Economics of Horror

Money in Horror Films 

It is believed that when the ecomony is struggling, horror films do well. An explanantion for this may be that the films reflect what the audience fears. This is also a common theme throughout the history of horror. As well as this, the horror genre is associated with low budget, high quality popular films (as well as the ones that are perhaps not the best quality).

Jeremy Gardner stated that fans of horror are more interested in how the film will affect them, rather than seeing big film stars. As a result, this means that horrors emphasize the importance of creating an impact, instead of spending lots on mise en scene. Darren Mooney also theorises that horror films are successful in a recession because studios can afford to take the risk, as they won't lose large sums of money if the film is a 'flop' at the box office. 

Although there are no horror films in the top grossing of all time, 'Hypable.com', credits 8 of 20 on their '20 low budget movies that became massive blockbusters' list to horror. This shows the potential success that horror films face. The list was as follows; 

• Halloween; Budget = $352k. Box office = $47m
• Friday the 13th; Budget = $500k. Box office = $59m
• The Purge; Budget = $3m. Box office = $89m
• Night of the Living Dead; Budget = $114k. Box office = $318m
• The Conjuring; Budget = $20m. Box office = $318m
• The Blair Witch Project; Budget = $60k. Box office = $248m
• Saw; Budget = $1.2m. Box office = $103m 

As previously mentioned, horror films can be successful in times of economic strain, as they may subconsciously refelct the fears of society. An example of this is the film 'Dracula'. The success of this film could be down to the fact that Dracula is an obvious theat to each human and simultaneously a danger to the public and society. He endangers human civilzation, and so during it's production, it was the Great Depression that was endangering.