Is the label “horror movie” too broad in today’s theatrical market? This topic was the subject of a recent panel discussion in Los Angeles entitled “The Business of Fear.” The gathering was organized and led by Jason Blum, the famous practitioner of the genre and founder of Blumhouse Productions.
He explained that one of his company’s films may be very different in tone and content from another, comparing the science fiction horror of M3GAN with the psychological horror of GET OUT and the supernatural horror of THE BLACK PHONE. With the growing popularity of horror movies in the market, Blum wanted to encourage others to reconsider the overly simplistic categorization of these films.
One panelist who participated in the session was Stephen Follows, a UK-based film industry analyst, who describes on his Substack the various subgenres he believes fall under the “horror” umbrella. While the number of horror movies has grown, others, such as “drama,” “romance,” or “comedy,” that were once a primary focus for filmmakers have fallen back.
The following points to a wide variation of horror content with a movie such as MA best described as “psychological horror,” whereas the slasher title TERRIFIER 3 is simply “gore”. Follows has identified 11 horror sub-genres, and suggests that they use them in their marketing so that audiences can set expectations appropriately.