Is it really 50 years since 'Carnival of Souls?!'

 

You bet.

In 1962, the, as yet unknown, Herk Harvey decided it was time to make a movie all of his own.

He had ample writing, directing and producing experience prior to this - from the 50's through to the 80's, he worked for Centron (an independent producer of educational and industrial films), making well received docu-pics covering everything from the gloriously unremarkable - 'Manners in School' to the slightly ridiculous - 1963's, 'Pork: The Meal with a Squeal.'

Prior to his interest in meat products however, Harvey co-wrote, directed, produced and starred (well, that's stretching the truth slightly...) in 'Carnival of Souls,' one of the underappreciated genre movies of the early 1960's.

There is no real need to go into the plot - the film, now public domain, is included here for you to see for yourself.  Suffice to say it is like no other motion picture- with the possible exception of Romero's darkly claustrophobic first feature, heavily influenced by Harvey's surrealistic masterpiece, and made some 6 years later. 

Of course, you'll have to bring your own screams - that is if you can hear yourself scream above the macabre Gene Moore soundtrack...but those screams, I can assure you, will come.  Despite being made 50 years ago, the film delivers big time on chilly chills - the kind of sweet otherwordly chills that Hollywood, with few recent exceptions, appears to have neither the guile nor desire to reproduce...

Harvey died in 1996.  But his film, and his own uniquely terrifying performance in it, lives on.