Why horror thrives in the independent film circuit
Horror has thrived through independent filmmaking since it became a popular genre in the 1970s. This low-budget approach allows filmmakers to harness greater freedom away from the demands of big studio producers, inspiring further creativity through limited financial resources. In return, horror has become one of cinema’s most beloved and influential genres.
While there have been successful big-budget horror movies created by mainstream studios, the most iconic and enduring ones have emerged from the independent realm, which continues to foster some of the most unique scary stories being made today. Horror films have existed since the dawn of cinema, yet it wasn’t until the latter half of the 21st century that they began to become more widespread. As the Hays Code eased in the 1960s, directors were able to show more gore and violence within their work, with movies like Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Mario Bava’s Black Sunday welcoming this to the big screen. By the 1970s, horror became more graphic with the rise of the Italian giallo genre and slashers.
In 1974, Tobe Hooper released his low-budget indie slasher, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which utilised a dingy, dirty aesthetic miles away from the polished sheen of Hollywood. While this served the gruesome movie well, it was also borne out of a small budget – less than $140,000 – which contributed to the rough-around-the-edges effect. This gave the movie an even scarier, realistic sensibility. The glossiness of Hollywood often allows the audience to feel an element of separation between themselves and the events on screen. Yet, in Hooper’s movie, there’s nowhere to hide – the grimy heat practically radiates off the screen.
Indie horror in the ’70s, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, typically found success in drive-in theatres. Major studios perceived these graphic movies, which often bordered on the exploitation genre, as too risky, shocking and controversial to handle themselves. However, a few years after the release of Hooper’s film, John Carpenter made Halloween, which changed everything, leading to a horror boom in the 1980s. The movie was a hit, grossing over $70million. But why did it attract such a large audience?
In Halloween, no supernatural force is at play, and the killer doesn’t have a particularly strong motive for terrorising Laurie and her friends. The masked, knife-wielding villain disrupts middle-class suburbia. With every stab, he pierces deeper into comfort and safety, destroying the perfection of the American dream by suggesting that anyone watching could become the next victim.
Due to Carpenter harnessing complete creative control of the film, he was able to make a potent social and cultural statement that challenged the status quo. Moreover, with a limited budget, the film possessed a similar frightening realism to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with innovative techniques, such as shots from the killer’s point of view, making the movie even more captivating. Complete with an intense score, Halloween captured the attention of audiences who just couldn’t look away, signalling to studios that realistic horror movies could bring in a sizeable profit.
However, as the decades go by, indie horrors continually prove to be the most creative and terrifying entries to the genre. Away from the oppressive studio systems, directors have more freedom to explore powerful social themes and incorporate more explicit violence and gore. With less money, filmmakers are forced to think outside the box, whether inventing a villain wearing a simple fancy-dress shop mask or using a found-footage style as demonstrated in The Blair Witch Project.
Due to the cult fanaticism that surrounds the genre, horror will always have an audience who will flock to get their next fill, chasing the adrenaline rush. This makes horror the ideal genre for many first-time filmmakers trying to break into the industry, especially women, who might find it hard to get other projects greenlit. For example, Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), Prano Bailey Bond (Censor), Rose Glass (Saint Maud) and Julia Ducournau (Raw) all got their start in the horror genre, earning critical acclaim for their terrific entries to the canon.
With distributors like A24 fostering independent horror movies like Robert Eggers’ The Witch and Ari Aster’s Hereditary (both of which were also debuts), the genre is only continuing to thrive. There is a distinctive appeal to horror movies that haven’t been made by a huge studio. The genre intrinsically stands in opposition to the mainstream due to its ability to become a powerful conduit for social commentary and its championing of a grimy, unpolished aesthetic. Thus, indie filmmaking and horror go hand in hand, offering a glimpse of hope that there are still opportunities for filmmakers to release innovative films outside the domineering studio system.
