Horror Movie Cycles and How They Ruin the Genre

While researching my topic of horror movies for my final essay, I came across an interesting term. “Horror movie cycles” is the trend of a particular type of horror movie or horror movie franchise becoming ridiculously popular and dominating the genre for a stretch of time. This is a very observable phenomenon especially over the past couple of decades.
Horror movies are very cheap to make and are a popular choice among indie filmmakers for this very reason. Every once in a while, one of these movies will become a standout success or receive a decent amount of critical acclaim, this begins the cycle. Seeing how well a movie did and how cheap it was to produce, movie studios will either rip off the concept or take over and milk a franchise.
One recent example of this is Paranormal Activity. The first film was extremely popular and became an overnight phenomenon. Since then, the franchise has become a joke. A new film bearing the name has been released almost every year becoming increasingly ridiculous and trying to squeeze all of the cash possible from people who feel invested in the “overarching story” that was hastily constructed to justify the slew of sequels.
This fad mentality in horror movies detracts from inventive new ideas being produced in a genre that should be the most inventive of all genres. The low price point means that studios should be more willing to gamble on new and exciting prospects instead of beating the dead horse of an overused concept. Most of all, this trend makes horror movies predictable. When you go in to see “Scary House 4” you already know what you’re getting from watching the first three. You are totally prepared for everything the film will throw at you and if you know what to expect, nothing in the film can scare you effectively.