Carnival Of Souls (1962)

After surviving an auto accident when a car she was a passenger in drives off a bridge in Kansas, a young woman (Candace Hilligoss) moves to Utah where she has a job as a church organist. But she has strange visions and feels that she is being followed by a mysterious man. She is also strangely attracted to an abandoned carnival on the outskirts of town. Directed by Herk Harvey, this low budget (reportedly filmed on a $13,000 budget) "horror" film is amazing in its ability to convey an atmospheric milieu that is surrealistic, dreamlike and paranoid. The film is amateurish in many ways especially the acting. While Hilligoss's static acting works for her distanced character, the other performers are of the community theater caliber at best and some like Art Ellison who plays a minister are just awful. But the film itself is a gem. I don't want to oversell it but its striking images (courtesy of Maurice Prather) and unsettling mood would do Jean Cocteau proud. With Sidney Berger and Frances Feist.