The Economics of Horror Films
In a lot of cases we are faced with 'sleeper hits.' Horror is famous for this and is a good reason why it is such a standout genre. A sleeper hit refers to a film that generates a huge amount of profit and does well in the box office while its production value was far less than the 'Hollywood' films we are constantly being seen advertised. These films offer little advertisement, and have few special effects or notability and yet surprisingly do very well or become an overnight success. For example, 'Forrest Gump' is said to be a sleeper hit, and yet to a modern audience is a film so widely known it has reached cult classis level.
The Blair Witch Project is well known for this accolade; its production only costing $35,000 yet making in excess £245 million, a feat almost unheard of. Its hand held camerawork was the first of its kind and obviously not costly, yet this type of filming to the world by storm, most likely down to its hyper-realism. No special effects were used, not once did we see the witch, there is only one location, three main actors (unheard of, yet well played, something that is essential in making a good horror film) and only rocks and twigs bizarrely being used as the stimuli to scare the audience. This POV realism clearly is a concoction for success as a film which took inspiration by the former was Paranormal Activity. Its production was a mere $15,000 surprisingly less than Blair Witch, despite using the occasional special effect. The film has racked up $190 million at the box office, again I believe this is down to the genuineness of the actors and simplicity in the filmmaking. The actors were given outlines of the story and situations to improvise, a technique known as "retroscripting", something that was used in Blair Witch. The actors were shortened from almost 1000 people and were initially paid only $500 for their work also.
The highest budget award goes to Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which cost approximately $378.5 million to make. There were 4 different locations used in 4 different places around the world and an influx of special effects. Luckily it also reached number 19 on the highest grossing films of all time at $1,045,713,802, making huge profit. Special effects seem to play a role in success, due to the highest grossing film of all time being Avatar. I recently read an article on Avatar that discussed how huge a success it was and how amazing the effects were, yet when asked if you could name a single character that was in it, its unlikely a single person could. Its strange how this film was such a global hit yet didn't stick with anyone in the slightest, its a phenomenon I'm hugely interested in and also confused by. Captain America: Civil War is number 12 on the list at $1,153,239,700, and is a film with a huge fan base, similar to that with Iron man 3 ($1,215,439,994) and The Avengers ($1,519,557,910). Superhero movies are a sure success, that is a given, but they are also films of high worth to the fans and so still withhold that credibility.
Horror films are so often cheap while somehow still managing to gain huge profits. This is perhaps why we are at a time where you go into a cinema and there are 3 different horror films playing at the same time. Someone is going to go see it, that is certain, and so this is also maybe a reasoning for the lack of quality in horror we have been facing in recent years, cheap thrills equating to cheap money. Of course however horror films are aimed towards a niche audience. They are for the 16-50 year olds who enjoy being scared with people tending to either love or hate the genre. Because of this there is a limited appeal, no family audience and by the film community not being seen as 'artistic.' There are some exceptions; The Exorcist was nominated for 10 academy awards in 1973. Films such as Frozen come underneath a large umbrella, and its no wonder its the 9th highest grossing film with $1,287,000,000. It did cost $150million to make however, something a horror film has never done.
Horror films don't need high productions or known actors that other films may need to gain revenue, in fact its perhaps best if they don't have either of these things, in order to make them the best of their genre.
The Blair Witch Project is well known for this accolade; its production only costing $35,000 yet making in excess £245 million, a feat almost unheard of. Its hand held camerawork was the first of its kind and obviously not costly, yet this type of filming to the world by storm, most likely down to its hyper-realism. No special effects were used, not once did we see the witch, there is only one location, three main actors (unheard of, yet well played, something that is essential in making a good horror film) and only rocks and twigs bizarrely being used as the stimuli to scare the audience. This POV realism clearly is a concoction for success as a film which took inspiration by the former was Paranormal Activity. Its production was a mere $15,000 surprisingly less than Blair Witch, despite using the occasional special effect. The film has racked up $190 million at the box office, again I believe this is down to the genuineness of the actors and simplicity in the filmmaking. The actors were given outlines of the story and situations to improvise, a technique known as "retroscripting", something that was used in Blair Witch. The actors were shortened from almost 1000 people and were initially paid only $500 for their work also.
The highest budget award goes to Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which cost approximately $378.5 million to make. There were 4 different locations used in 4 different places around the world and an influx of special effects. Luckily it also reached number 19 on the highest grossing films of all time at $1,045,713,802, making huge profit. Special effects seem to play a role in success, due to the highest grossing film of all time being Avatar. I recently read an article on Avatar that discussed how huge a success it was and how amazing the effects were, yet when asked if you could name a single character that was in it, its unlikely a single person could. Its strange how this film was such a global hit yet didn't stick with anyone in the slightest, its a phenomenon I'm hugely interested in and also confused by. Captain America: Civil War is number 12 on the list at $1,153,239,700, and is a film with a huge fan base, similar to that with Iron man 3 ($1,215,439,994) and The Avengers ($1,519,557,910). Superhero movies are a sure success, that is a given, but they are also films of high worth to the fans and so still withhold that credibility.
Horror films are so often cheap while somehow still managing to gain huge profits. This is perhaps why we are at a time where you go into a cinema and there are 3 different horror films playing at the same time. Someone is going to go see it, that is certain, and so this is also maybe a reasoning for the lack of quality in horror we have been facing in recent years, cheap thrills equating to cheap money. Of course however horror films are aimed towards a niche audience. They are for the 16-50 year olds who enjoy being scared with people tending to either love or hate the genre. Because of this there is a limited appeal, no family audience and by the film community not being seen as 'artistic.' There are some exceptions; The Exorcist was nominated for 10 academy awards in 1973. Films such as Frozen come underneath a large umbrella, and its no wonder its the 9th highest grossing film with $1,287,000,000. It did cost $150million to make however, something a horror film has never done.
Horror films don't need high productions or known actors that other films may need to gain revenue, in fact its perhaps best if they don't have either of these things, in order to make them the best of their genre.
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