Review - Wes Craven Presents: Carnival of Souls

I am beginning to take the “Wes Craven Presents” warnings seriously . . .

. . . it seems as though all of the movies that have Wes Craven Presents before the title are turning out to be real stink bombs. Such is mostly the case in the remake (and I use this term loosely) of Wes Craven Presents: Carnival of Souls.

Although I did really enjoy the character of “the clown”, Louis Seagram (Larry Miller) the addition of this character was probably the single most disjointed aspect of this film in relation to the original.

So even if we forget the original and just focus on this film it was really hard to follow. I mean, was Alex Grant (Bobbie Phillips) hallucinating or dreaming during the entire film or was she already dead? And if she was already dead, was it really younger sister Sandra (Shawnee Smith) going insane; maybe insanity just ran in the family and after Alex offed herself, Sandra was next to follow? What was with the dripping water? Was this supposed to signify the fact that she had drowned? And the carnival itself - don’t get me wrong, I love a good spooky carnival but this one seemed a tad bit shoved into the movie at times for me.

The opening scenes started off promising enough with young Alex (Raquel Beaudene) walking in on the evil clown beating on her mother (Anna K. McKown). This scene admittedly would scar any child for life. It was perhaps the best scene of the film in my opinion. There were some other really great visuals in the film as well. The giant melting clown head was one of my faves. So atmospherically, I thought Wes Craven Presents: Carnival of Souls had a lot to offer but plot-wise it was missing way too much for the atmosphere to fill in the holes.

While I wouldn’t say skip the film totally, I would definitely warn against going out of your way to see it.

Directed by
Adam Grossman
Ian Kessner

Writing credits
(WGA)
John Clifford (story "Carnival of Souls")
Adam Grossman (screenplay)

Cast (in credits order)
Bobbie Phillips ... Alex Grant
Shawnee Smith ... Sandra Grant
Larry Miller ... Louis Seagram
Paul Johansson ... Michael
Cleavant Derricks ... Sid
Henry G. Sanders ... Officer Soby
Brendan Thomas Dillion ... Henry
Anna K. McKown ... Elaine Grant (as Anna Kristen McKown)
Raquel Beaudene ... Young Alex Grant
iffanie Ann Taylor ... Young Sandra Grant
Joseph S. Griffo ... Photographer
Robert LaSardo ... Candyman (as Robert A. LaSardo)
Mark Paskell ... Clown
Ellen Albertini Dow ... Mrs. Meltzer
Andrew Craig ... Worker
Michael Phenicie ... Dr. Goldfine
Wendy Worthington ... Receptionist
Brent Hinkley ... Cop
Sidney Berger ... Cop

rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark J. Ferreri ... Bar Patron at Table (uncredited)