souls is 45 years old (at the time of writing) it’s shot in black and white, but unlike many other movies of the time it looks older than it actually is. The acting is edgy at best, and on initial gut instinct you cannot help but ask why the hell your watching this awful film. Watching Carnival Of Souls I can only imagine to be like I night on acid; it messes with your perception and your senses. While Mary is going up the wall so are you. I find myself asking a hundred times “Why did he/she do that?” as Mary is visited by strange bizarre zombie style creatures. The most random things happen without need, cause, or justification. All the time you’re travelling this strange psychological journey... Read review

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