Hollywood Gothique
LA Cinema Gothique

Carnival of Souls (1962) at AMPAS

This screen capture from the public domain fil...
This screen capture from the public domain film Carnival of Souls shows director Herk Harvey portraying “The Man” in the film. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the world premiere of the Academy Film Archive‘s new restoration from the original negative. Over the years, CARNIVAL OF SOULS has developed a cult reputation that it does not fully deserve: the atmospheric imagery is undermined by slow pacing (this is essentially a half-hour TWILIGHT ZONE episode stretched to feature length). Yet the film is worth seeing, at least once, and the public-domain quality home video presentations undercut the film’s real strength, which lies in its visuals.

From the website:

Director Herk Harvey‘s only feature film was made on a tiny budget with a crew largely composed of industrial filmmakers from Lawrence, Kansas. Filled with evocative images, the film tells the story of a young woman who seemingly survives a car crash but is haunted by a ghostly figure that is somehow connected to an abandoned carnival pavilion.

35mm, black-and-white, 78 min.

Location: Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028

Link out: Click here

Date: September 29 at 9:30pm