Zach Cregger's Unfiltered Take on Modern Horror Movies

The Rise of Horror in Hollywood

While Hollywood has been struggling with the concept of "superhero fatigue," churning out a large number of IP-based films in an attempt to find the next profitable genre, horror has been thriving at the box office. For some time, studios have relied on big franchises with high budgets. However, horror movies are relatively inexpensive to produce and consistently attract audiences.

In recent years, Hollywood has taken more notice of this profitable genre, releasing several low-budget horror films that have made millions. Notable examples include Kyle Edward Ball's immersive nightmare tone poem "Skinamarink," the controversial "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" films, and the disturbing "Terrifier" movies, which have become emblematic of ultra-low budget horror's ability to be both profitable and culturally influential. Another example is Zach Cregger's 2022 directorial breakthrough "Barbarian," which earned over $45 million at the box office despite a modest budget of just $4 million.

Now, Cregger has once again proven that horror can not only compete but actually come out on top at the box office. In 2025, Warner Bros. set a huge box office record by having six movies in a row open to at least $40 million in North America. The last of these was Cregger's "Weapons," which performed exceptionally well, bringing in $72 million globally on its opening weekend. Its budget? A mere $38 million.

Cregger, who started as a founding member of sketch troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know and was a regular on sitcoms, surprised everyone with his 2022 horror effort, and "Weapons" is proof that "Barbarian" was no fluke. As such, when the man has something to say about the state of horror in 2025, it's worth listening.

Horror as a Creative Outlet

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cregger was asked what he made of the current moment in horror filmmaking. He claimed that the genre was "one of the few outlets for real creativity right now on a big scale," before painting a grim picture of the industry. "Without horror, you go to the theater and you get people in tights for $200 million," he said, "and there's not a lot of room for risk in those movies." Cregger went on to state that he had no real animus towards superhero movies, adding that he's "all for entertainment" but in his view, the general box office picture is disappointing.

He continued, "It's a shame that there's not a lot of room for anything else. I love horror, my creative tuning fork resonates strong with horror, so I'm lucky in that regard. I dearly wish that we could have cool, edgy weird comedies back in the movie theaters. Or dramatic fare for adults in the theater. I feel like there's not a lot of movies for grown-ups anymore."

The Shift in Movie Trends

It's true that studios have all but abandoned big comedies, which is what made 2025's "The Naked Gun" such a treat, even while its mission to save comedy is far from over. Meanwhile, mid-budget dramas are thriving on streamers but just can't seem to find a foothold at the box office any more. All of which is, as Cregger points out, a real shame. But it's also par for the course given the state of culture, over which Hollywood no longer holds the kind of sway it once did.

Thankfully, far from being just a vessel for telling interesting stories, horror storytelling in and of itself has always been a worthwhile endeavor, and today it might be the most relevant and interesting way of grappling with our current moment.

The Power of Horror Storytelling

More horror isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's not just that filmmakers can smuggle their mid-budget drama into people's consciousness by way of horror — though that's certainly the case for some films. "Hereditary," for instance, was the perfect way for a director like Ari Aster to break through, using the horror genre to tell what was by the filmmaker's own admission, essentially a family drama, before going on to create more experimental non-genre fare.

But in the case of something like the criminally underseen "His House," which in 2025 is still better than your favorite horror movie, you can feel the genre shedding the "elevated horror" epithet in real time, as director Remi Weekes tells a harrowing tale of African migrants struggling to assimilate to life in modern Britain after escaping their war-torn homeland. In that instance, the horror is integral to the story, and as such, "His House" represents a perfect example of how horror is in and of itself as effective a storytelling tool as traditional drama.

The Future of Hollywood

In that sense, while Zach Cregger's take on the modern movie-making landscape is absolutely spot on, it's also not all that dismaying to think that horror might be one of the only things we see at the box office in the coming years. It would be ideal to see the return of big studio comedies and mid-budget dramas, but I can't be too dismayed at the prospect of more horror of the sort we've seen in recent years — especially since I think the "movies for adults" that Cregger wants to see will increasingly come by way of that particular genre.

While the movie landscape is undeniably bleak when viewed from one perspective, it's also incredibly exciting to think about new films arriving from the likes of Jane Schoenbrun, whose 2024 horror "I Saw the TV Glow" was one of the best movies of the year, the aforementioned Kyle Edward Ball, and Cregger himself.