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i think the key to making a good film - especially horror - is the same thing as having a good band, or a good sports team ..
it is all about hard work, brains, perseverance, skills
(talent), and a bit of luck thrown in.
budget is good .. but unless all or most of the things above are present .... lets just say there is a lot of room for error.
zombie looks like he puts money into his films .. i dont get the low budget vibe from him .. but what i did get was good performances from an eccentric mix of character actors ..(the actual kids didnt matter - all they had to do is run and scream.)
know the strengths and weaknesses of your players.
a good director can do that .. dont make a less skilled person stretch past the bounds of what's credible .. give them something they can do well, and eliminate what they cant.
example . (and it involves carpenter)
hell comes to frog town. Piper was ass in that .. i dont care what anyone else thinks.
They Live .. piper was great .. Carpenter was fully aware of what piper was capable and he exploited that.
god i'm all over the place in this post ..
i guess what i'm trying to say is that it isnt as easy as one thing to make a success .. budget isnt the answer .. a stellar actor isnt the answer.... or director ..
it's a combination of several things jelling together at once.
there have been a few excellent no-budget productions made by people with brains, vision, imagination and talent.
how does this all apply to the Carpenter question ?
in the beginning he had these things working for him ... as the years progressed, and with the lack of interest in horror films (proper horror films) he didnt always have all of those cylinders firing at the same time.
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