10 Horror Movies That Prove Horror is Not Dead
PoppaScotch recently did a really good piece on why the horror genre is not dying in response to an equally well written editorial on the Examiner explaining why it is dying.
I want to add my own 5 cents but in a different way then PoppaScotch did. So here are 10 movies that prove the Horror Genre is not dying. I am going to do it two different ways. First off lets go over 5 horror movies that are 'mainstream' and prove from a dollars and cents stand point that horror is not dead.
- SAW 5: The 5th film in the SAW franchise continues to go on strong and brought in over $105million at the box office.
- The Unborn: Although it got quite mixed reviews the film managed to rake in over $75million dollars at the box office.
- My Bloody Valentine 3-D: This remake brought in 3-D Technology and not only got good reviews but made almost $70million dollars.
- Friday the 13th: This remake got VERY mixed reviews with 53% of fans liking it on our site and the rest passing on it. That said the film still made $90million at the box office.
- Quarantine: A remake of the spanish film REC this zombie tale managed to rake in $36million at the box office.
- Mirrors: I actually enjoyed this film which starred Keifer Sutherland and it brought in $80million.
Just looking at dollars and cents that means that in the 2008-2009 year these horror films alone made $456million dollars. And without looking we can all be assured that these films were made for FAR less then $400million. Of course these numbers are not solid they are just rough numbers which I got from The-Numbers.com. All of these movies made MUCH more then that on DVD which would likely push this number up easily another $100million.
Now for me box office numbers is NEVER the way to gauge horror movies and the state of the genre. I for one did not like most of the films on the list above. I am not an overly huge fan of remakes and I find that in alot of cases the horror films being made in North America and getting theatrical release are 'safe films'. PG-13, dumbed down to cater to the broadest audience possible. Studios do it because its all about making money and reaching the largest audience possible.
That all said there are a TON of great horror films coming out that true fans of the genre are fully aware of. As much as the $$$ means the horror genre is alive and well the great films available also makes the point. Case and point;
Let The Right one in: This film is absolutely genius and is easily one of the best vampire tales I have ever seen. Mainstream horror audiences will have never heard of this movie but die hard fans most certainly have and clammered to see it on dvd when it was released. The film has a 82.86% approval rating with fans.
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Let The Right One In
A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy's wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who ... |
Martyrs: Martyrs will go down as the most messed up and controversial film I have seen in a very very long time. It is one of the few films I had to fast forward through parts because it was just that disturbing. I dont like disturbing, gore filled movies but this film was driven by one of the most interesting stories and combined with well fleshed out characters this movie was more then just disturbing.. it was amazing.
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Martyrs
France. A night at the beginning of the 1970s. Lucie, a little girl missing for over a year, is discovered wandering by the side of a country road. Near catatonic, she can say nothing about what has h... |
Splinter: Very low budget and released by Magnet this film actually did get a theatrical run.. all be it a shamefully small one. SPLINTER is very reminiscent of The Thing and is easily one of the best low budget horror films I have seen in a very long time. I hate even using the words low budget since the films production values were fantastic, the story was well thought out and the intensity of this film is off the wall. Clearly not as good as The Thing... but damn close!
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Splinter (2008)
Splinter is set in and around a quiet gas station on a lonely freeway, where a terrifying virus-like monster inhabits the bodies of its victims and drives them with a relentless lust for blood. The vi... |
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Drag me to Hell: Last but not least we have Sam Raimis return to horror with Drag me to Hell. The film got a relatively mixed response from horror fans on our site. It has a 76% approval rating on our site which is very respectable but mainstream audiences ate this movie up loving it.
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Drag Me To Hell
Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at... |
So in closing my point is this. If you look at the horror genre from a dollars and cents stand point.. the genre is kicking ass and taking names. If you look at it from the stand point of quality films to appeal to DIE HARD horror fans and not the mainstream fluff/remakes... it is still kicking ass. The Horror Genre is alive and well and getting better by the minute.