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Things You Never Knew About Carnival of Souls (1962)

by Mr. Lobo

    * Carnival of Souls was shot in Kansas on a shoestring, which is much harder to load into a camera than standard film.
       
    * Automobiles seldom float, but the 1947 Nash Sudser used in the film was made out of soap!
       
    * Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.
       
    * Carnival Of Souls was the only feature film made by industrial training film director Herk Harvey. His other work includes Night Driving in High Heels, In The Key of Safety: Preventing Accidents at the Organ Factory and Utah: Where Fun Takes A Holiday.
       
    * Cold water immersion can be quite revitalizing, under the right circumstances.
       
    * Writer John Clifford wrote only one good draft of his screenplay before shooting began. Of course, we're talking about heroin - the principal photography came later.
       
    * Candice Hiligoss was manufactured for the movie by Mattel.
       
    * Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.
       
    * As Mary is driving, the ghoul that appears in the window is holdng a squeegee!
       
    * The dilapidated Saltair Pavilion used as the chilling Carnival in the film was officially closed only two weeks before shooting. It was deemed unsafe after hitting 349 child deaths in one year, 12 above the state limit.
       
    * The cinematographer for Carnival of Souls was nominated for an Academy Award® for almost making Utah look interesting.
       
    * To save money on this homegrown Kansas production, all of the dubbing and sound effects were done in Italy and recorded by telephone.
       
    * The word "Artistic," as a cinematic term, means dull or meaningless.
       
    * Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.
       
    * After a second week of shooting unusable takes with the film's cast, Herk Harvey brought in the drama club of the local high school to help the actors with their lines.
       
    * In Mexico, the film is called Chili Con Carnaval con Almas.
       
    * Director Herk Harvey was leering at and chasing the lead actress around so much during shooting that they decided to write Herk in as a ghostly figure that Mary keeps seeing.
       
    * Sidney Berger, who plays Mary's creepy neighbor, was not only in the Wes Craven-produced remake... but is also the only person on record who didn't demand a refund after paying to see it.
       
    * Mary Henry accidentally gets killed when her car goes off a bridge, and after a tasteless couple moves into her house she's forced to hire "bio-exorcist" Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) - wait, I'm thinking of another film.
       
    * For many years after the film's production, Candice Hiligoss was deathly afraid of goths and eyeliner.
       
    * In one scene Mary is in a department store, and none of the clerks or employees seem to hear or see her - proving it was shot on location at Macy's.
       
    * The Foley artist chopped carrots on a cutting board for the sound of Mary's footsteps.
       
    * For the cost of the Criterion DVD, you could have MADE Carnival of Souls!
       
    * Soundtrack Composer Gene Moore was thrown off the set after asking Candice Hiligoss to play with his organ.
       
    * Herk Harvey believed that every filmmaker has one good film in him. This was later proven by M. Night Shamalyan.
       
    * A novice driver, Candice studied episodes of Supercar so that she could look natural behind the wheel.
       
    * Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.
       
    * In test screenings, many thought the film lost its grip when Mary started talking with a giant hookah-smoking caterpillar.
       
    * The jellied eels sold at the Brighton Beach Boardwalk are NOT 'electric'... although the intrepid souls who eat them may find them electrifyingly good - especially with balsamic vinegar.
       
    * Most church organists prefer acid jazz.
       
    * Mary Henry is a postal worker who, as a result of her brutal experiences in Vietnam, mentally breaks down and starts seeing demons which follow her and kill her friends - no, wait, that was Jacob's Ladder!
       
    * Originally you could see the ending from a mile away. This was extended to 10 miles to help make the film feature-length.
       
    * Sleazy greaser neighbors are seldom encouraged to show off their organ, however much they may attempt to.
       
    * The film is so incomprehensible that it's often categorized in the "foreign" section at video stores.
       
    * In the director's cut for the picture disc released by RCA a big, goofy Great Dane and a group of teenagers unmask the ghoul who mans the abandoned carnival - to discover he was really the organ designer from the first reel.
       
    * Zombies dance poorly, unless the organ being played is a Whirl-it-zer.
       
    * Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.
       
    * Mary is a troubled girl sees dead people walking around with the living. A psychiatrist (Bruce Willis) tries to help her cope with her unique gift, and to also find out what these ghostly figures - no, sorry! That's The Sixth Sense!
       
    * When Mary plays the organ, her fingers don't match the notes. This is the reason the film is a laugh riot among organists and the Rocky Horror Picture Show of junior high school band camp.
       
    * The Priest proclaims Mary profane after she plays the church organ "Kansas style" - meaning, without shoes.
       
    * Elegant and fragile Candice Hiligoss appeared in only two films before she tripped on a dry leaf and shattered on the ground in a million pieces.
       
    * The priest who was also the casting director was so busy "casting out demons" that he failed to secure professional actors for the film.
       
    * Like many horror directors, Herk Harvey was also inspired by Million Dollar Mermaid (1952).
       
    * Many modern horror fans feel this often overrated cult favorite is quaint and outdated.. To this I say, "Pish Posh!"
       
    * The movie's title was was changed to Carnival Of Souls when the director concluded that the original title, Car Full of Dead Girls, might spoil the ending for some viewers.

Some people get offended when you make a joke about a "classic" like this one, but I think it should and can take a little ribbing. The leering, greasy neighbor is exactly the kind of element that deserves ribbing.

he he he.. I love the driving scene joke.  But then again, I'm odd
-Ed

I've had the DVD sitting around for months, I guess now I have to watch it  so I can laugh at the in-jokes.

Mr. Lobo is spread a bit thin this month so it's not my strongest list. Thanks for the compilments, everyone!

Mr. Lobo, I was very upset by this list. It's obvious to me that you only half-heartedly even tried to make this. Why is it so obvious to me? Well, simply put, because you forgot to mention something on that list that most definitely belongs there....Need me to tell you what it is? Very well then, allow me to add to your list in hopes that you won't overlook such details in the future:
Driving scenes were often used to pad out a thin script in 1960's films.

Things I Thought I Learned From "Carnival of Souls":

*I see boring dead people!*

*Credits can be classified as litter, so never let the police catch you throwing them from your car. Some animals can get caught in credits and die*

*Even dead women are poor drivers*

*Some people have bathophilia, a strong desire to take hot baths*

*It's not the size of the organ, but how the lady plays with it that counts*

*There is actually a complex society of greasy, leering creeps:The upper crust is well represented in this film *

*Organ music can make you hallucinate. There's nothing like breakin' into a church and gettin' high off "The Sweet By & By"*

*Even dead people need a therapist at some point*

*There was a time when dead people were asked to sit in the back of the bus while the living sat up front*

*It's true- dead men really don't wear plaid... but they do wear white after Labor Day*

*Thankfully, no version of Carnival of Souls exists in Smell-o-Vision or Taste-o-vision*

What I remember most about CARNIVAL OF SOULS is the organ music and when Hildaross is driving at night and that ghostly face appears in the window. Also the drag race on the bridge and the location of the dance.

Hey, Mr. Lobo can I be on you show?  (always wanted to ask)



Post Edited (10-04-05 09:57)

Sure.

When do I start Mr. Lobo? Hey everyone I'm working with Mr. Lobo now.....................

What can you do?

I can be a walk on Bill Gates look alike mixed with some of my original comedy(yes, comedy is my true calling ) and I can do it standing up or sitting down. Not many many comedians can do that. Not all my jokes are funny.  It is the audiences responsibility to sort through them.

http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/trips0/ (http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/trips0/) To see a few images of me.



Post Edited (10-04-05 23:26)

Mr. Lobo goes into the basement of his upper class B-Movie home and at the end of a long basement tunnel you have Bill Gates keeping an inventory of the films you have on file and then Bill Gates offers you your trademark cup of coffee and tries to explain the next film as incoherantly as possible and of course you must turn to the audience to explain, excuse, and clarify both the incompitence of your help and the virtues of the B-Movie about to be shown. Maybe you have Bill Gates thrown into a labratory alligator pit like in I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN. There is a big splash and then you introduce the film. Of course your assistant Bill Gates comes back at every commercial break all wet with some random unrelated dialogue.

Forget about you--Who are those two girls!

I like the idea of mr. Lobo interacting with Bill gates or Bill Gates type...We have plans to build a Super Computer for Mr. Lobo's email segments. Are you in Northern California?

Mr. Lobo,

 I'm living in New Jersey home of Lucy the Elephant (http://www.travelpig.co.uk/images/upload/407_Livi_Lucy_the_elephant.jpg) and Weird New Jersey Magazine (http://www.weirdnj.com/misc/main.asp). The two ladies in the photos are my wife and daughter : ) .  We travel to California every now and then (planning a trip to Northern California and Lake Tahoe area possibly next summer). My brother in law lives in Los Angeles and I believe your in the San Francisco area.



Post Edited (10-05-05 13:12)

Willing to travel.......................we could plan several segments with Bill Gates look alike and shoot him and Mr. Lobo in a one week period doing a number of odd skits.

Will travel for food and shelter.  : )



Post Edited (10-05-05 10:50)

Scott wrote:

> http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/trips0/ (http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/trips0/)
> To see a few images of me.

I always thought you looked like Abraham Lincoln, Scott, but you said "images" where are the other pics of you.  And yes, who are the babes?

Whoops! Wife and Daughter...well, this is awkward. Mr. Lobo is not a letch. Really!
Food and accomidations. Well we probably would get everything we need from you in a day or two, so that seems fair...Could you send me a DVD or VHS of your shtick?

Mr. Lobo
PO BOX 15685
Sacramento CA 95852

Oh man...why does the Bill Gates look-alike get to be on your show and not me? I can fart on command and I'm overly sarcastic! What more could you ask for?

Mr. Lobo wrote:

> Food and accomidations. Well we probably would get everything
> we need from you in a day or two, so that seems fair...Could
> you send me a DVD or VHS of your shtick?

P.S. Don't forget to bring your wife and daughter.

Wait...You're being sarcastic, right?

Mr. Lobo wrote:

> Wait...You're being sarcastic, right?
>

I knew I liked you for a reason.

Okay,  I finally watched the movie. I have to say I really liked the Jimi Hendrix number she did on the organ.  Why didn't anyone mention the organ music and there seemed to be a lot of scene padding going on with all the driving. They did that a lot in the 60's when the script was thin.

I also noticed only one good quote in the movie. When the lecherous neighbor brings Mary coffee in the morning and happens to mention he doesn't wash the cups.

She says to him as he leaves, "Thanks very much for the coffee. It was unsanitary, but quite delicious."

I watched it tonight. Cheap but entertaining. The end where she was being chased had a creepy feel to it and although I had already figured it out early on, I think this is what saved the movie for me. The black and white film with the black and white make-up really played out well in the look of the dead that were dancing and then chasing her. I am annoyed though that nobody seemed to mention how much driving there was in this movie...it was almost as if the intention was to pad out a thin script like they often did in the 60's.

odinn7 wrote:

> I watched it tonight. Cheap but entertaining. The end where she
> was being chased had a creepy feel to it and although I had
> already figured it out early on, I think this is what saved the
> movie for me. The black and white film with the black and white
> make-up really played out well in the look of the dead that
> were dancing and then chasing her. I am annoyed though that
> nobody seemed to mention how much driving there was in this
> movie...it was almost as if the intention was to pad out a thin
> script like they often did in the 60's.
>

To be fair, there was a great deal of walking and running as well, but the movie would've gone on a lot longer if Mary had been forced to walk everywhere. The bad news is, the undead will be just as bad driving a car as they were in life... I wonder if they'll be talking on cellphones while reading a book and drinking coffee as well...

Own it -- Love it . . .
The ballet sequence of the dead dancers pursuing the girl through the abandoned lakeside amusement pier is one of the unique images in cinema --
I thought everyone knew Scott looked like Abe Lincoln -- That's why he went to ogle his own image at Mt. Rushmore!!
I know that's your "wife" and "daughter" (Who are you kidding?  They both look way too young!), but then who's the guy in the white t-shirt with the glasses?
peter johnson/denny crane
PS;  Love the fossil bone shot!!

Isen't "Weird New Jersey" an oximoron?
New Jersey : where most of the suicides had "Help".