October is always horror movie renaissance month, including legacy sequels and the classics, but October 2023’s best horror movie is one that is better than a new entry in a 50-year franchise. With big-budget releases, small independent films, and streaming all now with options, the horror movie landscape has never had more options. However, critics and audiences seem to be favoring the newer, more novel entries of horror movies more than old franchise tales spun in new ways.
New producers such as Jordan Peele and Jason Blum have revitalized the horror genre over the past decade, giving it a breath of fresh air with new stories told that can double as societal commentaries, psychological thrillers, and think pieces. In past years the only reasonable way to see new horror entries around Halloween time was to make a trip to the local theater. Those movies had the highest budget, the most marketing behind them, and often had years of franchise success to back them up. However, things have changed. For example, one of the best horror movies of 2023 is an original story with a relatively small budget.
Totally Killer Is October’s Best Horror Release In 2023
Totally Killer, a small, streaming Blumhouse movie released on Prime, is getting great reviews including an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score and an 81% audience score. The Totally Killer cast, which stars Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt, and Julie Bowen, leads a movie that follows the same path as traditional slasher films but also adds elements of dark comedy and new time travel rules to the scares. The movie, released to streaming on October 6th has been a surprise, low-budget hit for Prime and Blumhouse, the studio that was also behind one of October’s franchise, wide-release films.
Blumhouse Productions and Jason Blum were also behind The Exorcist: Believer, with Blum serving as producer of the film. It is the first Exorcist film since Universal Pictures and Peacock bought the right to the franchise for $400 million. The hope was that The Exorcist franchise would be a steady stable of movies to produce for horror fans as well as a place to stream them all on Peacock. However, The Exorcist: Believer is bombing with just $27 million in opening weekend partially due to negative reviews despite being a big theatrical sequel release. That number will also likely crater with the Taylor Swift movie due to hit theaters shortly.
Why Original Horror Movies Are Becoming More Intriguing Than Legacy Sequels
More and more frequently, audiences and critics are choosing original horror stories and titles over legacy franchise offerings. The Exorcist: Believer is far from the first horror franchise to suffer from abysmal box office figures and reviews. Recent films such as Jeepers Creepers: Reborn in 2022, the Child’s Play reboot in 2019, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot in 2022 all suffered from poor box office performances and were panned by critics.
For many, the novelty or creativity of these original films, which are iconic entries in the horror canon, have worn off after countless sequels, spinoffs, and reboots. Very few, if any, horror sequels and reboots have come close to capturing the attention and popularity of their predecessors. Films like Totally Killer may not have dive into deep psychological themes like The Shining or Rosemary’s Baby of years past, but they tell new stories and introduce new characters to the always-popular horror genre.
