The Future of Horror
HOLLYWOOD IS DEAD…
…or so that‘s the word on the street here in Los Angeles, California. The Film Industry has been in a bit of a tailspin since COVID first ravaged the globe in 2020 and things have not gotten much better since.
Strike after strike after strike, studios consolidating their power while laying off employees by the literal thousands, all while cutting their slate of original content in half. Shareholders demanding greater returns while handing out millions of dollars in bonuses to Executives. Those same execs only interested in existing IP or remakes. Everyone afraid to take a chance on new ideas or new blood like in the old days of John Carpenter, Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper. Originality is rare and when it does get its day in the sun it usually comes in the way of an indie sensation like Hell House LLC (2015) or a surprising box office hit like Terrifier (2016). But the harsh reality is that main stream Hollywood IS dying, if not already dead… at least to those of us with a desire to create “art” the way we want to create it. Those of us brave enough to tell the stories we want to tell, regardless of what “Hollywood” or society, for that matter, might think.
However, there are those still out there keeping the spirit of horror going as best they can… and some of them doing it to great effect. Bigger companies like Blumhouse and A24 are putting out hit after hit. Keeping mainstream horror alive and well with mega franchises like Paranormal Activity and Insidious while still producing new and interesting horror concepts like Maxxxine and I Saw The TV Glow.
But where does that leave the little guy? Where does that leave us? With movies like M3GAN being made for 12 million dollars and grossing over 180 million worldwide how does the indie horror filmmaker compete in a world of M3GANs and Abigails? Well… in my humble opinion… we don’t.
Gone are the days of having a great idea or script and getting a studio to give you the funding needed to turn your passion into reality. No more do waiters successfully slip directors their one sheet in hopes of getting some attention. These days it seems to take a bit more of a rebellious approach to get the job done. Some taking to the internet, to the very masses themselves, to bring a script to the screen and often times that screen may be a little smaller than it once was.
With more and more people consuming media on their mobile devices some creators have decided to skirt the “Hollywood System” all together and take matters into their own hands. Creators like Aaron Mento of Ocular Migraine Productions, maker of such films like Ugly Sweater Party and 16 Bits, forming alliances with other creatives to take something of an “Underground” approach to content creation. Others flocking to crowdfunding their projects on platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Some even utilizing social platforms like Instagram and TikTok to build an audience that almost guarantees the eyeballs needed to find success or at least get noticed by major publications…
Just look at “Milk & Serial”. The $800 break out YouTube sensation from the duo of Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson (that’s a bad idea). This 62 minute Found Footage Horror recently exploded all over every major trade in Hollywood. I have not yet seen it (because I am waiting to watch it with my Blood N’ Popcorn Co-Hosts Denise and Glenn). But I am VERY aware of it and have shared the posts covering it multiple times.
This movie, of all the movies I mentioned here and being, as of yet, unseen, inspires me the most. Yes they have a solid following and yes they are great at promotion through their social content but the thing I respect most about these two young filmmakers is that they did not let anything stop them. They wanted to make a movie and they did. They did it for less than $1000 which is CRAZY impressive in any era of Horror. Even making the assumption that a lot of the gear they used was already owned and they pulled a bunch of favors, they still made something so groundbreaking that it is being heralded as a must see for horror fans by almost every major horror and non-horror publication around.
That is, to put it bluntly, FUCKING WILD… Two creators leveraging social media videos and a home grown following into making longer form, globally recognized content is, as I said earlier, inspiring and I am so excited to see what they do next.
My hope is that other content creators, filmmakers, artists and anyone with an iPhone and a dream sees this movie and what it has accomplished (even at less than 1 Million Views as of writing this blog) and says “Ya know what? I can do that. I can write a script, get some friends together and make a movie. I can tell MY story. MY way” because that my friends, to me… is The Future of Horror.
Till Next Time… Keep The Scream Alive,
T.J. Rotell
P.S. Keep an eye out for OUR new short horror film, “Watch Till The End”, coming soon to youtube.com/@wearechannel29