Herk Harvey is “The Man” in “Carnival Of Souls”
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• Carnival of Souls is a horror film released in 1962. Produced and directed by Herk Harvey for an estimated $33,000, the movie never gained widespread public attention when it was originally released as it was intended as a B film and today, has become somewhat of a cult classic. Set to an organ score by Gene Moore, Carnival of Souls relies more on atmosphere than on special effects to create its mood of horror. The film has a extremly large cult following and occasionally has screenings at local film and Halloween festivals.
• Herk Harvey was a Lawrence, Kansas-based director and producer of industrial and educational films for the Centron Corporation. While vacationing in Salt Lake City, he developed the idea for the movie after driving past the abandoned Saltair Pavilion. Hiring an unknown actress, Lee Strasberg-trained Candace Hilligoss, and otherwise employing mostly local talent, he shot Carnival of Souls in three weeks, on location in Lawrence and Salt Lake City.
The film tells the story of Mary Henry, a talented young organist (Hilligoss). At the film’s beginning, the car in which Mary is riding, driven by a young lady, played by Lawrence student MaryAnn Harris, whom some boys in a nearby car challenge to a drag race, plunges off a bridge and into a river. Although the others in the car die, Mary, a mere passenger, mysteriously survives.
Mary then travels to Salt Lake City, where she takes a new job playing organ at a church. While driving there, she passes a large, abandoned pavilion (in reality, Salt Lake City’s Saltair amusement park), which seems to beckon to her in the twilight. Shortly thereafter, while driving along a deserted stretch of road, she sees an apparition: a deformed, ghoulish figure (aka the Man, played by director Herk Harvey) whose image replaces her reflection in the passenger window. He stares at her fixedly through the window of her moving car until her own image returns.
As the film progresses, Mary becomes acquainted with her new landlady and a lecherous, sinister fellow tenant (played by Sidney Berger). Again and again, her reflection is replaced with the Man's image. At the same time, she continues to see visions of the Man that are no longer confined to mirrors or window reflections. Although no one else is aware of his presence, she begins to experience terrifying moments when she herself becomes invisible and inaudible to the rest of the world, as if she simply isn’t there.
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Remember, you can discuss the film here without watching it again. This is the point when we could have a very interesting discussion about the shift from traditional to modern zombie films, because “Carnival Of Souls” inspired the first modern zombie film, “Night Of The Living Dead” (which will magically appear in this space next week).
The film’s running time is 78 minutes.
