GregMO ROberts

If you are a horror fan, you must be disappointed with the 2012 release schedule for the first half of the year. There have been only seven wide released horror movies in over the first 180 days. Pathetic. Those seven have been The Woman in Black, The Devil Inside, Cabin in the Woods, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Chernobyl Diaries, Piranha 3DD and Silent House. Of those, one was great (Cabin in the Woods), one was good (The Woman in Black) one was forgettable entertainment (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and the others were throwaways. And four of the seven were released before the snow had even melted in the Northeast.

By this same date in 2011, we had Insidious, Super 8, Season of the Witch, Scream 4, Red Riding Hood, The Rite and Priest. In 2010, Shutter Island, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Wolfman, Predators, Legion, The Crazies, Daybreakers and Splice all had first half release dates.

With only 6-7 titles in 6 months, that works out to one every four weeks or so. Hardly enough to get the horror enthusiasts out to the theatres in droves. In the summer months, when the school kiddies are all looking to stay out late and have a good scare, there is scant out there for them to screen. If you looked at your local listings today, you will see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter still playing in some small mutli-plexes, but fuck all else.

It’s not that we don’t support our horror films. Super 8 and Paranormal Activity 3 both grossed over $100 million last year. And Insidious and Final Destination 5 all did better than films either directed by Clint Eastwood (J. Edgar) or starring Tom Hanks (Larry Crowe). Yet studio’s still hold onto horror films until either the beginning of the year when theatre snobs area filling up seats for award nominated fare or October when they can jump on the Halloween bandwagon.

The DVD market is still saturated with horror film releases each month so there is no shortage of titles if you are desperate to be spooked. But horror movies are best when experienced late at night in a room full of tense strangers all looking for a good jump scare.

I am not suggesting that all horror films need to be released or even screened in the big theatres that overcharge for popcorn and a diabetes sized cola. But it is discouraging that films such as Trick ‘R Treat or this year’s V/H/S were collected dust bunnies on a shelf while Think Like A Man or This Means War get a more red carpet introduction.

This October sees the release of horror films Sinister, Paranormal Activity 4, Silent Hill: Revelation, the aforementioned V/H/S, The Paperboy and even Frankenweenie. Surely, they could have thrown one of these our way to view when we are looking to get out of the heat that is raining down on us with its global warming fury.