The Criterion Collection

Carnival of Souls

Edition no. 63

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Release Date: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Country of Release: USA
MSRP: $39.95

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Licensor Information

Matthew Irvine and Peter Soby, Jr.

Directed by: Herk Harvey

Featuring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison, Stan Levitt, Herk Harvey

A young woman in a small Kansas town survives a drag race accident, then agrees to take a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she becomes haunted by a bizarre apparition that compels her toward an abandoned lakeside pavilion. Made by industrial filmmakers on a modest budget, the eerily effective B-movie classic Carnival of Souls was intended to have “the look of a Bergman and the feel of a Cocteau”—and, with its strikingly used locations and spooky organ score, it succeeds. Herk Harvey’s macabre masterpiece gained a cult following on late-night television and continues to inspire filmmakers today.

Year: 1962
Time: 78 min.

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Last 24 Hours

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Last 7 Days

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Release Information:

Technical Specifications

Format:

Blu-ray

Disc:

BD-50 (1 Disc)

Total: 1 Disc

Regions:

A (Blu-ray)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37:1

Audio Options:

English PCM Mono 1.0

Resolution:

1080p/24

Subtitles:

English

Supplements

Types of Supplements Included: Documentary, Outtakes, Theatrical Trailer, Mulitimedia Essay, Video Presentation, Short Film, Audio Commentary, Interview, Video Essay, Deleted Scenes, Poster Insert

Selected-scene audio commentary featuring director Herk Harvey and screenwriter John Clifford
New interview with comedian and writer Dana Gould
New video essay by film critic David Cairns
The Movie That Wouldn't Die! The Story of Carnival of Souls: a documentary on the 1989 reunion of the cast and crew
The Carnival Tour: a video update on the film
One hour of excerpts from films made by the Centron Corporation, an industrial film company based in Lawrence, Kansas that employed Harvey and Clifford for over thirty years
Deleted Scenes
More than 45 minutes of rare outtakes accompanied by Gene Moore’s organ score
An illustrated history of the Saltair resort in Salt Lake City
Theatrical trailer
Insert featuring an essay by writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse

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Film

7.3200/10

Picture

Audio

Supplements

Artwork

Release Credits

Artwork: Eric Skillman

Producer: Susan Arosteguy

Artwork: Edward Kinsella

Release Notes on Restoration

Carnival of Souls

The original theatrical version of Carnival of Souls is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and the right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using the MTI Film’s DRS, while Digital Vision’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, jitter and flicker.

The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm original soundtrack negative. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX 4.