Why 2017 Was a Beautiful Year for Horror Movies

"Get Out" and "It" set a new standard of profitability and critical acclaim in the genre.

Pennywise the clown.
Pennywise the clown. (Warner Bros./IMDB)

As 2017’s blockbusters tanked with alarming frequency, horror movies performed spectacularly. From the runaway most-talked-about movie of the year in Get Out to the shockingly lucrative It, horror was Hollywood’s most dependable product this year, both in steering the cultural conversation and in bringing people to theaters. Vanity Fair writer Laura Bradley proffers that horror’s pure escapist tendencies won big this year because of the American political horror show. With well-received horror fare coming from sources both old, Split director M. Night Shyamalan, and new, It Comes at Night helmer Trey Edward Shults, audiences and Hollywood studios alike can rely on the genre’s steadiness in the years to come.

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