Whether Herk Harvey ever watched Val Lewton's 40s horror classics, I can't say, but he certainly seems to have re-invented that producer's style for the TV generation. That this film was a one-off project by an industrial documentary maker makes it even more peculiar.
As in Lewton's films, script and acting are both abysmal, so let us pay them no more attention. Again, as with Lewton, it's the atmosphere which distinguishes this work from other low-budget shockers. By the use of sustained shots, minimised lighting, sound (or lack of it) and the slightest make-up, Harvey manages to create a vision that is simply terrifying at the most fundamental level. We might quibble that the zombies are corny, or even that Hilligoss deserves what she gets, but these seem like details in the face of the remorseless chill.
It's possible David Lynch may have seen this film in his youth - if so, you can see possible influences in the disjointed style, the inappropriate dialogue, the use of public buildings to hide sinister elements, aspects shared between his films and this one.
In any event, I vastly prefer this film over Night of the Living Dead, which takes the same elements and removes most of the subtlety (in Carnival, we never actually see violence committed by the zombies). This film would never have won an award, but in its own limited genre it may be the best of its kind.
As in Lewton's films, script and acting are both abysmal, so let us pay them no more attention. Again, as with Lewton, it's the atmosphere which distinguishes this work from other low-budget shockers. By the use of sustained shots, minimised lighting, sound (or lack of it) and the slightest make-up, Harvey manages to create a vision that is simply terrifying at the most fundamental level. We might quibble that the zombies are corny, or even that Hilligoss deserves what she gets, but these seem like details in the face of the remorseless chill.
It's possible David Lynch may have seen this film in his youth - if so, you can see possible influences in the disjointed style, the inappropriate dialogue, the use of public buildings to hide sinister elements, aspects shared between his films and this one.
In any event, I vastly prefer this film over Night of the Living Dead, which takes the same elements and removes most of the subtlety (in Carnival, we never actually see violence committed by the zombies). This film would never have won an award, but in its own limited genre it may be the best of its kind.