The 1998 Carnival of Souls remake carried an unusually bitter origin story: Candace Hilligoss, the star of Herk Harvey’s cult 1962 original, had penned a follow-up titled Carnival Souls II that landed on the desk of Peter Soby at Shoreline Pictures. Rather than develop Hilligoss’s script, Soby negotiated directly with the original filmmakers, Herk Harvey and John Clifford, to buy the original negative and remake rights — a deliberate move, Soby later explained, to ensure studio players like Trimark couldn’t exploit the title. Soby also partnered with investor Matthew Irvine and tried to bring Hilligoss into the new production as a producer and performer, but she refused to be involved if her script was not the basis for the project. Feeling betrayed by both the producers and the original filmmakers who had granted Soby the rights, Hilligoss declined even a later-offered cameo. The public result was a raw fracture between the original film’s leading lady and the new production team that left Hilligoss publicly estranged from the project and robbed the remake of a direct creative lineage to the 1962 film.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1990s
Original Carnival Star Candace Hilligoss Feels Betrayed as Producers Buy the Film and Rework Her Sequel into a ‘Wes Craven Presents’ Reimagining
Carnival of Souls (1998 film) / 1990s
The 1998 Carnival of Souls remake carried an unusually bitter origin story: Candace Hilligoss, the star of Herk Harvey’s cult 1962 original, had penned a follow-up titled Carnival Souls II that landed on the desk of Peter Soby at Shoreline Pictures. Rather than develop Hilligoss’s script, Soby negotiated directly with the original filmmakers, Herk Harvey and John Clifford, to buy the original negative and remake rights — a deliberate move, Soby later explained, to ensure studio players like Trimark couldn’t exploit the title. Soby also partnered with investor Matthew Irvine and tried to bring Hilligoss into the new production as a producer and performer, but she refused to be involved if her script was not the basis for the project. Feeling betrayed by both the producers and the original filmmakers who had granted Soby the rights, Hilligoss declined even a later-offered cameo. The public result was a raw fracture between the original film’s leading lady and the new production team that left Hilligoss publicly estranged from the project and robbed the remake of a direct creative lineage to the 1962 film.
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