In movies, the horror genre has always been known for its classics. Movies like Friday the 13th, Scream and Halloween have dominated the genre, but over recent years, the horror genre has lost its originality and spark. Yet with this new year, the love for horror has started to spread like wildfire.
Horror has recently had a bad reputation for many people, with most of the genres well known movies being held on such a high pedestal, many movies get criticized for being identical to every other movie.
It also had a huge complaint with many movies being remakes or sequels of popular franchises becoming repetitive in the genre and to some viewers, this makes the genre itself look lazy. The website Baylor Lariat states that “The horror genre has always been a leader in sequels, and there is a guaranteed audience for these films.” Popular films are bound to grab the attention of any viewer and by grabbing that attention, the film does well in the box office.
For example, The Numbers website reported that Friday the 13th had done extremely well on its initial release, with the film earning 28 million dollars itself. While its last sequel, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter grossed $872,072 at box office, showing that with every sequel a popular franchise makes the amount of people that goes to see it gets wider, with all twelve movies from Friday the 13th the total amount of money made is $380.6 million.
However, as of recent, horror movies are being shown in a different light, with many movies not being afraid to show their creativity and love for the genre. Movies like The Substance, LONGLEGS, and Nosferatu being the most talked about movies to release this year for their cinematic direction, its costume designs as well as the general creativity that had gone into these movies.
With the recent direction of horror movies, some directors have now decided to embrace making movies with a “campy” feel to it, something that had once been looked down upon in the genre is now looked in a different light this year by movies like The Monkey, and Heart Eyes completely embracing the silly side of horror movies, and horror fans are loving this new era of horror. Campy meaning a style that is exaggerated, often absurd, and intentionally over-the-top, aiming for a level of self-aware silliness and fun rather than genuine terror.
Horror has seen many different faces within every year and this year seems to be pushing horror in a direction where everyone can appreciate and love the genre. Some highly anticipated movies coming out soon are, Ash releasing on March 21 and The Woman in the Yard releasing on March 28.
