The economics of horror

Paranormal activity = production costs $15,000 made $190 million at the box office

Blair Witch project = production costs $35,000 -> $245 million

Both films were low budget horror movies that made millions at the box office where as high budget movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides which had the highest budget of any movie ever at $378 billion and received negative reviews

Horror lacks family appeal and isn't considered an artistic film genre


We like to watch films that reflect our real life fears. Roughly contemporary films that deal with concerns over "Broken Britain" and a fear of "hoodies" are very popular. 
For example 'Harry Brown'

Backwoods and redneck movies are films were locals turn on the visitors in gruesome an horrible ways e.g. torture and death

• Eden Lake trailer
• Deliverance
• Straw dogs

 A low budget can help in the horror genre because it seems more realistic, it creates more fear as it represents the horror in their real life. Found footage movies are low budget movies that exceeded expectations in terms of box office success, the amateur videoing and lack of Hollywood stars makes it feel like it could happen to anyone. According to Henry Joost, 1/2 of the directing team that came up with paranormal activity 3 & 4 says that for a good found footage horror there are 3 simple principles:

1. Forget cinematography. Cameras can jump and story lines can jumble in found-footage movies. "The genre coincides nicely with the popularity of YouTube," Joost says.
2. Keep it cheap. "Don't spend more on video equipment than your character would," he says. "It needs to look homemade.
3. "Cut your makeup budget. "Make sure the boy's hair is a mess and the actress doesn't have on makeup," Joost says. "Pimples are good. Nothing takes you out of a movie like seeing a character get out of bed who doesn't look bad."