Seeing that this remake of the cult classic was coming from Wes Craven, the director of such classics as "The Last House on the Left", "The Hills Have Eyes", and "Scream", I thought it might be okay. But I was so very wrong. If I learned anything from this, it is that titles with "Wes Craven presents" at the beginning of them usually aren't very good movies.
The film centers around a woman who is in a car accident whose life is turned upside down and everything around her seems to be dreamlike - her life completely spins out of control. What's real and what isn't? "Carnival of Souls" is one of those movies that has the protagonist caught up between flashbacks, dreams, and reality, which irritatingly confuses the viewer time and time again. These flashback sequences to the main characters childhood (and the murder of her mother) happen so frequently, that the audience has no idea what's going on. One minute, the main character is in her house, the next she's running from a rottweiler in an abandoned carnival, then she's on a boat having sex with some guy she barely knows. What is that? Don't get me wrong, flashback and dream sequences are okay in movies, but they have to fit in with the rest of the movie. They can be effective if used properly, but in Carnival of Souls the only effect it has on you is to make you want to stop watching, because by the middle of the film you are completely confused and have no idea what's happening.
I will say that this movie had some potential, but just completely lost it. I've heard the original is brilliant, I hope it's much better than this garbage. An extremely confusing mess. 3/10.
The film centers around a woman who is in a car accident whose life is turned upside down and everything around her seems to be dreamlike - her life completely spins out of control. What's real and what isn't? "Carnival of Souls" is one of those movies that has the protagonist caught up between flashbacks, dreams, and reality, which irritatingly confuses the viewer time and time again. These flashback sequences to the main characters childhood (and the murder of her mother) happen so frequently, that the audience has no idea what's going on. One minute, the main character is in her house, the next she's running from a rottweiler in an abandoned carnival, then she's on a boat having sex with some guy she barely knows. What is that? Don't get me wrong, flashback and dream sequences are okay in movies, but they have to fit in with the rest of the movie. They can be effective if used properly, but in Carnival of Souls the only effect it has on you is to make you want to stop watching, because by the middle of the film you are completely confused and have no idea what's happening.
I will say that this movie had some potential, but just completely lost it. I've heard the original is brilliant, I hope it's much better than this garbage. An extremely confusing mess. 3/10.