LIKE A RAPACIOUS PREDATOR from the type of movie that they seek to purchase, film distribution companies are trolling off-Cannes backstreets and late night film festivals for horror films to bite into and drag away to call their own. You see, these types of (wink-wink, nod-nod) movies have a high market value apart from the crappy comedies and dreck-filled dramas usually found on A-movie shopping lists. That the well-timed premiere of INSIDIOUS 2 scaring away the competition into another dimension last week, and right after the prestigious Toronto Film Festival no less, only further serves to cement the unlikely relationship between fringe filmmakers and industry giants like Lionsgate.
Horror movies have found a new purpose in their niche role with distributors. Low-budget, high profit monster film machines have proven their point over and over again: that for every handful of straight-to-video throwaways there are one or two potential blockbusters. As with many other films, the trick is having the knack to select which ones. And, while horror flicks have yet to acquire the Midas touch among movie distributors, they still have improved their cachet one more level among the cognoscenti of film dealers.
The Wednesday, September 18 edition of the Wall Street Journal included an article describing the unbridled financial success of the horror film phenomenon. Without coming out and saying it, it makes the argument that horror, if only because of its profitability, is a legitimate film form. But isn't that what we've been saying all along?
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