Is There Still A Market For Horror Classics?

For those of us from the older generation of horror fans, the idea that films like SAW and The Blair Witch Project are now considered ‘classic’ films is a bit strange to hear at first. However, there’s one era of film that can be called ‘classic’ by fans of all ages and that’s the selection from the first half of the 20th Century.

While some may feel dated to modern viewers, films featuring the mummy, the werewolf, or Frankenstein’s monster set the stage for everything to develop into today’s horror movie industry. Attempts to revive these practically antique legacies have been spotty at best, so is there really still a place for the monsters of old?

A Faltering Official Route

Virtually all of the greatest monsters of the early horror industry come under the banner of Universal Pictures, and following the runaway success that Marvel saw in building its Marvel Cinematic Universe, they wanted in.

Source: Unsplash

Unfortunately, the opening entry, The Mummy, was a complete disaster from start to finish. It was heavy-handed on the references and felt like it was deliberately just made to set up a universe. The Dark Universe project died with the movie and took all the other planned projects with it such as The Wolfman and The Creature From The Black Lagoon. While some projects such as The Invisible Man have since been resurrected, it has put off any other big attempts for a while.

The Faithful Homage

An unexpected lifeline to the medium of classic horror came almost out of nowhere in the form of Marvel’s Werewolf By Night. A character drawn from deep in the company’s comic history, Werewolf By Night is a niche but beloved staple of the Marvel universe’s darker side, and everything about the film was a loving tribute to the original inspiration.

Filmed in black and white and featuring a plot setup straight from the 1940s, it proved to be a runaway success and is hailed as one of Marvel’s most successful TV projects to date, reigniting interest in the Universal period. The reality was that, despite Universal’s best efforts to modernise, streamline and polish with 21st Century sensibilities, the original style of movie-making possesses enough charm to keep people interested even today.

Source: Pixabay

Look outside of cinema and its endurance is obvious; aside from the comics mentioned before, you can find all the characters and tropes used in board games, video games and even casino games like Curse of Werewolf. Given how fast they can produce titles compared to other industries, casino game providers are an excellent barometer of current trends, and the number of werewolves, mummies and other classic monsters that feature in their games of late is astounding.

Could We See a Resurgence?

Between the revived Universal projects, minus the shared universe, and Marvel and DC both diving far more heavily into their darker sides, the future is looking bright for the cast of the Monster Mash. The lesson so far seems to be that, while a little modernizing is fine, tampering with the fundamental attributes of the property isn’t going to go down well.

Better yet, it will give writers something else to use that isn’t zombies, which is something that everyone benefits from at this point.