From Z-grade to prestige horror: Australian horror movie production and distribution from 2010 to 2020

Australian horror cinema is a distinct national style of horror cinema in the global marketplace, one that is typically associated with animal, landscape, and rural horror (Ryan 2021a), as well as Gothic films that resonate with drama and art-house film traditions (Balanzategui 2017; Howell 2018). While the production practices of Australian horror filmmakers between 2000 and 2010 are well documented (Ryan 2018; 2012; 2010), there has been limited scholarly examination of the production and distribution patterns of Australian horror movies released between 2010 and 2020. During this period, digital disruption has fundamentally upended the distribution and consumption of feature-length movies globally, impacting the distribution of low-budget independent horror movies. The decline of physical media in home video markets and the increasing importance of streaming services, particularly subscription video on demand (SVOD) services – both as distribution platforms and commissioners of titles branded as platform ‘Originals’ – are transforming established distribution models and creating new opportunities for horror filmmakers. This chapter’s analysis of changing patterns in Australian horror film production and distribution between 2010 and 2020 illuminates not only new insights about the localised conditions that underpin regionalised approaches to the horror genre, but also some of the ways in which the genre is shaped and impacted by the fluid nature of ‘distributive logics’ (Lobato and Ryan 2011). As this chapter argues, theatrical releasing played a minor role for Australian horror films during this period, and while home video remains the primary market for most local horror movies, SVOD platforms and their demand for ‘elevated horror’ films represent a growth market for producers. This chapter contributes to a small body of horror movie scholarship examining the industry dimensions of horror movie production (for example: Gomery 1996; Nowell 2014; Walker 2016; Ryan 2018, 2010), or, in the words of Richard Nowell (2014: 1), the ‘industrial logic, strategies, and practices that shape’ production and distribution. The study’s primary findings emerge from the analysis of release data available in IMDB.com. A search identified a total of 191 feature-length horror movies made by Australian filmmakers between 2010 and 2020. The first-release platforms for these films, both domestically and internationally, were also recorded. The chapter frames the horror movie within the context of Australian cinema and its underpinning policy frameworks, namely the Producer Offset. It contextualises broad production trends typical for mainstream and underground films, and it analyses the major distribution patterns during the 2010s. In so doing, the chapter examines how the growing significance of SVODs in Australia is creating demand for ‘elevated’ horror films.