1960s film
Carnival of Souls, 1962, USA DIRECTED BY HERK HARVEY
The inspiration behind everything from M. Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense to David Lynch's Lost Highway, and a cult genre movie in its own right. The producer and director Herk Harvey cast (and perfectly, it must be said) the unknown actress Candace Hilligloss as the slightly standoffish Mary Henry, a young woman who survives her car going over the side of a bridge and into a river while all her companions drown. Mary's work as a church organist is the natural cue for the film's haunting soundtrack, consisting entirely of organ music that veers from the spiritual to the downright creepy, as Mary experiences disturbing visions of a mysterious man (Harvey himself, in sinister make-up) while also discovering she's becoming more physically detached from the world. This film contains many memorable sequences, frequently reminiscent of the psychologically dark imagery of Ingmar Bergman, although the best scene is where her own playing of the church organ gradually twists itself into a much more sensual and sinister sound, somehow against her will. Herk Harvey had the idea for the film while in Salt Lake City, and managed to use the specific location that inspired him: Saltair, a large abandoned amusement park. His previous film-making experience was in producing educational films, but he clearly also knew how to put supernatural chills across with the smallest effort, getting every cent of value for the $30,000 spent on it. This is still considered a B-movie only by virtue of it's low budget, while the cinematography is often first-rate and most who enjoy it are convinced of its higher quality compared to most B-movie fare. What it's always been, to my mind, is a movie that's stood up to several viewings over the years, an understated and completely haunting miniature masterpiece.
( Cross-posted with cult_movie)