Long legs it was indeed the indie sensation of the summer, and it is defined by a talkative, cerebral and aloof disposition. Most people who saw it in the cinema didn’t even realize that the silhouette of the Devil is present throughout half of the film. Conversely, Disney/20th Century Studios could make a more mid-budget sci-fi/horror show like Extraterrestrial: Romuluswhich grossed $351 million worldwide. An old-school creature feature, even more so than the 1979 original Stranger he imitates with so much love – the film revolves around the image of an acid-drooling beast hissing at the camera. It still works too.

Even the surprise sensation of October, Terrifying 3is an independent success that no one would wrongly call high. It’s actually a throwback to 80s slasher films like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Friday the 13th (1980), only this one is not afflicted with the limitations placed on gore due to an R rating and major studio funding. Which is to say, it’s a nasty little movie about a million years from Long legs or modern A24 classics like The witch (2015) and Hereditary (2018).

Horror’s diversity comes from the fact that filmmakers are free to target individual niche audiences rather than niche audiences. everyone. It is also accessible to young or innovative filmmakers to star in this genre due to a relative lack of budgetary restrictions and (perhaps more importantly) studio-imposed limitations, as the genre’s popularity is defined by a handful old IPs. Any attempt to compare it to the inherent limitations of the modern superhero genre is disingenuous, even if it reveals other short-sighted errors currently existing within the industry.

“All of a sudden, starting in the mid-2010s, it seemed like audiences had suddenly decided that comedies and award-winning movies were best watched at home,” lamented a Comscore analyst. THR. “And now we’re wondering if the once-foolproof horror genre is no longer so theatrically viable.”

First, it once again shows a complete inability to read the horror genre’s audience, made up of both die-hard fans and casual moviegoers looking for a fun time at the movies. Just because a few horror films underperformed at the start of the year doesn’t mean “exhaustion” has set in. This means that these particular films have not resonated with audiences, whether on their merits or their marketing, and that Hollywood executives will need to maintain some autonomy. responsibility for what gets the green light and not just point to an algorithm that confirms horror is a “foolproof” guarantee. It’s kind of like knowing the difference between the popularity of a Ryan Reynolds movie as Deadpool and a Ryan Reynolds movie as Green Lantern, right?

Plus, did audiences really reject comedies in the mid-2010s? There’s no case study of a big, expensive comedy that was such a failure that the industry abandoned the laughs in favor of streaming services. Some comedies from the 2010s failed and others outperformed like the one from the end of the decade. Game night (2018), or just the one from last year Anyone but youBesides. In fact, this Christmas release starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell nearly tripled its reported $25 million budget, with a worldwide gross of $220 million, even despite lukewarm reviews. One might wonder if some studio executives are not blaming themselves about a romantic comedy starring Powell as Hitmanwhich received rave reviews at film festivals last year. Unfortunately, no studio was serious about bidding, which is why Netflix got the rights.