Even in a genre like horror with many subcategories and aesthetics,
franchise fatigue is real. Here’s why the future of scary films is low-budget.

Larry Fessenden’s Blackout may make its 2023 debut, ushering in a new Monsterverse with a good old-fashioned werewolf flick. Even the most hotly anticipated franchise installment, Evil Dead Rise, is a continuation of what was once a low-budget cult favorite series. As fans look to these low-budget darlings for trend forecasting, they can expect to see more films falling into two camps: pure, old-fashioned fun with fewer metaphors than in recent films and chaotic, eerie, primal and atmospheric horror. And in another decade, perhaps the big box office release will follow suit.