Hollywood has always been a huge proponent of big screen gangster flicks, action-packed science fiction, and blockbuster romantic dramas. But there’s one genre that Hollywood is shying away from, and it’s more prevalent than you might think: horror. Recent polling data shows that Americans in general have been shying away from movie theaters over the last few years. Van son entertainment is no doubt an expensive commodity, but it’s clear that there’s something going on at the box office that we’re not being told about.
The Shocking Revelation of Movie Nights :
1. Horror flicks are struggling at the box office.
The number of horror films released in 2016 (62) is the lowest it has been since 2000. This isn’t a simple case of “market saturation” because that’s not what happened in 2008, when there were 88 horror films but still a decline in attendance, or 2012, when there were only 28 horror films, but attendance still fell that year. What we really need to examine is what exactly happened with these movies once they hit theaters.
2. Horror is suffering from bad word of mouth at the box office.
Consumers are less likely to want to see a horror film after hearing negative reviews. The more positive a movie is reviewed, the more likely it is that people will want to see it. But how would a horror film get negative reviews?
3. Horror films are often boring.
Horror films are boring to watch, and people know it. If a person knows a movie is boring, they’ll stay away from it. And that’s exactly what’s been happening. Movies like Lights Out and Rings were largely expected to be financial hits, but both of them flopped at the box office after receiving scathing reviews from critics and audiences alike. It seems one or two bad horror films can take down the entire genre for good. The few horror films that are being released are largely unwatchable, and not bringing in any money.
4. Horror is boring to make.
If a director tries to take a new approach to horror, the studio will often shut them down. Studios want to churn out violent retreads of hit stories like Jaws or A Nightmare on Elm Street . Because of this, directors often get bored with making horror films and don’t put as much effort into their projects as they usually would. This results in subpar filmmaking and undesired conversations between audience and critics alike. The end result is an unsatisfying experience that makes people less likely to come back for more of the same next year.
5. It’s not being marketed right.
Marketing a horror movie is tough, since the genre requires a lot of promotion in order to get people into theaters. But studios are choosing to spend their marketing budgets on other genres rather than horror. Superhero films, for example, can make massive amounts of money with the proper marketing campaign . As a result, many major horror releases have virtually no marketing push at all. The latest film in the Insidious series got only $700k worth of promotion from its studio and was largely ignored by moviegoers as a result.
6. Horror is sorely lacking in marketing campaigns.
Marketing campaigns for horror films have been largely absent from recent years. Most horror films are left to fend for themselves, and end up getting little to no promotion from their studios. The latest film in the Insidious series received the smallest amount of hype and promotion that any film in the genre had received since It Follows in 2015. In fact, Insidious: Chapter 3 ‘s trailer was released only three days after it was made available online. Very few horror films get any advance notice or exposure whatsoever, which is another way of saying they aren’t being marketed at all.
7. People are spending less on horror in general.
Americans are spending less money on horror films than ever before. Yes, that’s even after adjusting for inflation . This is largely due to the fact that the kinds of films we’re being asked to pay for aren’t worth more than a few dollars at best. We live in a blockbuster world now, where studios have moved all of their big-budget tentpole movies onto the summer schedule and shifted much of their focus over to superhero flicks. But even superhero films can’t compete with horror when it comes to ticket sales and revenue, simply because they’re not made with horror fans in mind.
8. Superheroes are taking over the box office.
With films like X-Men: Apocalypse, Suicide Squad , and Batman v Superman under our belts, it’s clear that studios are trying to turn these films into a legitimate genre in their own right. Where other genres are failing at the box office, superhero films have not only retained but even bolstered their appeal. The comic book genre is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds, and audiences seem to be getting more and more excited for each new release. It’s now more lucrative to make a superhero movie than it is to make a horror flick, which has put horror on the back burner for many studios.
