ameteurish like somebody's media project

It aged awfully and I hate the sound of organ so it was very difficult to watch. It makes up for bad acting and character lameness with class A creepiness and a really scary main idea. Worth watching? Yes ; do you miss a lot if you wouldn't watch it? Not really.

An intriguing premise but not very interesting clues to be much of a mystery. The only things really explained are what we already knew. Excellent production though, taking its content seriously and dramatically. [Rifftrax: There are no stand out riffs but overall quality and frequency of them is what helps take this to the next level. Some of the better movies seem to bring this out of our boys and the more dead air the better.]

A low-budget horror film that succeeds admirably in creating an eerie, haunting atmosphere. You won't easily forget it.

The acting sucks, but everything else is pretty damned good. Eerie and moody as they come. The combination of organ music and that big, empty carnival were actually giving me a weird Last Year at Marienbad vibe. All in all, a really solid horror flick.

A wonder. Really low-budget, but effective Twilight Zonish movie

Even though it's quite an odd little film in many ways, it has a wonderfully eerie atmosphere. Acting and broken scenes that don't make much sense let down this different take on ghost movies.

What on earth? A '60's exploitation cheapie elevated 2 "art-house film" by the likes of the Criterion Collection isn't fooling anybody w/ eyes 2 c the excruciatingly long Twilight Zone episode under the emperor's new clothes. Taking 90 often amateurishly-acted & clunkily-written minutes 2 accomplish what Serling did in less than 30, this proves art-house snobs c what they want 2 c. A couple of creepy images & a feminist underlay does not take the B out of this movie.

Really low-budget stuff, executed a bit sloppily but made with heart. It's packed with striking imagery, and the ambiguities hit just the right notes.

A movie that runs jump-scares into the ground, creepy people also dance in circles. I don't think people stress exactly how much of a b-movie this is. Still interesting in places, mainly visually.

Just because it is an old, slow, campy, low budget horrormovie doesn't mean the film is a 'great cult classic'. Very bad acting and ridiculous, meaningless dialogues, but not 'so bad it gets good again'. Just really bad.

Some dodgy acting and general hokiness don't prevent this from being a unique and fascinating horror movie. The movie succeeds at creating a very real sense of dread, and evolves into near nightmare-like surrealism. I've really never seen anything like it, and I definitely want to see it again.

It's got some creepy moments (the titular scene), an effective organ-based score (which of course makes sense given the heroine's profession, but think how loud & jarring today's horror movie soundtracks are, and notice how the sound cuts out for effect in this movie), and a good use of locations. It's a shame so much time is spent on the loser neighbor. Even among a cast of bad actors, he stands out as particularly bad.

Such a strange, little film. While not exactly a masterpiece, it is unique and as such, is definitely worth a look for the genre connoisseur. It has a drifting, dreamlike quality that wholly sacrifices pace for atmosphere, so those with short attention spans need not apply.

Dated B Movie horror but still quite fun in a weird way.

My favorite kind of movie: low-budget, black and white, a little rough around the edges, straddling sparse and surreal. Hilligoss stumbling up the river bank has to count for at least 40% of David Lynch's inspiration.

The story is decent and yeah, the dominating organ music is cool and forces an eerie kind of vibe throughout , but the acting made me feel like I was watching an ep of mystery science theater 3000 at points.

Succeeds in creating a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, but is badly let down whenever any of the cast open their mouth. It's just full of atrocious acting and the script relies too heavily on clunky exposition to explain things that don't need explaining. That said, the imagery and the music are enough to make it watchable. The highlights for me were the strange, dreamlike sequences where no-one could see or hear the main character. Very creepy.

74.750

A beautifully shot, yet horribly acted film with a long-drawn out plot that offers very little payoff at the end. Although, somehow maybe because of the sheer beauty of the female-lead or her exuberant expressions I found myself entranced in the film from time to time.

The soundtrack is actually REALLY awesome

Cheesy and predictable, but has a good overall atmosphere.

Too stiff and arty.

Points are mostly for the atmosphere. Being 50 years old isn't an excuse for terrible acting and stiff dialogue. Bizarrely overrated.

So-so horror film, elevated by its surreal elements. Not a masterpiece or anything, but worth a look.

Okay, so, the filmmakers said they wanted the look of a Cocteau and the feel of a Bergman, and I think they (more or less) succeeded in that respect, but they seem to have forgotten they were making a HORROR FILM. The only scary thing that happens is some creepy guy shows up every ten minutes or so, and then a strange scene at the end of the film. Creepy guy every ten minutes does not a horror film make.

Parts of it just scream "amateur night" but it's a creepy, effective little movie. Plus it's public domain so you can legally download it from archive.org

Very strange film.

This legendary indie classic may represent the ultimate triumph of talent and care over budgetary constraints. The film works both as a straight-ahead horror outing in an understated but genuinely eerie Val Lewton vein and as a dramatization of a mental breakdown. Harvey contrasts the determinedly mundane world of Mary's daily life with the haunting nocturnal images of a pier-front pavilion where the title specters perform a nightly danse macabre

A few neat cuts and angles show that the film is quite ahead of its time. The acting and dialogue aren't anything to write home about, but the consistently maintained atmosphere, relentless tension, and very pretty Candace Hilligoss make Carnival of Souls worth watching, and rewatching.

Not particularly scary while you're watching it, but the movie has an excellent atmosphere, and there are moments that chill me just to think about. The all-organ score is perhaps the movie's greatest strength, and really sets a perfect tone of dread. It's not a great movie, but it's memorable, and its influence is still felt today. Shyamalan owes his career to this movie. The good news is it's public domain, so you can watch it for free online without feeling like a thief.