Ep. 38: How Horror Slayed the Competition in 2017

We’re not even halfway through our stashed Halloween candy, and it’s already official: 2017 has become the biggest box office year ever for horror. While the domestic box office has been down 11 percent since 2016, horror films managed to pick up $733 million in ticket sales, fueled by monster smashes like 'Get Out' and 'It'. In this episode of TIFF Long Take, host Geoff Macnaughton puts together his own Scooby Gang — 'Faculty of Horror' podcast co-host, Alexandra West; and Midnight Madness programmer, Peter Kuplowsky — to investigate our renewed bloodlust for genre films. The three discuss the mainstream appeal of horror (4:10), why some Stephen King adaptations thrived ('It') while others failed to stay alive ('The Dark Tower') (7:40), and how Jordan Peele’s Get Out became a cultural phenomenon (10:45). In the episode’s second half, Geoff, Alexandra, and Peter get into why A-listers aren’t necessary in horror (18:00), what major studios can learn from Blumhouse (22:55), and why movie theatres are still the perfect setting for jump scares (28:05).