The document of the Cinema Department requesting production and distribution units to balance the genre structure, avoiding horror films occupying too large a proportion in the market has created much debate. Some opinions say that this is a necessary response to the imbalance of Vietnamese cinema. But some people also ask the question: If audiences like horror films and the market chooses itself, why worry?
The explosion of horror films not only reflects the filmmaking trend, but also shows the psychology of contemporary society. In recent years, horror films have been a genre with strong attraction in Vietnamese box offices, with many works achieving hundreds of billions of VND in revenue. Notably, not every film needs expensive special effects or star-studded cast. Just a mysterious story, attractive details, timely scares and effective promotion campaigns, the film has had the opportunity to attract audiences to theaters.
From the producer's perspective, this is an easy choice to understand. Historical and war films often require large budgets for scenery, costumes, props, special effects and extras. Meanwhile, horror films can be made at a more modest cost, from an old house, a degraded apartment building, folk legends or spiritual stories.
But the deep reason why horror movies are big hits does not lie in the producer but in the audience themselves.
Humans are inherently attracted to fear. From ancient times, stories of ghosts, gods, curses or invisible worlds have always existed in all cultures. They stimulate imagination and awaken instinctive curiosity. Fear, after all, is a strong emotion. And cinema is the art of emotion.
The interesting thing is that people are willing to spend money to be scared in a safe space. When sitting in the cinema, the audience knows that what is happening on screen is not real. They experience a feeling of suspense, tension and then burst into tears without facing real danger. It is a very special form of entertainment that not every genre can bring.
However, if only looking at horror films as a purely entertainment product, perhaps it is not enough. The rise of horror films also reflects the insecurity of modern society in general. News about wars, natural disasters, epidemics, economic crises or social upheavals appear every day. People seem to control more things but feel more insecure.
Therefore, horror films are not just about ghosts and demons. Many times they tell about very ordinary fears: Fear of loneliness, fear of being abandoned, fear of losing loved ones, fear of the past returning to haunt or fear of the dark side in their souls. Ghosts and demons are sometimes just the form of the insecurity that people are carrying. That is also the reason why Vietnamese horror films easily find a voice with audiences. Stories about folk beliefs, rural legends, old apartment buildings or mysterious customs always have their own appeal. They not only create a feeling of fear but also evoke cultural memories of the community.
However, any trend that develops too hot also has consequences. When revenue becomes the top goal, many producers easily follow a safe formula. A successful film can lead to a series of similar works, leading to repetition of motifs, excessive exploitation of spiritual elements, violence or cheap scares.
At that time, what the audience remembers is no longer the story or the character, but only the screams in the cinema.
Perhaps this is what the Cinema Department is concerned about.
That worry does not lie in the horror genre itself. No one denies the role of horror films in film life. Even in Hollywood or many major film industries around the world, horror films are still an important genre. The problem is that when one genre becomes too dominant, other genres will have narrowed development space.
A mature cinema needs diversity. It needs historical films to recount national memories. It needs family films to talk about family love. It needs social films to reflect contemporary life. And it also needs horror films to explore the dark corners in people's souls. That richness creates the vitality and diversity of a cinema.
Reality shows that the longest-remembered horror movies are often not the scariest movies. They are movies that use fear as a means to talk about human fate. After the screams in the cinema subside, what remains is not which ghost appears, but which story has touched the hearts of viewers.
Therefore, the story is not only understood as "restricting horror films", but how to make Vietnamese cinema not only exploit the fears of the audience but also help them understand themselves better. Cinema can sell tickets with fear, but only artistic value can help a film live longer than its revenue.
