Tanz der toten Seelen (1962)

Tanz der toten Seelen: Directed by Herk Harvey. With Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison. After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.

“Carnival of souls (1962) is that rare thing in life. An intelligent and genuinely unsettling horror film. Where most horror films go for the obvious effects of gore and leave nothing to the imagination, this film takes a far more subtle approach. The film deals with the story of a withdrawn church organist Mary (Candice Hilligloss) who is involved in a car crash from which she is the only survivor. She then finds herself being pursued by a strange ghoulish looking man and has episodes where it appears no one around her can see or hear her. This leads to a startling revelation for Mary at the old abandoned Carnival in the desert.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat makes this film so good is its eerie atmosphere and the strong visual influence of German expressionist cinema, mixed with some pretty good photography (for such a low budget) and good performances from a mainly non-professional cast, results in a fine example of how to unnerve an audience without big budgets and special effects.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film can also be seen as being a major influential on other such films as David Lynchu0026#39;s Eraserhead (1976) and George Romerou0026#39;s Night of the living dead (1968).”