A recent article in the Shanghai Daily (of all places) reports that horror movies are finding a bigger home at the Cannes film festival this year.

Citing Tarantino's "Death Proof", which is in the running for the coveted Palme d'Or, as an example of the higher end of genre's spectrum, the article goes on to quote industry insiders as saying that this trend is cyclical. Horror, just like any other genre, will keep brushing up against the mainstream audiences before returning to the background.

The article also mentions the anticipated latest Troma release of "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead" as a film not distributed by "niche" companies. I don't know if the journalist who wrote the article is familiar with Troma and their impressive catalogue, but one would hope that they've heard of "Terror Firmer" or "Tromeo and Juliet" if not "The Toxic Avenger".

Ending on a sour note, the article mentions that the market for horror might be over saturated. That could be good news for fans of the genre. Nothing breeds better movies than a glut of bad ones. Nothing inspires film makers more than a movie that "almost" gets it but can be done better. And given the current trend in movie making, with low production costs due to digital video, one can only hope that the next wave of horror film makers will take this as a cue to get ready for the next upswing in market demand.

Probably in about 3 years. See you in 2010.