The weird season isn’t here yet, but you never know how to watch the box office. this Magic: The Last Rite,aboutHave a problem. This is just the latest success of horror movies. Ryan Coogler’s sinnerZach Cregger armsand The ultimate destination lineage Theatres have also achieved amazing success this year.
Paul Dergarabedian, marketing director at media analysis firm ComScore, said horror movies have exceeded $1 billion in the domestic box office. The last time it happened was in 2017 it and go out Sweeping the theater.
Horror movies have always been an easy way to make money in movies because their budgets tend to be low. “Even a day, you’ll be like the original movie Halloweenthe budget is very moderate before becoming this box office royal family.
But until recently, financial success has not always been critically appreciated. Dergarabedian told Vox that horror is “Rodney Dangerfield of the genre. It has no respect.”
What’s striking in the 2025 horror movie is the ability to sell tickets not only when many other movies are struggling. These are real movies, and that’s also the key consensus. sinner and arms Especially the main nominations for the Oscar can be competed for. It’s respect to the genre that covers both Exorcist (Best Photo Nominee) and Friday, 13th (The most sinful pleasure).
“If you’ve gone through this type of history, there are some peaks and valleys that have peaks and valleys,” filmmaker Andrew Stasiulis, a filmmaker and DePaul University film professor, told Vox. “But we’re back to a stage where people who really respect horror, respect their traditions, and you’ll see, among the most popular and respected directors today, with Jordan Peele go outAri Aster and Genetics and middleRobert Eggers and Zach Cregger. ”
A counterintuitive trait that many creators share: they start with comedy. “I think comedy always really goes with horror,” Bald movie critic Alison Wilmore explain.
Why do these genres match so well? What do our love for horror movies think of us? That’s the theme of this week’s plot Explain to meVox’s weekly call podcast.
Here is an excerpt from our conversation with Willmore and edited to length and clarity. You can listen to the full plot Apple Podcast,,,,, Spotifyor Wherever you get a podcast. If you want to submit a question, please email askvox@vox.com or call 1-800-618-8545.
What is a horror comedy? Do they really have some comedy elements to the movie?
The best horror comedy is both scary and fun. Even in movies where movies are very scary, I think there is usually a space for intentional comedy, sometimes, if the movie doesn’t go well, it’s unintentional comedy.
“There is definitely a real trend in terms of the comedy of horror pathways.”
The one I always look at from early horror comedy is Abbott and Costello meet with Frankenstein. That went back to the 1940s. Even then, you had a classic comedy duo classic movie monster. Since then, you have something like that evil Dead The movie is fun and creepy. or Sean the DeadThis is a zombie movie that is obviously made for zombie movies, including the characters in it.
Why do horror and comedy blend together? It feels like a weird combination.
They do feel they should be opposites, but I think they are all genres that are considered a bit incredible. We won’t treat them like drama. Many of the same elements that make intimidation work are making work or making jokes. This is a matter of timing. This is a craft problem. This is a landing issue or a landing issue.
I think this illustrates a certain common spirit in both types. That’s one of the reasons I think they’re very suitable, people moving back and forth between people.
They both thrive on unexpected things. There is a surprise in comedy and horror.
Absolutely. We think that jump scare is a trademark experience of watching horror movies, but what do you do when you feel really good? You smiled a little, right? You’ll increase the tension and then release it, and I think the same thing happened to joke.
Now, some of our most buzzing horror creators – Jordan Peele go outand Zach Cregger arms – They are comedians. I’m curious about your opinion on that crossover.
I think this goes back to how you set up the shared DNA of panic and how to set up a joke very similar, even if your goal differs in the response of the audience you want.
director Heart-eyedIt’s a movie that is both an improvisation of Slasher movies and romantic comedy, and Josh Ruben directed by Josh Ruben. The Philip Brothers who directed the 2022 movie Talk to me Start making stupid sketches for YouTube. There is definitely a real trend for comedy about horror avenues.
One of my favorite things about horror is that it can hold so many tones that I think may be more important than any other genre. It is this incredible container that can make things weird and then on the other side, outrageous, funny, shocking and weird.
It seems that this is the tofu of the movie genre.
Absolutely. It picks up the flavor of any flavor it cooks with.
The main focus of almost every horror movie is to escape death. I wonder what this said to us, and it might be interesting, the fact that can be cathartic to some extent.
We want to be able to sample darkness to sample dangers. However, it has to be in a controlled environment, and to some extent you know the points are going to roll and go home. I think it does provide this safe space where you can explore these dark, truly exciting, tense experiences.
