The phenomenal success of It has revealed a global appetite for fare usually reserved for Pixar animation and Marvel superheroes. One thing is certain: Horror, for better or worse, has gone mainstream. “They know that they can do something that is classy enough - but will also be entertaining enough to reach a wide audience.” “This new group of horror films are dramas first, and that’s what appeals to actors,” says Leonetti. (Hawke also starred in Blumhouse’s 2012 thriller Sinister.) Ethan Hawke and Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey headlined the first Purge movie.
Annabelle: Creation features acclaimed Australian actors Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto. That cast points to another development in horror: It’s not just for no-names anymore. “The most avant-garde, the most transgressive work in cinema right now is being done in horror,” says Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino, explaining why he’s following up Call Me by Your Name, a critically acclaimed gay coming-of-age drama, with a remake of Dario Argento’s horror classic Suspiria starring Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Dakota Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz. When these films work, they play both to critics, who embrace the boundary-crossing concepts, and to audiences just out for a good scare.
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Jason Blum, whose company Blumhouse produced Get Out, Split and Happy Death Day, has put the story at the center of his business model by giving his horror directors full creative control as long as they stick to a tight budget (typically less than $5 million).īlum also has led the way in embracing themes that frighten mainstream Hollywood, like racism ( Get Out), politics ( The Purge: Election Year) and sexuality ( Mudbound director Dee Rees has signed on with Blumhouse to do a horror film about black lesbians in rural America). Horror, for the moment at least, isn’t just about the scares, it’s about the story. He is now shooting the high-concept feature The Silence starring Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka and Miranda Otto. “The young audience is a very strong moviegoing audience if you can get them, because they go to the theater in big groups and go out that first weekend,” says director John Leonetti, whose scary credits include Wish Upon and the first Annabelle. On its opening weekend, more than 60 percent of the audience for Happy Death Day was under 25 years old, compared with less than 20 percent for Blade Runner 2049, according to comScore. Those hard-to-please teens and young adults who are staying away from the multiplex can come out in strength for a scary movie. Indie filmmakers also can take advantage of the network of international horror and fantasy film fests, like the Fantastic Festival circuit, to raise awareness and build buzz.Īnother advantage: The demographics of horror skew young. Note the recent success of Jennifer Kent’s Aussie haunted house tale The Babadook or the French cannibal thriller Raw from director Julia Ducournau. Horror, unlike, say, comedy, translates well across national and linguistic borders. Those fanboys are slavishly devoted and, importantly, live all over the world. “Our movies start from $300,000 up to $1 million on the high end.” At that price point, even a film that only appeals to horror fanboys can make its money back selling directly to VOD. “You can often shoot in one location with a handful of actors,” says Rolleri, whose AFM slate includes Jeremy Lutter’s supernatural horror The Hollow Child and the holiday-themed slasher Red Christmas. The appeal of frightening features isn’t hard to understand. “It’s always been a big part of the business, but you’re seeing it across the market, here at AFM, at Cannes, in Berlin - more and more companies are focusing on horror.” “The market for horror is growing,” says Matteo Rolleri, director of sales and marketing at European-based horror specialist Devilworks.
In the corridors of the Loews hotel during AFM, sales companies, packed to the gills with slasher, zombie and found-footage pics, are hoping this horror boom will prove to be a boon for their business.
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While Hollywood can look back at a truly frightening summer - where domestic box office dropped 16 percent compared with 2016 - a series of low-budget, high-concept frighteners including Get Out, Split, Annabelle: Creation and Happy Death Day - delivered critical acclaim and, more importantly, box office.Ĭhristopher Landon’s Happy Death Day - a Scream-meets- Groundhog Day slasher film in which a college student gets stuck in a time loop that sees her murdered again and again - opened to $26.5 million (on a $5 million budget), beating out the megabudget Blade Runner 2049 (on a $155 million-plus budget).īox Office: 'It' Transforms Into a Teen Sensation Despite R Rating The overlooked and oft-maligned business of scary movies sprung out of the shadows and into the spotlight this year.
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