20 Things Horror Movies NEED To Stop Doing
8. Public Domain Cash-Ins
One of the hottest horror trends right now is the "public domain horror," where an enterprising filmmaker takes a popular, beloved IP that's recently entered the public domain and reimagines it as a slasher movie free of legal repercussions.
The movie that kickstarted this trend was Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, and while this was an amusingly novel idea for a few months, we've seen an absolute glut of low-effort cash-ins ever since.
Yes, a scattered few of these movies do have some cleverness and creativity behind them, but the innumerable amount of terrible Mickey Mouse/Steamboat Willie slashers released since 2024 alone shows just how utterly bankrupt and cynical a practise it can be.
And with more classic IP entering the public domain with each passing year, it doesn't seem likely that this cottage industry is going to close up shop any time soon, not least until the financial returns become so meagre that even the no-budget cash-ins can't turn a quick buck.
Hell, we already know that a Betty Boop horror film is in production to coincide with her earlier cartoons becoming public domain next year, and that's really just the tip of the iceberg.
Sure, these films are all easy enough to ignore, but isn't it a bit depressing that so many filmmakers are spending so much time and energy on slop-bucket junk when they could be making something truly original instead?