Rob Zombie Delcares This Found Footage Classic Streaming on HBO’s Max “Screwed horror movies”
Rob Zombie started his filmmaking career at a time when mid-budget horror films were still getting made with some degree of regularity. In the time since Zombie came on the scene, it has become increasingly difficult to get financing for smaller projects. Micro-budget pictures are still getting made and big-budget spectacles are also finding funding. But mid-budget horror flicks (which is the territory where Zombie most frequently works) have become really difficult to get going these days.
In an interview with Zombie for The Flashback Files, he spoke regarding why he thinks funding is harder to come by these days. The musician-turned-filmmaker pointed to Paranormal Activity as one key reason films within a certain budget range aren’t being produced as frequently as they once were.
The setup for Paranormal Activity goes something like this:
Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence of it on film, they set up video cameras in the house but are not prepared for the terrifying events that follow.
Zombie says the impact found footage filmmaking has had on this industry is major.
“The biggest thing that screwed horror movies is Paranormal Activity,” Zombie said. “Because they made it so cheap. It looks like it’s really cheap, ‘cause that’s the style of the film. So now every studio thinks that every horror film can be made for that same amount of money. But you can’t. You need actors, an art department. Not every movie can afford to look like it’s shot on someone’s cell phone.”
That final sentence in his response is pretty powerful. And I agree. Not every film can (or should) look like it was cheaply made. Paranormal Activity films can be churned out for little money because they aren’t cinematic. Assuming a found footage budget will cover all the expenses associated with a conventional production is shortsighted and has likely led to an absence of mid-budget horror in recent years.
Here’s hoping that the industry can calibrate and reset sometime soon. I would love to see more mid-budget projects greenlit. That’s a fairly safe budget range for taking chances. And with modern cinema having become fairly safe and predictable, I’d love to see more filmmakers allowed to take risks.
If you have the itch to watch Paranormal Activity, you can find it streaming on HBO’s Max as of the publication of this post.
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