It’s starting to feel a lot like Halloween! When this time of the year rolls around, I begin to ramp up on my watching time for scary and spooky movies. I love kicking off the season with two of my favorites. Carrie and Carnival of Souls. In this video, I’m going to talk a little bit about the movie as well as the wonderful costuming that gives it that extra little eeriness. If you want to find out more, watch this video.
Halloween is creeping up on us. I look forward to this time of year and eagerly anticipate the crispness of the air and the crunch of fallen leaves. To some, this signifies the end of the year, but for me, it feels like a beginning. I await the shorter days and longer nights and, of course, sweater weather! I am an Autumn girl.
As I mentioned in the opening, when this time of year rolls around, I start ramping up my watch time of spooky movies. Whether they are horror, suspense, or beautiful ghost stories. Carrie is my first go-to to and then Carnival of Souls is next. I also want to mention that for my birthday, a good friend gifted me a signed copy of Candace Hilligoss’ promotional shot from the movie!
In this video, I am going to chat about the movie, the costuming, and of course, Candace Hilligoss.
To start, let me tell you what the movie is about. Also, you really need to watch this movie. It has become a cult classic and is an inspiration to many filmmakers, such as Wes Craven and Martin Scorsese, and horror enthusiasts.
Carnival of Souls was released in 1962 and can be best described as a psychological horror film. It is incredibly creepy. I am going to talk a wee bit about the plot of the movie here. I won’t give too much away, especially if you want to watch it. There are copies of it on YouTube and Tubi. On Tubi, there is both a black and white version and a colour version. The original movie was made in black and white, and I recommend you watch that version. The director Herk Harvey uses light and shadow to create the atmosphere, and you lose that in the colour version.
In this movie, Candace Hilligoss plays Mary Henry. Mary somehow walks away from a fatal car crash. This drives her to want to start life over again, including moving to another state. Mary is a very talented organist and finds work at a local church. While living in a rooming house, she not only has to deal with her creepy and inappropriate neighbour (the fabulous Sidney Berger), but she also begins having terrifying dreams and visions of a nearby, abandoned carnival.
I personally feel that Candace executes the role of Mary incredibly. You can feel her pain and isolation.
I’m going to leave the movie plot here. Please go watch it.
Before I talk about who Candace Hilligoss is, I want to get to the costuming first. It truly adds a lot of layers to the story and the visuals of this movie.
Carnival of Souls was a low-budget movie. They only had a budget of 33,000 dollars and even in 1962, that wasn’t very much money to work with. We’ve seen this in many other movies, including those by director Roger Corman. In many instances, actresses would use their own clothes. There hasn’t been anything that I could find that it was the case here as well.
The director Herk Harvey was not only the director and producer, but he also had a hand in the costume design. In order to stay within budget, all of the costumes were very simple. You will even see this with the ghouls. They were dressed in the clothing of the time, including Mary’s clothing.
Mary wears very simple, classic shapes, including a few shirtwaist dresses, a sweater set and a gathered skirt. Very easy to wear pieces that work for her character.
The actors playing the ghouls were portrayed by local theatre students from the University of Kansas. They all supplied their own costumes that were also basics. Leotards, skirts, and trousers. Being theatre students, they also did their own make-up. They truly captured the look of the ghouls. The main ghoul was dressed in a simple suit with a tie and a white shirt. Giving a funerary feel to it.
So… back on my capsule wardrobe kick. Mary’s outfits from this movie would make a great basis for one.
Speaking of Mary! Let’s talk about the actress who played her, Candace Hilligoss.
I am currently reading her biography, The Odyssey and The Idiocy, Marriage to an Actor, A Memoir. I wasn’t sure how good it would be, but it’s actually a fun read and has some really humorous moments.
Mary Candace Hilligoss was born on August 14, 1935, in South Dakota. After completing university, like so many other actors, she made her way to New York City to begin a career in theatre. She studied at the Actors Studio and worked with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg.
Before becoming an actor, Candace was also a model.
Candace didn’t end up in that many movies. After Carnival of Souls, she was in another horror movie called The Curse of the Living. We will be showing this in November at our monthly movie series, Killer B Cinema.
She also had small roles in a few TV shows, including Quincy M.E.
Her acting career wasn’t long, but she became a cult movie figure.
Candace went on to marry Nicolas Coster and have two daughters with him, and this marriage is the theme of her memoir.
Candace has her own website! www.candacehilligoss.com.
I hope you enjoyed my little kick-off to Halloween season! Let me know if you are going to watch this movie or if you’ve seen it before. Also, let me know what you do to kick off Halloween!
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