Gutter to Glory: How Horror Went Mainstream
Horror movies have been dominating the modern movie market. It’s hard to find a week on the box office charts without one or two slashers or paranormal films occupying the top spots. Horror classics like Night of the Living Dead, Eraserhead, Halloween, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity have made it to the list of the most profitable movies ever made, comparing budget to total box-office receipts. Horror movies have been punching above their weight and carrying the movie industry. The genre is a cheap and reliable way to turn a profit, making it a preferred choice for movie studios.
Horror is in a perpetual arms race, and what was scary in the past may not work now. The earliest horror film pioneers succeeded without much of anything in regards to props or special effects. However, studios took a very hands-off approach to movie-making, and horror movies were subject to censorship. Psychological horror classics like Seconds proved that a good horror film didn’t need to conform to the typical splatter-and-squeal template. By the 70s, horror was taking off in a big way it never had before.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact point when horror films took off the kid gloves, but it can be traced back to one specific decade (the 70s), and probably one or two movies in particular. The Exorcist was able to use the risk of panic attacks as a selling point, regardless of the fact there is scant blood or special effects. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opted to cut to the good parts, director Toby Hooper tossing buckets of red dye on his actors. The Last House on the Left director Wes Craven was all too aware of what audiences deep down wanted, so he delivered unmitigated chaos both on and off screen.
Horror as a genre wasn’t going back into the shadows after cleaning up at the Academy Awards. Filmmakers began using controversial blurring of reality as a selling technique. Ironically, Craven, who pioneered the art of gore, opted to turn to meta-commentary and ironic horror films when he made the Scream series. Outrageous and crass marketing is the bread and butter of horror. Modern horror films like The Terrifier 2 still manages to cause people to throw up in fear. The visceral intensity is rubbing off, and the aesthetic is spreading to traditional war movies.
Horror movies haven’t lost their edge yet, and it’s hard to say how well modern films will age. However, one thing is clear – the genre didn’t change to accommodate mainstream sensibilities, quite the opposite. Horror movies have become more intense and graphic, pushing the boundaries of what’s considered acceptable. Despite the controversies and pitfalls of the genre, horror movies continue to thrive and dominate the movie market.
Horror is booming in the modern movie market. Look at any week on the box office charts, and you’ll see one or two slashers or paranormal films clogging the top spots. Take a glimpse at the most lucrative movies ever made, comparing budget to total box-office receipts, and you’ll notice horror classics like Night of the Living Dead, Eraserhead, Halloween, The Blair Witch Projectand Paranormal Activity standing out.
Horror is not only punching above its weight, it is carrying the movie industry. After all, the genre is a cheap and reliable way to turn a profit, just ask the art guy at New Line Cinema whose job it was to paint over the numeral in the Freddy Kruger movie title every time they churned out a sequel. Other genres like westerns and musicals came and went as horror auteurs stole the spotlight.
It wasn’t always that way. Used to be if you wanted to be a horror director you better make sure you had a good lawyer. Now you’ll need an extra accountant to help you count the money.
Making the Greeks Proud
If ancient accounts are to be believed, and they probably aren’t, the first stage productions held by the Greeks were absolutely terrifying, the image of the grotesque Furies sending pregnant women into premature labor. While no one seeing a modern version of a Greek play today would jump in fear, it does highlight one fact about horror: the genre is in a perpetual arms race. What was scary in 1899 wouldn’t work in 1929, and what worked in 1973 sure as hell wouldn’t cut the mustard in 2023.
The earliest horror film pioneers succeeded without much of anything in regards to props or special effects. Guys like Lon Chaney constructed his own facial appliances and makeup, but that was about all the help he was going to get from the studios, who took a very hands-off approach to movie-making. Not to be outdone, the MGM horror classic Freaks was purportedly so horrifying for its time that one viewer sued the studio after claiming — stop us if this sounds familiar — the film made her miscarry. It was the beginning of great tradition of lawsuits against horror directors, and in the next few decades studios would clamp down hard and censor anything that was remotely shocking.
More restrained psychological horror classics like Seconds proved that a good horror film didn’t need to conform to the typical splatter-and-squeal template. But by the 70s, horror was taking off in a big way it never had before. The reputation of anything-goes schlock played to the post-counter-culture generation, a population burnt out on peace and love and art house dramas. Cue the exploding heads.
Horror Matures?
It is hard to pinpoint the exact point when horror films took off the kid gloves, but it can be traced back to one specific decade (the 70s), and probably one or two movies in particular. William Friedkin’s The Exorcist was able to use the risk of panic attacks as a selling point, regardless of the fact there is scant blood or special effects. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opted to cut to the good parts, director Toby Hooper tossing buckets of red dye on his actors.
The Last House on the Left director Wes Craven was all too aware what audiences deep down wanted, so he delivered unmitigated chaos both on and off screen. “We had reports of people fainting, threats of lawsuits, fist fights, and near riots,” he recalled with laughter in Wes Craven: Interviews. “We had a case of people trying to get into the projection booth, and the projectionist had to barricade himself.” Those same projectionists would send back the films cut up into pieces, removing the most shocking clips to prevent having to scrub the bodily fluids from the theater aisles again.
But the pitfalls of the genre go well beyond projectile vomiting. Before Silence of the Lambs won a bunch of Oscars, the film was in a state of limbo, every actor and director running away from it (via New York Times). Sean Connery found it disgusting, as did Gene Hackman. Michelle Pfeiffer rejected the script not for its grisly focus on serial killers, but in light of the fact that justice was not served to one of the characters: “I was uncomfortable with that ending. I didn’t want to put that out into the world,” (via New Yorker) But the genie was already out of the bottle. Horror as a genre wasn’t going back into the shadows after cleaning up at the Academy Awards.
The Blood and Guts Era
The Exorcist is infamous for sending teens to the lobby to catch their breath, but it was the giallo (Italian horror) Cannibal Holocaust scandal that really made filmmakers see dollar signs. Director Ruggero Deodato was charged with murder out of confusion whether his on-screen deaths were real (they weren’t), and the headlines that followed did more to promote the film than any billboard or magazine campaign. A similar situation would play itself out in the 1980s when Charlie Sheen of all people erroneously reported the Japanese horror film Guinea Pig 2: Flowers of Flesh and Blood as a snuff film to authorities. By the time of the Blair Witchdirectors were using this controversial blurring of reality as a selling technique. Ironically, Craven, who pioneered the art of gore, opted to turn to meta-commentary and ironic horror films when he made the Scream series.
This was the type of press coverage that William Castle could only dream about when he promised to take out life insurance policies in case anyone died watching his horror film Macabre in 1958. Like it or hate it, outrageous and crass marketing is the bread and butter of horror. “I always say he came up with the gimmick because he was terrified nobody would go see his films,” Castle’s daughter once said.
How well are modern films going to age? Hard to say, but this particular genere hasn’t yet lost its edge, movies like The Terrifier 2 still causing people to throw up in fear. The visceral intensity is rubbing off. The aesthetic is spreading to traditional war movies, Saving Private Ryan gorier than 90% of the Jason Vorhees’ franchise. One of the more shocking, non-horror films of recent memory, The Passion of the Christclaiming the life of one woman who suffered a heart attack during the gruesome climactic scene. Horror didn’t change to accommodate mainstream sensibilities, quite the opposite.
