The Stage is Set
For those who consider themselves true devotees of Cinematic Horror, good times and bad come in cycles. 1931-45 was a very, very good cycle, the first true Golden Age of the Horror Film. 1946-1950 was a very bad cycle, as the tide of Horror that had crested a decade before turned into an ebb tide of comedies, farce and spoofs. Similarly, while the early to mid '90's were a rather bleak period for the fans of the Horror film, marked by endless sequels (Exorcist Iii; Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Iii; Nightmare On Elm Street 6: Freddy's Dead-- The Final Nightmare), remakes (Night Of The Living Dead; Bram Stoker's Dracula; Mary Shelly's Frankenstein), and cheap, made-for-cable or direct-to-video fare (Return Of The Living Dead 3; Ghost In The Machine; Embrace Of The Vampire), the latter half of the last decade and the first three years of the current one have proven to be the best cycle of Horror movies in a long time, perhaps since the '30's and early '40's. Could we be in the midst of a new Golden Age of Horror in the Cinema?
The Past Eight Years
In 1996, four films were released which marked the turning of the tide in the world of Horror. These films were The Craft; From Dusk Till Dawn; Independence Day; and Scream. Individually, all four are good films, stylish, well-done, original movies that had wide appeal to audiences, including those who didn't consider themselves Genre fans. Taken collectively, they marked a resurgence of the Horror film as a mass-market moneymaker, as properties that the large Hollywood studios could count on to generate revenue. That was reflected next year with more Genre releases, including from the major players, along with more big hits. Anaconda; Event Horizon; I Know What You Did Last Summer; Men In Black; Mimic; Starship Troopers; Wishmaster, along with the sequels The Lost World: Jurassic Park And Scream 2, all were released in 1997, earning a combined (estimated) $810,700,000 at the Box-Office. This firmly convinced Hollywood that Horror and Science-Fiction made good box-office sense, and the race was on to find the next big franchise.
1998 was more of a mixed bag, both in terms of quality available, and the box-office success it enjoyed. Though there were big success stories for the year, such as Blade, The X-Files: Fight The Future, And Halloween: H20, there were also some significant flops. The hugely-hyped (and budgeted) Godzilla was almost universally panned by critics, and, even though it finished as the highest-grossing horror film of the year, over 30% of the Box-Office total came on it's opening weekend, and it was regarded as something of a failure. A remake of Hitchcock's Psycho, by Gus Van Sant, met with mixed results, both critically and financially. But still, the pluses outweighed the minuses for the year, and laid the groundwork for the ascension of the Horror film to true blockbuster status in 1999.
For Horror fans, the year officially began on January 25th, with the release of The Blair Witch Project. Regardless of your opinion of this as a horror film, it's hard to deny its box-office appeal; no doubt helped by one of the most successful Public Relations campaigns in the history of Hollywood. In fact, this small, low-budget film, with the production values of a 12th-Grade class project, wound up number eleven on the list of the year's top-grossing films, with a total box-office take of $140,500,000. This was good enough for fourth place among Genre films, behind three huge blockbusters, Sixth Sense, The Matrix, and The Mummy.
The first, M. Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense, was a quiet sleeper which took the movie-going public by surprise, both literally and figuratively, on it's way to earning a total of $295,000,000. A rarity among Horror films, it enjoyed tremendous critical, as well as financial, success; even earning six Oscar nominations, most notably Best Director for Shyamalan.
While Universal's big-budget remake of the 1932 classic, The Mummy, wasn't as well received critically as Sixth Sense, audiences loved it, to the tune of just over $155,000,000. Though fans of the classic Universal Horrors were critical of it, Stephen Sommers' film was an enjoyable, beautifully filmed, action-filled thrill-ride of a movie. True, it bore more of a resemblance to Raiders Of The Lost Ark than to Karloff's classic, but movie-goers didn't seem to mind.
In all, no fewer than twelve Genre films posted Box-Office receipts in excess of $40,000,000 for 1999, for a total of nearly one-and-a-quarter Billion dollars. The top three films, (The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Mummy) accounting for 44% of that total, with the top twelve films averaging nearly $107,000,000. By any standard, it was a banner year for the Horror, Fantasy, and Science-Fiction Genres, the second highest-grossing year for the past eight.
2000, conversely, was disappointing, both in terms of Box-Office success and quality of product. Only six Genre films cracked the top fifty Box-Office charts, with one (Scream 3) a sequel, and another (Scary Movie) a comedy. In fact, Scary Movie was the top-grossing Genre movie for 2000, earning $157,000,000 and narrowly edging out the only real competition it had for top spot, the Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer ghost film What Lies Beneath, with $155,400,000. The other four films, Scream 3, Hollow Man, The Cell, and Final Destination, failed to break the Hundred-million dollar barrier.
Though Scary Movie was undeniably funny and spawned two sequels, the year's true stand-out was the teen-oriented Final Destination. Though the plot was thin, and the cast too much like the cast of every other teen horror pic to really stand out, the innovative premise and absolutely kick-ass special effects made this one of the year's best films, and even led to a much superior sequel.
2001 held much promise, with the expected launch of two eagerly-awaited film franchises, along with a host of sequels. And did it ever deliver. With no fewer than six films earning more than $100,000,000 (including three that surpassed $200,000,000, two of which each passed the $300,000,000 mark), this was the single highest average grossing year of the past eight, with a per film average of nearly $170,000,000. Led by twin juggernauts, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone ($317,600,000) and Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Rings, ($313,000,000), a tremendously strong crop of Genre films burst upon the movie-going public in 2001. The Mummy's Return, Jurassic Park Iii, Hannibal, and Scary Movie 2 were sequels to hit movies, and, except for Scary Movie 2, easily exceeded the Box-Office take of their predecessors. Tim Burton's Mega-Budget remake of the 1968 Sci-Fi classic Planet Of The Apes, while panned critically, still managed to place fifth for the year, with $180,000,000.
The surprise film of the year, at least in terms of financial success, was the Alejandro Amenebar film The Others. Starring Nicole Kidman, in a role that seemed tailor-made for her rather frigid personality, it bucked the trend of Big-Budget, Special Effects showcases that were so prevalent on the Box-Office charts. Reminiscent of such classics as The Uninvited (1944) and The Innocents (1961), it was a well-crafted, suspenseful, genuinely frightening ghost story, short on effects but long on atmosphere.
But the year belonged to two films that have, between them, revolutionized the Genre and how Hollywood views it: Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone and Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Rings. Both films, designed from the outset as the start of a series of films, were hugely popular, and hugely successful. Both were critically acclaimed, and both were based on beloved works of literature. And both were special effects powerhouses, taking viewers into worlds they had only dreamed of before. Together, these two films earned nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars, with much, much more to come.
2002 saw an explosion of Genre films, both on the top charts, and in general. No fewer than eight Genre films appeared on the top fifty Box-Office charts, led by Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers with $340,500,000. It easily surpassed its closest challenger, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets ($262,000,000). Fans of the Peter Jackson films, (based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien) as well as some critics, began clamoring for Oscar attention for the series. Both films were more of what viewers saw in the first installments of those series, with more and greater special effects especially.
2002 also marked the return of M. Night Shyamalan to the Genre charts with Signs, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Though it received mixed reviews, and fans were generally disappointed with the Creature effects, enough of them saw it to make it the third highest-grossing Genre film for the year, with $227,500,000 in box-office receipts.
Remakes and sequels, as has become the norm, were popular in 2002. Viewers were treated to two sequels, (Blade Ii; Men In Black Ii) two remakes, (The Ring; The Time Machine) and one prequel that was also a remake (Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence Of The Lambs, and a remake of 1986's Manhunter). All except The Time Machine, a remake of the 1960 Sci-Fi classic, did well both financially and critically. The Ring, Gore Verbinski's remake of Ringu, a Japanese film by Hideo Nakata, particularly exceeded expectations. Shot on an estimated budget of $45,000,000, it grossed nearly $129,000,000 and started an interest in Japanese Horror Films that's still growing.
2003 began much as 2002, with fans eagerly awaiting the next installment in Jackson's Lord Of The Ring epic; in this case the conclusion of the trilogy. Lord Of The Ring: The Return Of The King grossed $377,000,000, more than either of its predecessors, and pushing the franchises' combined take over the billion-dollar mark. Unchallenged by an entry in the equally popular Harry Potter franchise this year, it's share of the box-office would have been much higher were it not for the surprise hit of the year, Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl. With jaw-dropping special effects, beautiful photography, exciting story, and tremendous cast, (including Johnny Depp, whose over-the-top performance as Captain Jack Sparrow earned him an Oscar nomination) it was a huge success, earning over $305,000,000.
Also garnering much of the attention in 2003 were the concluding episodes in the Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions. While critics were generally less than enthusiastic about the films than they were for the first, the fans turned out in massive numbers, though most of that support came in the opening weekends of both films, and tapered off rapidly.
Overall, 2003 was a strong year for the Genre, in terms of overall Box-Office numbers the strongest of the last eight, with the top ten Genre films earning over $1,660,000,000.
Last year, 2004, was once again dominated by Harry Potter and the gang from Hogwarts. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the third installment in the series, was easily the top Genre film of the year, outdistancing I, Robot by more than $100,000,000, though it's box-office take of $249,000,000 fell short of that of either of the first two films in the series.
The runner-up to Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the Will Smith Special Effects extravaganza I, Robot, took in $145,000,000, and was generally well-received, though dedicated fans of Isaac Azimov were somewhat disappointed by the lack of resemblance to the original stories.
The most talked about film of 2004, at least the first four months of the year, was without a doubt Van Helsing. A subject of great controversy among fans of the Classic Universal Monsters, who were divided as to whether it was a rollicking good time or utter travesty, it managed third place among Genre films with $120,000,000. Still, as large a figure as that is, Van Helsing lost $40,000,000 on it's estimated $160,000,000 cost.
The fourth place Genre film, Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, was released in very late in the year, yet still reached $120,000,000 before December's end. The Jim Carrey vehicle, based on the Lemony Snicket series of children's novels, was still in general release and going strong as 2005 began.
Eight more Genre films made the top fifty charts last year, the most since 1999. Scooby-Doo 2 and Alien vs. Predator led the sequels, while remakes were well represented by The Grudge, The Stepford Wives, and Dawn Of The Dead. M. Night Shyamalan's The Village captured the fifth spot, though it was roundly panned by critics and fans alike. The Forgotten was mostly ignored, though it's take of $67,000,000 was adequate for ninth place. The most under-appreciated film of the year (at least of films making the top fifty chart) was Guillermo Del Toro's big budget Comic-Book adaptation HELLBOY. Shot on a budget of $66,000,000, it's Box-Office receipts of $59,000,000 were disappointing, to say the least.
While the number of Genre films reaching the top fifty was gratifying, the overall Box-Office numbers were down significantly from the previous year; indeed, they were off approximately 25% from 2003's high, with $1,266,000,000 in ticket sales. This marked the first downturn in the market since 2000, and, other than 2000's unusually aberrant numbers, the lowest since 1998.
Conclusions
While many fans decry the state of the Genre, claiming that there is simply nothing but unoriginal, mass-produced product being shoved at us now, I dispute that. I have tried to use the Box-Office numbers from the past eight years to prove my point. Genre films are hot, of that fact there can be no dispute. And while the majority of the films that have been released since 1996 are of dubious quality, there have undoubtedly been some gems amongst the gravel. Movies such as Sixth Sense, The Ring, House Of 1000 Corpses, the LOTR trilogy, the Harry Potter films. they might not have happened if not for the sheer quantity of Genre films that were in demand over past several years. It reduces to a simple equation: The more Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy films that succeed, the more that will be made; the more that are made, the more good ones we'll have to enjoy. I will accept the premise that 90% of all Genre films are not very good; that still leaves 10% that are. 10% of forty films a year is much better than 10% of twenty, is it not? The fact is, more Genre films are being made now, and by a simple mathematical probability, more of them are going to be good movies. Twenty years from now, we may look back wistfully on the late '90's-early 2000's and think, "Those were the days."
Originally Published on Horror-Web by Unimonster 2.13.05
For those who consider themselves true devotees of Cinematic Horror, good times and bad come in cycles. 1931-45 was a very, very good cycle, the first true Golden Age of the Horror Film. 1946-1950 was a very bad cycle, as the tide of Horror that had crested a decade before turned into an ebb tide of comedies, farce and spoofs. Similarly, while the early to mid '90's were a rather bleak period for the fans of the Horror film, marked by endless sequels (Exorcist Iii; Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Iii; Nightmare On Elm Street 6: Freddy's Dead-- The Final Nightmare), remakes (Night Of The Living Dead; Bram Stoker's Dracula; Mary Shelly's Frankenstein), and cheap, made-for-cable or direct-to-video fare (Return Of The Living Dead 3; Ghost In The Machine; Embrace Of The Vampire), the latter half of the last decade and the first three years of the current one have proven to be the best cycle of Horror movies in a long time, perhaps since the '30's and early '40's. Could we be in the midst of a new Golden Age of Horror in the Cinema?
The Past Eight Years
In 1996, four films were released which marked the turning of the tide in the world of Horror. These films were The Craft; From Dusk Till Dawn; Independence Day; and Scream. Individually, all four are good films, stylish, well-done, original movies that had wide appeal to audiences, including those who didn't consider themselves Genre fans. Taken collectively, they marked a resurgence of the Horror film as a mass-market moneymaker, as properties that the large Hollywood studios could count on to generate revenue. That was reflected next year with more Genre releases, including from the major players, along with more big hits. Anaconda; Event Horizon; I Know What You Did Last Summer; Men In Black; Mimic; Starship Troopers; Wishmaster, along with the sequels The Lost World: Jurassic Park And Scream 2, all were released in 1997, earning a combined (estimated) $810,700,000 at the Box-Office. This firmly convinced Hollywood that Horror and Science-Fiction made good box-office sense, and the race was on to find the next big franchise.
1998 was more of a mixed bag, both in terms of quality available, and the box-office success it enjoyed. Though there were big success stories for the year, such as Blade, The X-Files: Fight The Future, And Halloween: H20, there were also some significant flops. The hugely-hyped (and budgeted) Godzilla was almost universally panned by critics, and, even though it finished as the highest-grossing horror film of the year, over 30% of the Box-Office total came on it's opening weekend, and it was regarded as something of a failure. A remake of Hitchcock's Psycho, by Gus Van Sant, met with mixed results, both critically and financially. But still, the pluses outweighed the minuses for the year, and laid the groundwork for the ascension of the Horror film to true blockbuster status in 1999.
For Horror fans, the year officially began on January 25th, with the release of The Blair Witch Project. Regardless of your opinion of this as a horror film, it's hard to deny its box-office appeal; no doubt helped by one of the most successful Public Relations campaigns in the history of Hollywood. In fact, this small, low-budget film, with the production values of a 12th-Grade class project, wound up number eleven on the list of the year's top-grossing films, with a total box-office take of $140,500,000. This was good enough for fourth place among Genre films, behind three huge blockbusters, Sixth Sense, The Matrix, and The Mummy.
The first, M. Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense, was a quiet sleeper which took the movie-going public by surprise, both literally and figuratively, on it's way to earning a total of $295,000,000. A rarity among Horror films, it enjoyed tremendous critical, as well as financial, success; even earning six Oscar nominations, most notably Best Director for Shyamalan.
While Universal's big-budget remake of the 1932 classic, The Mummy, wasn't as well received critically as Sixth Sense, audiences loved it, to the tune of just over $155,000,000. Though fans of the classic Universal Horrors were critical of it, Stephen Sommers' film was an enjoyable, beautifully filmed, action-filled thrill-ride of a movie. True, it bore more of a resemblance to Raiders Of The Lost Ark than to Karloff's classic, but movie-goers didn't seem to mind.
In all, no fewer than twelve Genre films posted Box-Office receipts in excess of $40,000,000 for 1999, for a total of nearly one-and-a-quarter Billion dollars. The top three films, (The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Mummy) accounting for 44% of that total, with the top twelve films averaging nearly $107,000,000. By any standard, it was a banner year for the Horror, Fantasy, and Science-Fiction Genres, the second highest-grossing year for the past eight.
2000, conversely, was disappointing, both in terms of Box-Office success and quality of product. Only six Genre films cracked the top fifty Box-Office charts, with one (Scream 3) a sequel, and another (Scary Movie) a comedy. In fact, Scary Movie was the top-grossing Genre movie for 2000, earning $157,000,000 and narrowly edging out the only real competition it had for top spot, the Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer ghost film What Lies Beneath, with $155,400,000. The other four films, Scream 3, Hollow Man, The Cell, and Final Destination, failed to break the Hundred-million dollar barrier.
Though Scary Movie was undeniably funny and spawned two sequels, the year's true stand-out was the teen-oriented Final Destination. Though the plot was thin, and the cast too much like the cast of every other teen horror pic to really stand out, the innovative premise and absolutely kick-ass special effects made this one of the year's best films, and even led to a much superior sequel.
2001 held much promise, with the expected launch of two eagerly-awaited film franchises, along with a host of sequels. And did it ever deliver. With no fewer than six films earning more than $100,000,000 (including three that surpassed $200,000,000, two of which each passed the $300,000,000 mark), this was the single highest average grossing year of the past eight, with a per film average of nearly $170,000,000. Led by twin juggernauts, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone ($317,600,000) and Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Rings, ($313,000,000), a tremendously strong crop of Genre films burst upon the movie-going public in 2001. The Mummy's Return, Jurassic Park Iii, Hannibal, and Scary Movie 2 were sequels to hit movies, and, except for Scary Movie 2, easily exceeded the Box-Office take of their predecessors. Tim Burton's Mega-Budget remake of the 1968 Sci-Fi classic Planet Of The Apes, while panned critically, still managed to place fifth for the year, with $180,000,000.
The surprise film of the year, at least in terms of financial success, was the Alejandro Amenebar film The Others. Starring Nicole Kidman, in a role that seemed tailor-made for her rather frigid personality, it bucked the trend of Big-Budget, Special Effects showcases that were so prevalent on the Box-Office charts. Reminiscent of such classics as The Uninvited (1944) and The Innocents (1961), it was a well-crafted, suspenseful, genuinely frightening ghost story, short on effects but long on atmosphere.
But the year belonged to two films that have, between them, revolutionized the Genre and how Hollywood views it: Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone and Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Rings. Both films, designed from the outset as the start of a series of films, were hugely popular, and hugely successful. Both were critically acclaimed, and both were based on beloved works of literature. And both were special effects powerhouses, taking viewers into worlds they had only dreamed of before. Together, these two films earned nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars, with much, much more to come.
2002 saw an explosion of Genre films, both on the top charts, and in general. No fewer than eight Genre films appeared on the top fifty Box-Office charts, led by Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers with $340,500,000. It easily surpassed its closest challenger, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets ($262,000,000). Fans of the Peter Jackson films, (based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien) as well as some critics, began clamoring for Oscar attention for the series. Both films were more of what viewers saw in the first installments of those series, with more and greater special effects especially.
2002 also marked the return of M. Night Shyamalan to the Genre charts with Signs, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Though it received mixed reviews, and fans were generally disappointed with the Creature effects, enough of them saw it to make it the third highest-grossing Genre film for the year, with $227,500,000 in box-office receipts.
Remakes and sequels, as has become the norm, were popular in 2002. Viewers were treated to two sequels, (Blade Ii; Men In Black Ii) two remakes, (The Ring; The Time Machine) and one prequel that was also a remake (Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence Of The Lambs, and a remake of 1986's Manhunter). All except The Time Machine, a remake of the 1960 Sci-Fi classic, did well both financially and critically. The Ring, Gore Verbinski's remake of Ringu, a Japanese film by Hideo Nakata, particularly exceeded expectations. Shot on an estimated budget of $45,000,000, it grossed nearly $129,000,000 and started an interest in Japanese Horror Films that's still growing.
2003 began much as 2002, with fans eagerly awaiting the next installment in Jackson's Lord Of The Ring epic; in this case the conclusion of the trilogy. Lord Of The Ring: The Return Of The King grossed $377,000,000, more than either of its predecessors, and pushing the franchises' combined take over the billion-dollar mark. Unchallenged by an entry in the equally popular Harry Potter franchise this year, it's share of the box-office would have been much higher were it not for the surprise hit of the year, Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl. With jaw-dropping special effects, beautiful photography, exciting story, and tremendous cast, (including Johnny Depp, whose over-the-top performance as Captain Jack Sparrow earned him an Oscar nomination) it was a huge success, earning over $305,000,000.
Also garnering much of the attention in 2003 were the concluding episodes in the Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions. While critics were generally less than enthusiastic about the films than they were for the first, the fans turned out in massive numbers, though most of that support came in the opening weekends of both films, and tapered off rapidly.
Overall, 2003 was a strong year for the Genre, in terms of overall Box-Office numbers the strongest of the last eight, with the top ten Genre films earning over $1,660,000,000.
Last year, 2004, was once again dominated by Harry Potter and the gang from Hogwarts. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the third installment in the series, was easily the top Genre film of the year, outdistancing I, Robot by more than $100,000,000, though it's box-office take of $249,000,000 fell short of that of either of the first two films in the series.
The runner-up to Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the Will Smith Special Effects extravaganza I, Robot, took in $145,000,000, and was generally well-received, though dedicated fans of Isaac Azimov were somewhat disappointed by the lack of resemblance to the original stories.
The most talked about film of 2004, at least the first four months of the year, was without a doubt Van Helsing. A subject of great controversy among fans of the Classic Universal Monsters, who were divided as to whether it was a rollicking good time or utter travesty, it managed third place among Genre films with $120,000,000. Still, as large a figure as that is, Van Helsing lost $40,000,000 on it's estimated $160,000,000 cost.
The fourth place Genre film, Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, was released in very late in the year, yet still reached $120,000,000 before December's end. The Jim Carrey vehicle, based on the Lemony Snicket series of children's novels, was still in general release and going strong as 2005 began.
Eight more Genre films made the top fifty charts last year, the most since 1999. Scooby-Doo 2 and Alien vs. Predator led the sequels, while remakes were well represented by The Grudge, The Stepford Wives, and Dawn Of The Dead. M. Night Shyamalan's The Village captured the fifth spot, though it was roundly panned by critics and fans alike. The Forgotten was mostly ignored, though it's take of $67,000,000 was adequate for ninth place. The most under-appreciated film of the year (at least of films making the top fifty chart) was Guillermo Del Toro's big budget Comic-Book adaptation HELLBOY. Shot on a budget of $66,000,000, it's Box-Office receipts of $59,000,000 were disappointing, to say the least.
While the number of Genre films reaching the top fifty was gratifying, the overall Box-Office numbers were down significantly from the previous year; indeed, they were off approximately 25% from 2003's high, with $1,266,000,000 in ticket sales. This marked the first downturn in the market since 2000, and, other than 2000's unusually aberrant numbers, the lowest since 1998.
Conclusions
While many fans decry the state of the Genre, claiming that there is simply nothing but unoriginal, mass-produced product being shoved at us now, I dispute that. I have tried to use the Box-Office numbers from the past eight years to prove my point. Genre films are hot, of that fact there can be no dispute. And while the majority of the films that have been released since 1996 are of dubious quality, there have undoubtedly been some gems amongst the gravel. Movies such as Sixth Sense, The Ring, House Of 1000 Corpses, the LOTR trilogy, the Harry Potter films. they might not have happened if not for the sheer quantity of Genre films that were in demand over past several years. It reduces to a simple equation: The more Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy films that succeed, the more that will be made; the more that are made, the more good ones we'll have to enjoy. I will accept the premise that 90% of all Genre films are not very good; that still leaves 10% that are. 10% of forty films a year is much better than 10% of twenty, is it not? The fact is, more Genre films are being made now, and by a simple mathematical probability, more of them are going to be good movies. Twenty years from now, we may look back wistfully on the late '90's-early 2000's and think, "Those were the days."
Originally Published on Horror-Web by Unimonster 2.13.05
