Carnival of Souls

October 19, 2008 12:44 PM

Harold "Herk" Harvey, a director of educational and industrial films for the Centron Corporation, was driving through Utah when he spotted the derelict Saltair Resort squatting on a mudded lakebed. The sight charged him with ideas, and when he returned home he recruited his Centron colleages and an unknown method actress to make a psychological horror movie. The atmospheric result, shot over three weeks at locations in Kansas and Utah, was 1962's Carnival of Souls.

Partially annotated YouTube version.
Archived Criterion essays.
Criterion Contraption essay.

Some of Harvey's Centron shorts:
"Speech: Using Your Voice" (1950)
"Cheating" (1952)
"Why Study Industrial Arts?" (1956)
"Shake Hands With Danger" (1980)

posted by Iridic (10 comments total)

(Thanks to cog_nate for the MST3K links!)
posted by Iridic at 12:45 PM on October 19, 2008

That DVD was definitely worth the 99 cents I paid for it.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:51 PM on October 19, 2008

God I love this movie.

Thank you Centron!
posted by The Whelk at 1:00 PM on October 19, 2008

He made Shake Hands With Danger? Fantastic! I had no idea. I love that film.
posted by iwhitney at 1:00 PM on October 19, 2008

I well remember being a kid watching Carnival late one night by myself and having the CRAP scared out of me by those moments when the actress seems to be invisible to everyone around her. That along with that creepy carnival. I'm sure it's very tame now, but that fear of just being ignored by everyone and not being able to get anyone's attention got into me in a very deep way back then.
posted by jasper411 at 1:03 PM on October 19, 2008

The Centron films also appear on the Internet Archive, should you want to want to see larger versions or download the videos.

• All Centron Films
• Shake Hands With Danger
• Cheating

posted by iwhitney at 1:05 PM on October 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

Hey! I just saw "Carnival of Souls"! It's amazing! Herk did more with less than just about anyone I can name. If you get the DVD, make sure to watch the extra about Centron films. Lawrence, Kansas, Hollywood of the Midwest.
posted by MarshallPoe at 3:52 PM on October 19, 2008

I ended up watching the first half of Carnival of Souls late one night on Film Four, and taped the rest to watch later.

And despite the several-days gap, it was still incredibly chilling.

Which makes it far more brilliant than any other horror movie I've seen in a long time.
posted by Katemonkey at 4:00 PM on October 19, 2008

iwhitney:Cheating

A Centron production! Although we got the idea from another company.... because we're cheating.
posted by dr_dank at 8:07 PM on October 19, 2008

Hmm, I remember putting an FPP together and finding that Herk was already on mefi. Oh well.

I love the movie as well, and love Lawrence a lot, so here's some more links (and sorry if any of these are in the criterion links, but it's all jacked up for me):

2004 interview from lawrence.com about the movie with a nice inset about where the action was filmed.

Joe Bob Briggs weighs in on the movie.

Candace Hilligoss interview.

A decent essay on the movie.

Also, Centron became Oldfather Studios, where the movie C.S.A. did sound (on the Herk Harvey soundstage) and editing.
posted by sleepy pete at 6:52 PM on October 20, 2008 [1 favorite]