Most people by now have some idea of the unsteady financial footing that most movie theaters sit on. We’ve all seen our share of beloved childhood theaters shut down — for me, the historic Ohio Theater in Madison, although they’ve had a recent resurrection! — for any number of reasons: natural disasters, COVID-19, or like many, a lack of theater-goers.
Lots of people have written lots of articles about how to save movie theaters, and I’m not smart enough to understand most of it, but one thing is clear: They need to win back crowds. Some of that involves amenities and plush, reclining sheets; some of it has to do with costs, like everything else. But what’s always fascinated me is the other, maybe under-discussed reason: Make enough bad movies, and people will stop showing up.
First, it was general action blockbuster. Then, specifically the superhero movies. Biopics have had their time in the limelight, too. But the genre that continues, time and time again, to inject a shot of life into a dying theater economy is what many people have referred to as “the recession-proof genre.”
Today, horror is saving the movies.
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The last few years are key proof of this, from A Quiet Place: Part Two welcoming people back to theaters in May 2021 to the tune of nearly $300 million at the worldwide box office to the plethora of $200+ million films in the following years. While the quality has been up-and-down, horror has mostly avoided the endless-sequel curse of other genres. There have been original stories, and they’ve been frighteningly good.
Smile, The Black Phone, and Nope both crushed the box office in 2022. Even those endless Conjuring spin-offs and A Quiet Place sequels were pulling in profit with each release. And of course, in 2025, Sinners shook the world as one of the best films in any genre. Weapons quietly reached nearly $300 million in its theatrical run.
All of those movies I just mentioned by name were original stories. (And that list doesn’t include the disappointing, sequel cash-cows like Conjuring: The Last Rites or the adaptations like The Housemaid, which combined for nearly a billion dollars in the same year.) Some will, of course, span sequels and already have. But all of them drew big crowds and injected some life into theaters nationwide.
This year, a trio of movies have done the same thing. And they’ve made it more clear than ever that the horror genre might be carrying a heavier load of the box office (and of course streams and physical sales afterward) than ever before.
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I’m talking, of course, about Backrooms, Weapons, and, begrudgingly, about Scream 7.
Let’s get that out of the way. I did not like the new Scream movie. Were I to rank all of them, Number 7 would be in the same spot: dead last (for now.) But somehow, this subpar movie scraped over $200 million from the box office. (If you didn’t notice, all my links are to the-numbers.com for box office stats. So now I’m going to stop linking them.)
I guess even horror can’t escape the bad sequels, even for a good series like The Conjuring. (I wrote about all the reasons that I hate Last Rites right here.)
More importantly, though, the other two I mentioned: The good ones. These movies are perfect examples of the 3 reasons that I think horror is the perfect genre. (And yes, I could spend another 200 words defining what “horror” is, but instead, we’ll move on. I’ll simply say, I have a pretty broad definition for it that includes most mysteries and thrillers.)
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First, something that both movies do incredibly well, emblematic of the genre as a whole: They take the mundane and daily life of the characters and turn it into something creepy and entertaining.
This is something that “modern” horror movies (wherever you want to draw that line) do very well. Not everything is fantastical or absurd or even paranormal. And when the setting does lean toward massive spectacle, like the titular Backrooms, the approach is through something mundane: In this case, a literal basement wall in an unimpressive furniture store.
Or take Obsession, where every scene plays out in either a character’s home, their workplace, or a bar/restaurant. The world around them is gritty and realistic to a point. It tracks the characters through familiar settings and situations they’ve gone through a hundred times before: the same friends, the same spots, as ever. Of course, the movie twists this into a nightmarish scenario and piles dread on top of dread until the climactic final scene. One of its flaws is also its strength: Nothing is inherently surprising about the story until the very end, not to us, not to the characters.
Secondly, horror can encompass everything. If it’s been called “the recession-proof genre,” it’s also “the chameleon genre.” And between the three films I mentioned — yes, fine, we’ll include Scream 7 for this part — you can find just about anything.
Hot, steamy romance? Sure. Action and heart-pounding chase scenes? Yeah, definitely. Dense themes and incredible storytelling with jaw-dropping visuals? Absolutely. Dramatic and shocking twists? A must-have.
It’s a genre so flexible and wide-ranging that it can give you Jennifer’s Body or Obsession; serve up Zombieland or Backrooms. And with totally different themes and tones, they still have some interesting parallels and similarities. (But that’s a rant for next time.)
Third and finally, nothing else is so familiar and so enticing to a universal audience like fear.
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I guess I should offer some actual scores, huh?
Backrooms had a lot of potential and some stunning moments, but overall, I thought it somehow ran out of juice to squeeze from the liminal spaces. Maybe it was the “final boss” they revealed toward the end or how some of the creepier spaces went under-utilized. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed parts of this, especially the first half, and the worldbuilding behind the backrooms itself was fascinating, but the movie still lost me by the end.
Now, Obsession. I’ve seen it a couple times, and it was one of the most impressive first-watch films I’ve ever seen. As I said, the story isn’t totally shocking, but the way its presented astounded me. The acting performances should get most of the credit for this surprise hit — Inde Navarrette especially; heck, give her the Oscar now — but the cinematography deserves some credit, too. It’s not a perfect movie, but it doesn’t have any weak moments, and it’s one I could see myself appreciating more with each watch — sort of like Weapons but with a higher floor because this one delivers a full-horror experience right away.
Overall:
Backrooms– 7.6/10
Obsession– 8.7/10
Thank you so much for reading! If you want to see more of my opinions on horror movies, check out the full movie reviews page or follow me on social media. Then, let me know what movies you enjoyed this year in the comments — anything I’ve missed? I’m sure there is. Tell me what to watch!
David Kummer 