watching horror is an experience.
I was minding my business when I got recommended Thomas Flight’s Why Horror is the Only Genre Left video on YouTube. I am a big Horror fan (books, movies, audiodramas) since it allows me to experience fear and anxiety in a way that is under my control, and thought this might be an interesting watch while I ate a snack.
Thomas talks about how, during the last few years, genre movies have pretty much disappeared? There are a bunch of sequels and adaptations, but original script movies have been sidelined due to being considered an “investment risk”. No more comedies, romances, dramas, e abuse studios run the risk of spending too much on budget and not getting a return. Just franchises and big-name directors now (let’s ignore that even some of those “sure bets” have tanked lately).
It’s pointed out, by the title and Thomas, that the exception to the rule comes in the form of Horror movies. The most recent exemple of this: Obsession.
(There’s an entire discussion to be had about how Horror has always been the ugly duckling of genres, doing so much with so little, and having the courage to bring to light some bonkers ideas just for the love of the game. Horror working to reflect society’s deep (un)conscious fears is also a thing to consider.)
One point that I 100% agree with from the video is that Horror movies are an experience. That’s usually what people look for when they’re going to the movies, especially when they have to justify high tickets and snack prices. It needs to be worth it. When it comes to 1) endless franchises that demand you watch 20 other movies/shows to figure out what’s going on, or 2) adaptations of books everyone’s already read… the experience usually isn’t there. Horror, however? It brings something new.
There’s been an influx of fantastic Horror movies lately that don’t worry about generating awards buzz or a billion dollars. They worry about telling a solid story, about setting up an atmosphere that will make you uneasy, about delivering jolts of fear right into your brain. They worry about finding new ways to make people feel their feelings! Obsession is, currently, the most recognizable example of this. Its success coming mostly from word of mouth takes me back to whispers about The Blair Witch Project and how we just had! to go see it! No questions asked!
(Barbenheimer was also an experience, on the other side of it.)
People want to enjoy going to the movies. They want to have fun. They want to feel something. They want to talk to their friends about this scene or that character or this and that twist. They want stakes. Horror gives us all of that, and without us needing to do homework.