Recently we watched a film in class, called Carnival of Souls. The movie was made in 1962, and filmed on only a $17,000 budget. The writer based the story around a setting of an abandoned pavilion, which the writer had seen and thought was creepy. Filmed about a girl who is dead through the whole movie, but doesn't know it. She sees a dead man while she travels to Ohio for her job as an organist, and visits the abandoned pavilion, where she sees him again. The writer decided not to have much slaughter in the film, for it wasn't supposed to be a normal horror film. The movie was basically the very first zombie movie, in that she sees so many dead people at the 'carnival'. Also filmed with less dialogue, the movie was mostly based on actions and visual effects. The director of the movie had a film crew of five, and filmed in Lawrence, Kansas and in Ohio. Also, the director starred as the main 'zombie guy' in the film.
This movie ties in to modern films, such as The 6th Sense, and The Others. Although Carnival of Souls was filmed so long ago, and is one of the first of its kind, it still played a big part on starting a trend of new horror films. The writer was not expecting the amount of fame that his movie would get, so long after it was made.
