REVIEW: “Carnival of Souls” (1962)

Try to chill at a creepy abandoned amusement park, and THIS happens. Every. Damned. Time.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1962
STUDIO: Rhino
MPAA RATING: NR
LENGTH: 78 mins
DVD? (Y/N): Y
BLU-RAY? (Y/N): N
NETFLIX? (Y/N): Y (DVD)
STREAMING/DIGITAL? (Y/N):  Y (Netflix and Amazon; also available in the public domain as a download)

EFFECTS (1-5): 3
SCORE (1-5): 3
OVERALL (1-5): 3

SYNOPSIS: After a traumatic accident of which she is the sole survivor, Mary Henry (Hilligoss), an agnostic woman, takes a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she is haunted by a bizarre apparition. It compels her to visit an abandoned lakeside pavilion, beginning an eerie and macabre chain of events. This nearly-forgotten, microscopically-budgeted film has achieved cult – almost mythic – status after it was run on late-night television for years in the 70’s and 80’s.