Andy Muschietti’s Favorite Horror Movie Is a Must-See 63-Year-Old Cult Classic

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Andy Muschietti is a director well-known among horror fans for creating visually striking and emotionally resonant scary movies. Films like Mama and It often combine disturbing experiences with a creepy atmosphere and dreamlike visuals. That’s why when HBO mentioned Carnival of Souls as a favorite film of Andy and Barbara Muschietti, it caught many people’s attention. While Muschietti is known to take inspiration from many classic horror films, Carnival of Souls holds a uniquely strange and memorable place among them.

For a director like Muschietti, who frequently explores themes of ghosts, in-between spaces, and characters caught between realities, choosing Carnival of Souls makes a lot of sense. The film’s eerie visuals and slow, dreamlike quality are very similar to elements found in his most famous work. Both Muschietti and Carnival of Souls are fascinated by how the mind breaks down when sadness mixes with the supernatural. Considering how often his films play with broken timelines, unreliable perspectives, and troubled characters, his appreciation for this 1962 classic isn’t surprising – it actually sheds light on his own artistic style.

Carnival of Souls Remains a Defining Cult Classic of Psychological Horror

When Carnival of Souls first came out in 1962, it wasn’t a hit with audiences. People were used to horror movies with big budgets and lots of special effects, or monster movies focused on spectacle. Herk Harvey’s film felt too subtle and unusual for the time. However, it was this very strangeness that ultimately made the film a lasting classic.

After years on television and a recent restoration, the film Carnival of Souls has become well-known for its unsettling atmosphere, simple style, and captivating images. It’s now considered a landmark psychological horror movie from its time.

The story centers on Mary Henry, a young organist who remarkably survives a car crash. Seeking a fresh start, she relocates to Utah, hoping to escape the trauma. However, she soon begins to have disturbing experiences – seeing strange, pale figures and finding that the world around her sometimes shifts into a surreal, dreamlike state. In these moments, sounds disappear, people act as if she isn’t there, and everything feels unreal.

As the story unfolds, Mary becomes increasingly fixated on an old, abandoned building by the lake called the Saltair Pavilion. This place feels both safe and dangerous to her, powerfully drawing her in. By the end of the film, it’s revealed that Mary actually died in the initial crash and has been a ghost ever since, trying to come to terms with her death. Her experiences throughout the story have been her spirit’s way of understanding what happened.

When Carnival of Souls first came out, opinions were divided. But today, many critics see it as a perfect example of how to create horror with very little. Because the filmmakers didn’t have a lot of money for special effects, director Herk Harvey and writer John Clifford focused on building a creepy mood. They used striking black and white visuals, lonely settings, confusing editing, and very little conversation to create a feeling of growing dread.

The film’s sound design adds to its eerie atmosphere. Extended periods of quiet, or the use of organ music, highlight Mary’s sense of isolation. This creates a feeling of being otherworldly, lost, and devoid of vitality, reflecting her own uncertain and transitional state.

The deserted carnival grounds play a big role in creating the film’s dreamlike and mysterious atmosphere. Carnivals naturally suggest a sense of being ‘in-between’ things – a transition from one state to another, and a blurring of the line between fun and threat. In this film, however, all the joy has been removed, leaving only the bare framework of the structures, haunting shadows, and a feeling of ghostly presence. The central pavilion visually represents Mary’s inner turmoil – she’s both attracted to it and deeply afraid of it.

What makes Carnival of Souls so enduringly unsettling is the push and pull between being drawn in and feeling a sense of doom. The film doesn’t use typical horror tricks like sudden scares or creatures; instead, the fear builds as we realize Mary is slipping away from the world of the living, a reality she struggles to accept until she can’t deny it any longer.

The Cult Classic Deeply Aligns with Andy Muschietti’s Vision of Horror

To see why Andy Muschietti might connect with the film Carnival of Souls, it helps to look at the common themes in his own movies. Muschietti often tells stories where the supernatural is linked to deep emotional pain, particularly lingering trauma that changes how characters see the world. His film Mama, for example, centers on two girls whose sadness and feelings of being abandoned draw a vengeful ghost to them.

His take on Stephen King’s It really focuses on the fears of childhood, how memories linger, and the lasting emotional damage that can surface later in life. He also explores the devastating results of avoiding grief. Throughout his work, characters are constantly facing their past traumas – sometimes as actual ghosts, and sometimes as symbolic representations. Their unresolved feelings often warp the world around them.

The core themes of Carnival of Souls are also present in Muschietti’s work. The horror in that film isn’t caused by something outside of Mary Henry, but by her own struggle to come to terms with a traumatic event. She feels alienated because she’s unable to process what’s happened, and this denial fuels the film’s frightening events. Muschietti often employs this same approach, with his characters’ internal emotional pain making them susceptible to supernatural forces.

The scary parts of these stories come from what’s happening inside the characters, not from a separate, external threat. For example, in Mama, the ghost isn’t just a frightening creature—she represents the pain of a mother’s unresolved grief. And in It, Pennywise isn’t just a monster; he takes the form of each character’s worst fear. Director Muschietti clearly likes to explore stories where genuine emotion and supernatural horror come together.

As a film buff, I’ve noticed a really interesting connection in Andy Muschietti’s work – it reminds me a lot of the classic, low-budget horror film Carnival of Souls. Even though Muschietti has bigger budgets and uses modern special effects, he still focuses on creating a creepy atmosphere. He’s a master of those long, drawn-out shots that really set the mood, and he loves using shadows and those in-between spaces – like hallways or abandoned buildings – to build tension. He doesn’t rely on jump scares as much as slowly ratcheting up the fear. Actually, the way the Saltair Pavilion is used in Carnival of Souls feels a lot like some of the most memorable locations in Muschietti’s films – they both really use the setting to amplify the horror.

Consider the well in Mama or the shifting locations in The Flash. These places aren’t just settings; they physically reflect the characters’ inner feelings. They feel haunted not just by ghosts, but by the emotional connections the characters have to them.

Muschietti is also drawn to the way Carnival of Souls depicts characters who feel disconnected from reality. He frequently features protagonists who feel like outsiders, as if something is subtly wrong with their surroundings. For example, Beverly Marsh in It perceives a disturbing darkness that others don’t, Barry in The Flash witnesses his world warping due to sorrow, and the girls in Mama have difficulty adjusting to normal life after being isolated for years.

This emotional distance echoes in Mary Henry’s behavior. Though she’s physically there, she seems detached and disconnected. People consistently react to her as if something is just slightly off, as if she doesn’t quite fit in. This idea of a fragmented self is something the director, Muschietti, often explores in his characters.

Its Haunting Take on Death, Liminality and the Fear of Being Stuck Still Resonates With Audiences Decades Later

What makes Carnival of Souls so fascinating is how it portrays death not as an end, but as a kind of in-between state. Mary isn’t a typical ghost – she doesn’t haunt or try to get revenge. She simply exists, lost between life and death, and seems unaware that she’s no longer alive. The film treats death as something we feel, rather than just a physical occurrence.

Mary’s uncertain state represents the universal fear of being forgotten, ignored, or losing importance. Her experiences show how her connection to the world slowly fades, as people consistently fail to acknowledge her presence or understand what she says. The true horror lies in this gradual loss of self and identity.

As a horror fan, I’ve noticed a trend where scary movies aren’t really about dying itself, but about what it means to not truly live. That really resonated with me in this story. Mary’s biggest problem wasn’t death, but that she couldn’t come to terms with how she was living—or not living. She checked out, and that detachment is what trapped her in this weird in-between place. Honestly, the whole carnival felt like a perfect representation of that feeling of being stuck, not quite here, not quite gone.

The carnival isn’t truly living, but it isn’t dead either. It’s not a place of joy or sadness, but rather a desolate, empty space haunted by the past. Mary feels drawn to it because, deep down, she understands what it represents: a meeting point between life and what comes after.

The film’s slow speed and dreamlike visuals actually strengthen its central ideas. For example, scenes of Mary moving through crowds without being noticed highlight her feelings of isolation. When sound cuts out completely, it makes her world feel empty and alone. The shadowy figures we see throughout the movie represent death, calmly waiting to be acknowledged.

The film unfolds at a deliberate pace, with the horror building gradually as Mary comes to terms with what’s happening. This slow burn draws the audience into Mary’s state of mind, making them feel as lost and disconnected as she does.

These ideas really fit with the way Muschietti tells stories. His films frequently focus on characters who are held back by their feelings. For example, in It, the Losers’ Club has to deal with painful memories from their childhood to overcome Pennywise. Their difficulty moving on from the past keeps them trapped in a pattern of fear.

In the film Mama, the young sisters struggle to adjust to their new home until they deal with the memories of their past. Because of this, Carnival of Souls seems like a clear inspiration for director Muschietti’s work.

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2025-11-30 02:39