Longlegs indeed was the indie sensation of the summer, and it is defined by a talky, cerebral, and aloof disposition. Most viewers who saw it in the theater didn’t even realize the silhouette of the Devil is present throughout half the movie. Conversely, Disney/20th Century Studios could make a more mid-budgeted sci-fi/horror spectacle like Alien: Romulus, which grossed $351 million worldwide. An old-school creature feature—even more so than the original 1979 Alien it so lovingly emulates—the movie is all about the image of an acid-drooling beastie hissing into the camera. It still works too.
Even this October’s surprise sensation, Terrifier 3, is an indie hit that no one would mistakenly call elevated. It is, in fact, a naked throwback to ‘80s slasher movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Friday the 13th (1980), only this one unburdened by the limitations placed on gore due to an R-rating and major studio-financing. Which is to say it’s a nasty little movie about a million years miles from Longlegs or modern A24 classics like The Witch (2015) and Hereditary (2018).
The diversity of horror comes from filmmakers being liberated to target individual niche audiences as opposed to everyone. It is also accessible for young or innovative filmmakers to play in that genre due to a relative lack of budget restraints and (perhaps more importantly), studio-mandated limitations because the popularity of the genre is defined by a handful of ancient IPs. Any attempt to liken it to the inherent limitations of the modern superhero genre is disingenuous, even as it reveals other shortsighted mistakes currently existing within the industry.
“All at once, starting in the mid-2010s, it seemed as though audiences had suddenly decided that comedies and awards movies were best watched at home,” a Comscore analyst lamented to THR. “And now we sit and wonder if the previously surefire horror genre is no longer as theatrically viable, either.”
First, this again shows a complete inability to read the horror genre’s audience of both hardcore fans and casual moviegoers looking for a fun time at the cinema. Just because a few horror movies underperformed at the beginning of the year does not mean “exhaustion” has set in. It means those particular films did not connect with audiences, either due to their merits or marketing, and Hollywood executives will have to maintain some responsibility about what gets greenlit and not just point to an algorithm which confirms horror is a “surefire” guarantee. It’s a bit like knowing the difference between the popularity of a Ryan Reynolds-as-Deadpool movie and a Ryan Reynolds-as-Green Lantern movie, no?
Furthermore, did audiences even really reject comedies in the mid-2010s? There is no case study in a major expensive comedy flopping so badly that the industry abandoned laughers to the streaming services. Some 2010s comedies flopped, and others overperformed like the late-in-the-decade Game Night (2018), or just last year’s Anyone But You, for that matter. In fact, that holiday release starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell nearly multiplied by nine times its reported $25 million budget with a worldwide gross of $220 million, even in spite of tepid reviews. One might wonder if some studio execs are now kicking themselves over passing on a Powell-starring rom-com like Hit Man, which actually received rave reviews out of film festivals last year. Unfortunately, no studio wanted to seriously bid for it, so Netflix got the rights.