From Niche to Mainstream: How A24 Created a Unique Market for Transgressive Horror – Bloody Disgusting

Horror has long been referred to as one of the most profitable genres in all of fiction film and literature counting. Literature helped bring in some of the most renowned figures in horror, from H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe to modern writers like Stephen King and Junji Ito. Their works old and new are highly regarded in the modern pop culture climate we live in today, which has also seen the birth of timeless works of horror in film.

Wes Craven, George Romero, Ridley Scott, Alfred Hitchcock, John Carpenter, and Guillermo del Toro are but a few of the countless figures within the horror genre that have contributed to horrors rise in the film industry and the genre has consistently turned a nice profit in sales thanks to their mostly cheap productions and strong connections with thrill-seeking audiences. People love a good scare and even if some never quite get one, theyre willing to give it a try with the countless horror offerings each year.

But when horror rises to the level that it has, sub-genres within horror manifest, leading to horror being viewed as a genre with different levels to it. Theres elevated horror (more of a societal observation than an actual sub-genre, but worth mentioning) like The Silence of the Lambs, The Exorcist, The Sixth Sense, Black Swan, and Get Out. Elevated horror is often pointed out through aspects such as an overly serious tone, almost akin to a drama rather than full-on horror, and loud and emotional performances from the cast not so much embracing the horror, but more so going above it, hardly allowing for anything silly to come through.

These elevated horror films can sometimes cross over with blockbuster horror like the It franchise and the Conjuring universe, which are both examples of serious scares and dramatic acting blending with a more playful tone, akin to a horror event. This blend often appeals strongly to general audiences who tend to recognize certain qualities from major blockbusters in these respective horror films, leading the blockbuster horror genre to commonly produce franchises and sequels of the same cloth and formula.

Away from those two is the world of B-horror, which contains a pulpier atmosphere and plot and is often seen as low budget fare that doesnt quite steer into complete arthouse, but is too DIY to be considered a blockbuster; an example being the Sharknado series. Despite those limitations, B-horror has still amassed a large following, partially thanks to the filmmakers placing their emphasis on shock, awe, and entertainment over serious horror. The entire history regarding B horror is a full article for another day, but to save time, these movies arent likely to ever receive Oscar glory, but their popularity remains steadfast with midnight audiences and gorehounds looking for a fun fix.

Despite their vastly different markets within the horror genre, theyve all found loyal audiences over the years, forming followings that have helped dictate exactly what kind of movies they want to see a classic supply and demand situation. B-movies arent popular with arthouse audiences, but people craving a pulpy time at the theater will happily fill that void and the inverse is true with B movie audiences tending to stray away from intelligent horror, leaving general moviegoers to fill that void instead. Horror blockbusters try to have the best of both worlds, but their strongest audience is one of casual moviegoers, a strong market on its own.

But what about the horror movies that dont necessarily fit in any of those categories? The cavalcade of horror films that are not quite shlocky enough to be considered B-horror, not appealing enough to be blockbusters, and a little too off-center and weird to be part of the elevated horror category? Arthouse horror, as its commonly called, finds itself at a strange impasse where its difficult to see exactly what kind of audience the subgenre is appealing to. Exactly how can arthouse films turn over a profit while remaining true to the filmmakers intent?

A24 is the answer that we didnt have a decade ago.

Distributing its first film back in 2013, A24 has always existed as the voice of the indies company that its viewed as today. Films like Spring Breakers, The Spectacular Now, and The Bling Ring are the types of films that can be difficult to buy the rights for if the intention is to turn over a profit in release. Sure, theyre not terribly expensive, but how exactly would these films be promoted to a wider audience? A24 took charge and offered themselves as a viable alternative to a big studio release that likely wouldve tanked the film upon release.

Instead, the three films have managed to stay in the limelight even today thanks to A24s continued support for the films and their respective cult followings. A24 played up the idea of these movies not being of the norm and considering the star power of the likes of Emma Watson, James Franco, Selena Gomez, and Vanessa Hudgens was present to bring more eyes to the projects, A24 took advantage in advertising these films as the types where your potential favorites act in something never-before-seen.

This same tactic was employed with the immense popularity of Scarlett Johansson in 2014 when the Oscar-nominated star joined A24s filmography a year after its distribution debut to deliver us the atmospheric horror-drama, Under the Skin. A slow and immensely disturbing story about a literal man-killer, Under the Skin plays into that same never before seen feeling, touting its popular lead actress as the draw to a film thats seemingly unlike anything she has ever done and grabbing the attention of more casual moviegoers.

Under the Skin still wasnt a box office success and for the first few years of its inception, A24 still werent considered box office juggernauts of any kind. Their film catalog was niche and perhaps too off-center for most moviegoers and even the most critically acclaimed of the bunch couldnt find immense success right away. Even the first few films from A24 mentioned earlier didnt light up the box office, with Spring Breakers being the most financially successful film at about $31 million worldwide. There was notoriety, but not much else to prop the company up as THE best alternative for art house horror and indies.

2015 represented an important milestone year for A24, becoming the year where not one, not two, but three of A24s most successful films walked away with an Oscar at the next years ceremony. Room earned Brie Larson a Best Actress win, Amy snagged the Best Documentary Feature award, and Alex Garlands science fiction thriller, Ex Machina, nabbed the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The latter is by far the most interesting case purely for the fact that it plays out like a weird futuristic horror-thriller, the likes that are bound to be snubbed by both major awards and big distribution companies.

Ex Machinas surprising Visual Effects win jumpstarted the sort of standards that many people would eventually hold A24 up to in the future. Garlands sci-fi thriller proved pivotal in A24s eventual reputation as the place to go for weird and niche films and the very next year, Robert Eggers The Witchbroke new ground for the company, becoming the highest grossing film in their entire catalog at the time with over $40 million earned worldwide.

Best of all? The movie that broke box office milestones for A24 was a rich, complex, and incredibly inaccessible horror film that dove into the deep end of its setting, with its time period accurate language, lack of high tension thrills, and cinematography that used natural lighting to coat the films aesthetics in gray, white, and black. Theres no telling just how disastrous it couldve been had a larger company acquired the film and heavily edited it to appeal to a wider audience and while that could be somewhat true for A24, it seemed clearer than ever that A24 was now becoming the place to go to if you wanted to check out horror films that were different and/or provocative.

The success of The Witch and Ex Machina simultaneously proved that not only is A24 a feasible alternative choice for indies and arthouse films to even be released, but that a market actually exists for these movies. A24 certainly wasnt the first distribution company to take a chance on arthouse horror films, but the past decade has seen a rise in popularity and success for smaller and more artsy horror films. In 2017, only a year after The Witch, Trey Edward Shults broke out with his incredibly divisive horror-drama, It Comes At Night, two years after his feature-length debut, Krisha, was also released by A24.

Shults isnt the only filmmaker to benefit from A24s new market for transgressive horror, as directors like Robert Eggers, Ari Aster with both Hereditary and Midsommar, Yorgos Lanthimos, Alex Garland, The Daniels, Gaspar Noe, Claire Denis, Kevin Smith, and more have had some of their latest (and weirdest) films distributed through A24, increasing their profiles as the company continues to build its stock with more Oscar wins and box office success.

It isnt a guarantee that an A24 horror film will automatically be successful as a result, but the companys profile has undergone several new stages of popularity, now being highly touted as one of the most reliable film companies for non-mainstream features. But with their growing popularity, its difficult to even call them an indie company now, which may sound like an insult, but this new stage for A24 has put even more eyes on their film catalog than ever before.

With this rise in popularity, A24 has now found its market for their slate of films. Art house crowds may not rival that of the MCU fandom, but their vocal support for A24 films have sent waves throughout the public eye, as films like Hereditary, Midsommar, and most recently The Lighthouse went on to experience the kind of success that mightve not been possible if released through another distribution company.

A black-and-white film like The Lighthouse, spoken in a near-incomprehensible dialect and filled to the brim with long and garbled monologues about lobsters, timber, and fart fatigue, was as popular as it was not only because A24 already made Robert Eggers a recognizable name with arthouse horror fans, but the company made strides in touting the film as one of their marquee releases of 2019. If a company has no faith in its film, it shows, and A24 is no exception with some releases, but the films it does tout are the very type that would be swept under the rug regardless by most bigger studios.

A24, in the midst of this horror blockbuster boom in the 21st century and specifically in the past decade, has managed to carve out a spot in the horror market by distancing itself from the trappings of large studio-mandated film productions and appealing to its own niche audience interested in arthouse projects. Studios like IFC Midnight and Neon have led by similar strategies, but A24s gradual rise in popularity helped transform the tactic into something mainstream.

Trailers with the A24 logo now have their own set of expectations as to what we can expect, which normally boils down to something a little weird and perhaps unappealing. Either way, A24 has slowly progressed into becoming a relatively popular term in the film industry. They may not be a household name, but the possibility exists with the studios strong slate of films coming in the future, including their next horror release by director Rose Glass, Saint Maud.

While Saint Maud is currently postponed at the time of this writing thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it was slated to be A24s next big horror release in the vein of Hereditary and Midsommar, building the studios catalog of films and contributing to the expanding field of arthouse/indie horror films being granted time in the limelight with other big releases. Its a risky strategy, but A24 has built up enough of a reputation to release their films, specifically their horror selection, against mainstream events, a la Midsommars release against Spider-Man: Far from Home. The Lighthouse managed to gross nearly $20 million despite being released in a mostly limited format against the likes of Jojo Rabbit and billion-dollar society flick, Joker.

A24, for all their faults regarding their treatment of some of their smaller and more obscure films, have practically nailed their strategy for their art horror films, such as their humorous and often quirky marketing on social media, unique merchandising, and an overall laid back vibe that drastically contrasts the bot-like marketing present in films from larger companies. A regular studio asking you to watch their trailer pales in comparison to A24s cheeky wording with their marketing. Even if the film seems destined to fail at the box office, theres extra effort on the marketing teams behalf to go down swinging. And this strategy has helped endear the company, and now a good chunk of its films, to a wider general audience.

Times may seem strange and unclear for now, but the magic of movies will always be there to help distract and for audiences that crave more off-kilter content, A24 has now built a brand capitalizing on the appeal of arthouse/indie films to success. Whether A24 will keep playing to their strengths or expand into new horizons in the future will remain to be seen, but the budding horror filmmakers chipping away at their respective horror stories may only be a few calls away from having their unfiltered vision be spread on a potentially grander scale with the art horror market A24 has popularized.

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From Niche to Mainstream: How A24 Created a Unique Market for Transgressive Horror - Bloody Disgusting

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero