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Horror Thrives on the Small Screen, While Struggling on the Big: Why?

It’s no secret that the horror genre isn’t exactly igniting the big screen lately. We’ve seen countless offerings collide with the box office, only to bounce back in violent recoil; ignored or bashed by commercial audiences. What is interesting however, is the fact that the genre is not only alive on the small screen, it’s thriving like never before.

There was a time when fear freaks counted days until the next major feature landed in theaters, but those days seem to be fading, replaced by the knowledge that cable televion is becoming the go-to outlet for quality scares.



Numerous big budget and highly touted films have barged into cinemas lately, only to slink out the emergency exit, tail tucked. Season of the Witch debuted in January, only to pull down a meager $24 million domestically; Red State opened limited, but still barely toppled the $1 million mark; Scream 4, one of the most anticipated efforts of the year failed to break $39 million; Final Destination 5 drew fair domestic numbers, earning $42 million; the Fright Night reboot took in less than $19 million domestically; Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark earned an unimpresve $23 million domestically, and most recently, The Thing opened to a dismal $8.5 million take. Hell, one could argue the only genuine genre effort to make waves this year was Indious.



And while horror battles to survive the trip to theaters, the genre flourishes on televion, of all places (I guess we can completely rule out the whole “PG-13 horror sucks” idea). MTV’s comedy/horror hybrid Death Valley is gaining quite the following, thanks to some witty scribes and solid onscreen performers. Dexter continues to draw new viewers and high numbers for Showtime. AMC’s The Walking Dead is stronger than ever, setting viewer records and luring new fans regularly. The CW’s Supernatural continues to thrill viewers. FX’s American Horror Story is being welcomed with warm reviews and a solid viewership. Even those who love to romanticize the genre have food to feast upon in the form of True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf, to name a few.



And honestly, I’m still just scratching the surface. Even networks aimed at children have jumped aboard the horror bandwagon with series’ like, The Hub’s, The Haunting Hour and the Disney Channel’s, My Babytter’s A Vampire. The list really does go on and on, and it forces serious contemplation as a fan of the genre: why is horror thriving on the small screen, and battling for survival at the box office?

So, I propose a few questions to my fellow Bidite’s: Why is horror succeeding on the small screen, and more importantly, why the difficulties in drawing cinematic crowds? Surely the entire burden cannot be hoisted on the shoulders of the dreaded remakes, or unoriginal concepts, as there isn't much fresh material hitting the small screen anyway...right?

As far as televion goes, it can be kind of cyclical. For a while, there were tons of medical dramas. Then the forenc crime dramas. Reality matchmaking. Reality stunt/survival. Etc. Right now networks are jumping on the horror bandwagon and great as that is, it won't last. The next big thing is just around the corner. The tween crowd is helping it as well. The Twitards... sorry, Twilight fans, have embraced Vampire Diaries and its ilk and as they age up a few years, jump into True Blood and so on.

To hazard a guess about films, all I can think is the ring cost in admison prices coupled with some really, really bad films have left people a bit more selective about what they'll spend their cash on.

Movies aren't doing well on the big screen lately because of the economy. It keeps getting worse and with that so will box office totals on movies outde of big blockbusters. As for why small screen is doing better I believe it is because the budgets are a lot smaller and they get more money. It also helps small screen movies with streaming services like Netflix. I myself have found many smaller horror movies on Netflix which start to create a buzz after while.

I just think it boild down to two reasons: 1.) Almost everyone in the country owns a tv and most of us subscribe to cable, satellite or whatever. nce we already pay for the channels and they provide original concepts for the most part so people tune in.

2.) The price of movie tickets is just absolutely ridiculous and it continues to rise. The theater in my area charges $10.50 per ticket and don't get me started on that damn stale popcorn. The place is nice and has 24 screens but I've gone with a friend recently and ended up spending almost $50 on just two tickets and some snacks.

Not to mention almost every horror film coming out in the last few years have been completely crappy. Whether it's been a remake or an original idea they have lacked creativity and quality. Horror has had a few big hits and Hollywood has jumped on board trying to pump out their own copies of the same crap they think made these movies popular. A tourture movie did well then obviously people want gorey films. A found footage movie comes out and then everyone thinks found footage is the way to make money. They never seem to realize it's because these originals had interesting stories and characters with depth. Only when companies take chances and let good writers and directors do their jobs will we see a rise in ticket sales.

I just think it boild down to two reasons: 1.) Almost everyone in the country owns a tv and most of us subscribe to cable, satellite or whatever. nce we already pay for the channels and they provide original concepts for the most part so people tune in.

2.) The price of movie tickets is just absolutely ridiculous and it continues to rise. The theater in my area charges $10.50 per ticket and don't get me started on that damn stale popcorn. The place is nice and has 24 screens but I've gone with a friend recently and ended up spending almost $50 on just two tickets and some snacks.

Not to mention almost every horror film coming out in the last few years have been completely crappy. Whether it's been a remake or an original idea they have lacked creativity and quality. Horror has had a few big hits and Hollywood has jumped on board trying to pump out their own copies of the same crap they think made these movies popular. A tourture movie did well then obviously people want gorey films. A found footage movie comes out and then everyone thinks found footage is the way to make money. They never seem to realize it's because these originals had interesting stories and characters with depth. Only when companies take chances and let good writers and directors do their jobs will we see a rise in ticket sales.

what he said ^^^^^^^^

I don't think it helps that the target demographic for horror cinema are also the most guilty demographic when it comes to piracy. When you couple that with weaponx said you have the answer.

well scream 4 was very good IMO the best movie of the year but it failed at the box office maybe it is the economy.

well scream 4 was very good IMO the best movie of the year but it failed at the box office maybe it is the economy.

you need to watch more horror my friend!

Scream 4 was mediocre, and it didn't do too well because i think a lot of people realized exactly what they were in for, an attempted repeat of Scream 1; Indious, Panic Button, Troll Hunter, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Attack the Block and Black Death were all extremely superior flicks.

The economy is certainly a factor, though its not stopping shit movies like Real Steel from making money (insert face palm).

I wish they would release some oldies but goodies in the theaters again. A release of say Psycho, the original Halloween, others come to mind. This is a generation full of remakes and reboots and few have gotten to really experience these clascs in a big screen environment! I would dole out some cash to see Nick Castle dawn the mask and stalk Jamie Lee again at the theater!

I just think it boild down to two reasons: 1.) Almost everyone in the country owns a tv and most of us subscribe to cable, satellite or whatever. nce we already pay for the channels and they provide original concepts for the most part so people tune in.

2.) The price of movie tickets is just absolutely ridiculous and it continues to rise. The theater in my area charges $10.50 per ticket and don't get me started on that damn stale popcorn. The place is nice and has 24 screens but I've gone with a friend recently and ended up spending almost $50 on just two tickets and some snacks.

Not to mention almost every horror film coming out in the last few years have been completely crappy. Whether it's been a remake or an original idea they have lacked creativity and quality. Horror has had a few big hits and Hollywood has jumped on board trying to pump out their own copies of the same crap they think made these movies popular. A tourture movie did well then obviously people want gorey films. A found footage movie comes out and then everyone thinks found footage is the way to make money. They never seem to realize it's because these originals had interesting stories and characters with depth. Only when companies take chances and let good writers and directors do their jobs will we see a rise in ticket sales.

My thoughts exactly! The theaters wonder why people aren't coming in, well lower your damn prices! Plus a lot of theaters are being lazy and to save time and money they leave the same lense on for 2D films that they use for 3D films, thus creating a less quality look. Not to mention that plenty of people can ealy Pirate the films online. The biggest factor of all which a lot of companies seem to be oblivious to...DON'T realease the DVD's of the movie less than 2 months later! There is no point in going to the theater to watch a film once and spending about the same amount you would for the DVD 2 months later that you can watch as many times as you want. It's not rocket science and movie execs/Theater owners need to wise up and listen to the facts.

i think everyone has good points here. i think a big problem is that horror has become way to gimmicky. and by that i mean 3D! i, like many others, am ck of it. almost every movie in the horror genre lately is released in 3D with a 2D option, trying to lure in viewers outde of the target audience. i understand that you have to expand outde of the target audience to make money, but 3D is not working, even with the more expenve ticket price. i think a lot of people see that 3D at the end of movie titles, and just assume that it's not a good film and that the studios are just ung the gimmick to make money (which is pretty much correct. case and point: shark night 3D). it's just time for horror to reinvent itself, as it always does and will do again. and right now the arena for that is on tv.