MovieChat Forums > Carnival of Souls (1998) Discussion > Underrated

Underrated

posted 18 years ago by Ginsublade82
8 replies | jump to latest

Is it better than than the original COS? heck, no.

Is it creepy and disturbing as hell? you betcha.

Damn, i've never heard so much bitching and bellyaching about a movie in all my life. I've heard complaints about it being nothing but dream sequences, well duh! that's what the original COS was. The plot (yes there is one for all you nay-sayers out there) is about a woman, who's car plunges over a dock, and into a river and doesn't realize she's dead, that's why she's seeing all the weird s**t going on all around her.

No masterpiece, but definetely underrated IMO. The best scene in the film for me would be the car wash sequence, where you see flash cuts of faceless creatures with teeth, reminicent of the cenobites from "Hellraiser".

[–] BoingoKid 18 years ago

I agree, i liked this movie

I bought this pen one hour before my bike was stolen. Why? What's the significance? I don't know!

[–] reiss-ferlance 18 years ago

I don't think this movie is underrated

[–] moviefiend-1 18 years ago

i agree. it kept me entertained for the whole 90mins, there's some weird stuff going which all gets explained with a nice lil twist at the end. The movie did its job in it made me completely not see it coming.

Definatly has a re-watch factor thing going for it after knowing the twist.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sitalique 14 years ago

The movie is real up to the point she goes crashing the car into the water with the guy, and then again at the end when they find the car.

Everything in between was her spirit realizing she had to let go of her demons and face the fact that she died. That is why she keeps seeing the guy everywhere and the bar keeps filling with water even though there is no leak. Once she finally confronted him she was free.

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[–] hawk-58 16 years ago

<<No masterpiece, but definetely underrated IMO. The best scene in the film for me would be the car wash sequence, where you see flash cuts of faceless creatures with teeth, reminicent of the cenobites from "Hellraiser".>>

I'm with you, Ginsublade82! I am a big fan of the original, which I have owned for years. I caught this on cable a few months ago and was surprised at how watchable it was. I agree there are few similarities between the two movies, but each has its good points. God, that car wash sequence is a nightmare inducer for sure! Very X-Files.

Do I understand the plot here? Not really, but I have only seen it once. Larry Miller was great; who said he wasn't scary? Someone who didn't see this movie, obviously.

I know it's usually rated one star; I would give it two and a half. Bobbie Phillips is a beautiful girl with a very natural acting style. It was fun trying to figure it all out, and I will definitely watch again and see if I can get what was in Wes Craven's mind when he decided to do a "remake" of a revered low-budget film. It's not as if he has to crib from others' work, so I think there were some other, interesting things going on here from his standpoint.

[–] Joe 25 16 years ago

This one is a giant turd, sorry. A movie can have a million parts or sequences that are cool and it'd still stink. I will say the one good sequence in the movie is the car wash one. Other than that, this one was/is an abomination.

[–] pc_buttspasm 14 years ago

I totally agree with this. I only watched it because Shawnee Smith is in it (I've loved her ever since the remake of The Blob) (loved her in movies that is - please don't take out a restraining order against me, Ms. Smith) and expected it to be a travesty of the original.

But I ended up really enjoying it. And yeah I agree about the car wash sequence, those flash cuts got me and I also thought of Hellraiser. The movie also reminded me of Jacob's Ladder.

I don't know how much of my enjoyment came from being high as a kite at the time (I used to love smoking one before watching a horror movie, it makes me more susceptible to being scared and I don't care if the plot doesn't make sense) but it worked for me. No masterpiece indeed, but good enough. If it had a different title, maybe people would like it more?