It’s a new year and the Internet is well-past flooded with trailers, theories and trends regarding the coming films of 2014. Much of the excitement revolves around the grandstanding “popcorn” films with budgets that stand to set records for the most exorbitant in history.
This does not bode well for box office revenue-with so many heavy hitters coming to theaters it is becoming too big a financial burden for viewers to see every film. Forget the fanboys whose cinephilia requires they attend every midnight showing, the average movie goer will tire of familiar franchises as ticket prices continue to rise. This is hardly to say big budget films will dive into dodo-like territory; however, consumers today demand a consistent source of low-cost luxuries.
Enter production companies like The Asylum, which is responsible for films such as “Snakes on a Train,” “Transmorphers,” and most notably “Sharknado”-the surprise hit that features such “Oscar-worthy” scenes such as an air-bound great white shark and its disembowelment via chainsaw.
These films are cheap to produce and take only months to make. With the help of distributors such as Netflix, Redbox, and Microsoft, the Asylum’s films are reaching a growing audience.
These films harken back to classic “B-films”; one might argue, however, that this relentless onslaught of “mockbusters” is nothing more than a mediocre attempt at cashing in on big budget films.
To say that this is inaccurate would be a lie; however, these low budget films have a significant history in the world of cinema. From the ‘30s Golden Age of Hollywood to the exploitation films of the ‘70s until the decline in the 80’s, B-films have been a consistent source of entertainment-providing the film industry with cult icons such as Vincent Price, Bruce Campbell and even Godzilla.
These films managed to reflect the mindsets of their given generation. Godzilla, for instance, was a reaction to nuclear fear. The B-films of today tend to be on the terrible side of corny, but watered-down hilarities that make light of world affairs such as “H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds” and “American Warships” may just be a manifestation of our generation’s desensitization to world affairs.
Many film watchers won’t be heading out to their local Redbox in search of specific modern-day B-films; however, the market will continue to grow as these films become increasingly accessible.
It seems that there is a resurgence of these types of films—a sort of obsequy of popcorn cinema and the rise of the modern age of B-films.