Carnival of Souls

Carnival of Souls (1962)

20 mistakes - chronological order

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Continuity mistake: Mary gets out of her car at the gas station wearing white shoes, but when she is being shown her room at the boarding house by Mrs Thomas she is wearing black shoes. This also happens at other times during the film, where Mary's shoes change from white to black and vice-versa.

Will

Continuity mistake: When Mary Henry is speaking to her house keeper at the bottom of the stairs, Mary's left hand is level with the first rail, cut to the next shot in mid-sentence and her left hand is now on the fourth rail.

Continuity mistake: During the scene in Dr Samuels' office, when Mary says "I don't see what this has to do with it" he has both hands on the desk, but when he replies "the point is this" he only has his right hand on the desk. On the next shot when asks Mary "do you agree?" he has both hands back on the desk.

Will

Continuity mistake: While Linden is in Mary's room for the last time, he is right up close to Mary and tries to kiss her, but after she screams (after having seen the ghoulish figure) he is several feet away from her.

Will

Continuity mistake: While Mary and Linden are having a cup of coffee in Mary's room, Linden is holding a bottle and is about two feet away from Mary. Immediately after he says "thinking like that don't it give you nightmares?" he is sitting closer to Mary and his left arm is level on top of the sofa.

Will

Continuity mistake: As Mary begins to reverse her car out of the garage (filmed from the front of the car) you can see that there is nothing hanging up in the back of the car, but when the car gets outside the garage (filmed from the side) there is now a coat hanging up in the back of the car.

Will

Other mistake: The car that Mary is driving does not have a front registration number plate.

Will

Other mistake: At the very beginning of the film, when the two cars are along side each other, the man wearing the hat leans out of the car window to challenge the women in the other car to a race, watch out for when he speaks, you can see that his words don't match his mouth movements - he's talking out of sync.

Will

Continuity mistake: When Mary gets off the organ just after being dismissed by the minister, she is wearing black shoes and a headscarf as she goes down the stairs. When she gets outside to meet Mr Linden, she is wearing white shoes and the headscarf is in her hand.

Other mistake: Just after Mary sees the old pavilion for first time and the ghoulish face in the window, her car goes off the road, as she reverses the car back onto the road, the interior light above her head is not lit, but when she drives the car forward, the light above her head is now switched on.

Will

Continuity mistake: When Mary is playing the church organ she is barefoot, but when she gets off the organ, she is wearing a pair of black shoes.

Continuity mistake: When Mary is in the store buying a dress, she goes down the escalator empty-handed, but as she leaves through the main door she is carrying a handbag.

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film, when the two cars are along side each other at the traffic lights: Watch the right hand of the man wearing the white hat as he leans out of the car window - a cigarette magically appears in his hand in between shots.

Will

Continuity mistake: When Mary takes her car to the garage the mechanic raises the car up on the ramp to the height of six feet approximately, with Mary still sitting inside the car. She then has one of her nightmares, when she wakes up in a state of panic a few minutes later, the ramp is now level with the floor and she is able to drive the car straight out of the garage.

Will

Continuity mistake: Mary puts her suitcase on the bed and opens it - there are two straps on the left half of the suitcase, she sees the ghoulish face at the window, as she moves towards the window the straps on the suitcase are now on the right half of the suitcase.

Will

Continuity mistake: Another example of Mary's shoes changing colour, is when she meets the minister and sees the church organ for the first time, she is wearing black shoes, a few minutes later they go for a drive to the old pavilion: When Mary gets out the car she is now wearing a pair of white shoes.

Will

Continuity mistake: When Mary leaves the boarding house, she puts her luggage and jacket on the back seat of the car, but moments later when the car does a right turn, the jacket is hanging up in the back of the car, but when she drives the car into the garage, the coat is no longer hanging up in the back of the car.

Will

Continuity mistake: During the scene where Dr Samuels is having a consultation in his office with Mary, at the moment when he says "it isn't that simple" watch the position of Mary's right arm, it is on the desk. After she replies "what do you mean?" her right arm is resting on the chair.

Continuity mistake: During the finale where Mary is being chased out of the pavilion and onto the beach by the ghoulish figures, she is wearing shoes (white) but when she is out on the sand and falls down she is barefoot. Presumably it was difficult for the actress who plays Mary (Candace Hilligoss) to run on the sand wearing high heels, so therefore it was easier to run on the sand barefoot.

Will

Continuity mistake: Right at the end of the movie is a scene where a car with dead people in is hauled out of a river. As the camera pans in on the dead people, whose eyes are open, one of them blinks.

More quotes from Carnival of Souls

Trivia: This was the only film that director Herk Hervey ever made.

Will

More trivia for Carnival of Souls

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