We watched this movie, Carnival of Souls, in class, and I was really surprised. Indeed I was told it was a very old movie, I was kind of afraid to dislike it because i usually only watch recent ones, but I enjoyed it. Even more I think it was a very important step in scary movie's history.
It came out in 1962, and it was actually the very first zombie movie. The producer just had the idea one day to put dead people in a movie. Nobody had thought about that before, so of course they didn't give any credit to it. But 30 years later, it was much more famous.
The writer went to a creepy place one time, and just decided to write a movie about this place. Then it cost more money when there are dialogues, so it is a half-silent movie, with a lot of music. They were a crew of five to make the movie; it took 14 days of shooting, $ 30,000, but they succeed. Indeed we still watch it in Oskaloosa, Kansas, in 2009.
The thing is you have to have a great story, and it will be a great movie. The best example I could pick is The Others, with Nicole Kidman. A woman lives in a house in the middle of nowhere, with her two children; during the whole movie, she thinks the house is haunted, and other dead people live in the house with them, and they are actually the one who are dead. It keeps the suspense until the very end; it is a great movie, because the basic topic, the story is awesome. That is the first thing you need to have to succeed.
Then, as Carnival of Souls' executive producer said, you have to persevere. If you really want to make your movie one of the best ever, just go for it! Work hard, be self-confident. The ideas will come at the right time.
