Film budgets exceeding 200 million dollars have become more the rule than the exception in recent years - often accompanied by similarly high marketing costs. Many blockbusters therefore only become profitable once revenues exceed half a billion dollars. That it can be done differently is currently being proven by two horror films that have been causing a sensation internationally for weeks.
On June 18, "Backrooms", the highly praised debut by young director Kane Parsons (21), was released here. With a budget of around ten million dollars, the story about eerie and sparse rooms that exist beyond our reality has already grossed 272 million dollars.
Even more extreme is the case of Curry Barker's (26) "Obsession - Du sollst mich lieben", which can be seen in German cinemas starting June 26. The film, in which a fateful wish comes true for a young man, cost less than one million dollars to produce - but has already grossed 332 million dollars.
Oversaturated with Unimaginative Mainstream?
The fact that both works are performing so incredibly well could be related to a certain frustration among audiences. Recently, the comic bombast of franchises like Marvel or DC has failed to convince, and "Star Wars" also faltered in the form of "The Mandalorian and Grogu". Many viewers are practically yearning for innovative screen stories that don't offer them the same old conflicts and spectacles. And as horror history in particular shows, fresh ideas don't have to be expensive.
Witches, Ghosts, Chainsaws
An early example of this is the cult film "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" from 1974. According to estimates, its budget was only around 140,000 dollars. Through rapid word-of-mouth, however, the story about the monster Leatherface became a box office hit and sawed its way to 30 million dollars at the box office. A fortune by the standards of the time.
In 1999, an even more impressive phenomenon followed: "The Blair Witch Project" hadn't invented the found-footage genre, but it revolutionized it. With the simplest means, outstanding marketing, and a budget of allegedly only 60,000 dollars, the film created such a dense creepy atmosphere that every cinema fan simply had to see it. Nearly 250 million dollars was the final tally.
About eight years later, "Paranormal Activity" achieved a comparable feat: The horror film, which masterfully knew how to play with audience expectations, cost a laughable 15,000 dollars and turned it into around 194 million.
In comparison, the 4.5 million dollars that Jordan Peele had available for "Get Out" seemed almost princely. The socially critical film, which won an Oscar for Best Screenplay, grossed approximately 255 million dollars worldwide.
