Overeating
This past weekend, leading the Vietnamese box office charts was the South Korean horror film *Colony * , with a total revenue exceeding 59.1 billion VND. In second place was * The Fire Tower*, with its current total revenue surpassing 56.1 billion VND.
Third place goes to "Ma Xó" by director Phan Bá Hỷ, which announced its withdrawal from theaters on June 23rd after reaching 145 billion VND in revenue.
In the first six months of the year, the Vietnamese horror film wave exploded with 8 works: Phi Phong: Blood Demon of the Sacred Forest, The Haunted House, Five-Toed Pig, Uncle Hoa's Mansion, Underworld Beauty Salon, Bus: One-Way Journey, Blood Moon Feast 8, and The Corpse Possessed 2.
It's not difficult to recognize the familiar formula of many recent Vietnamese horror films: exploiting spiritual elements, folk legends, or true stories circulating on social media, combined with sensational sound effects, frightening visuals, and a fast-paced narrative.
However, many key elements still need to be properly invested in to make horror films truly terrifying, causing many films this year, such as "Bus: One Way" or "Underworld Beauty Salon," to struggle to sell tickets.
Amidst the horror film craze since the beginning of the year, with numerous films grossing over 100 billion VND and a wave of horror films, both Vietnamese and foreign, flooding the market, the Vietnam Film Department has issued an urgent directive.
Accordingly, the Vietnam Film Department has requested film production, distribution, and dissemination units nationwide to improve content quality in the context of the Vietnamese film market showing many positive signs.
The official document states that, alongside the growth in the number of films and box office revenue, the regulatory body believes that some films still focus too much on sensational details or exploit spiritual or thrilling elements to attract audience attention.
At the same time, the Vietnam Film Department encourages filmmakers to invest more in scripts, artistic value, and positive messages, contributing to the dissemination of Vietnamese cultural values and images.
The challenge forces filmmakers to be creative.
The official document sparked much discussion among professionals and audiences alike, especially in the context of the current wave of horror films dominating Vietnamese theaters.
Based on box office figures, many viewers believe that while horror films are profitable, their quality has plummeted.
Since the beginning of the year, 4 out of 9 films that grossed over 100 billion VND were horror films. This number could create a "habit" in the market, leading producers to limit making films with other content and focus only on making horror films to cater to popular tastes.
This also marks the first time the Film Department has issued a warning regarding a genre that currently dominates the market. Following the official letter, the question arises: Will filmmakers still have enough creative space to develop in the true spirit of the genre?
In an interview with Tien Phong newspaper , screenwriter Tran Khanh Hoang offered a systematic perspective, arguing that this genre should be recognized as an important component of the film industry.
The screenwriter emphasized that horror films should no longer be viewed as a sideline entertainment genre; in fact, it is a genre with great potential for widespread appeal.
Horror films are one of the genres with remarkable investment returns because they don't require large budgets like action or science fiction, but have the potential to generate high revenue if the cinematic language and release strategy are well-executed.
Models like Blumhouse in Hollywood or the success of international horror films demonstrate that with tight budget control and sufficiently sharp ideas, horror can become an effective "industry formula."
Beyond just box office revenue, horror films have a distinct advantage in the cinema experience. This genre is highly communal, capable of "spreading fear" in a shared space.
"Fear in theaters is contagious. A scream, a prolonged silence, a sudden jump—all create a collective reaction. This is what keeps horror relevant amidst the booming online landscape, because it sells not just content, but also experiences," the screenwriter said.
Experts view horror as a crucial practice environment for filmmaking. Due to budget constraints, the crew is forced to optimize every element of cinematic language; the director controls the pacing and point of view, the screenwriter establishes the "rules of the game" and the structure of suspense, while the cinematography, sound, art direction, and makeup departments must coordinate precisely to create the emotional effect.
Many prominent directors who rose to prominence from the horror genre, such as James Wan, Sam Raimi, and Jordan Peele, assert that it's not a simple genre but a test of skill for filmmakers.
Therefore, horror is the clearest display of the ability to manipulate audience emotions, and also serves as an important launching pad in the global film ecosystem.
In many countries, horror has become a psychological chronicle. While Japanese horror films reflect urban loneliness, Korean horror films are linked to historical narratives and family issues, and Hollywood uses horror to address racism and social inequality.
From this perspective, screenwriter Tran Khanh Hoang argues that each country, when producing horror films, is simultaneously documenting its own fear map.
Fear is a universal emotion, but its form is deeply localized, shaped by beliefs, rituals, family values, and communal memory. This is also the basis for horror becoming a tool of soft power, as film industries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia have all successfully exported their culture through this genre.
For Vietnam, this is a promising direction, as domestic audiences react positively to works that explore folklore, village life, beliefs, and spirituality, such as "Tet in Hell Village ," " The Soul Eater," "The Demon Dog ," "The Ghost of the Skin ," or " The Ghost of the House ."
This is a rich source of material, but it needs to be handled properly, avoiding blindly following trends that lead to works with weak scripts.
Upgrading the horror movie
Based on this experience, experts suggest shifting the focus from visuals to dramatic mechanisms. Spiritual elements such as altars, amulets, or rituals should only be valuable when connected to the secrets, choices, and consequences of the characters, rather than simply creating a sense of horror.
Secondly, supernatural elements need to be transformed into expressions of guilt, trauma, or moral decay, thereby giving the film intellectual depth instead of just being a scare tactic.
Experts suggest creating modern characters who do not completely break with tradition, clearly separating criticism of exploited beliefs from the complete denial of folk spiritual life, avoiding turning indigenous culture into a source of evil.
Fifth, it is necessary to emphasize the requirement for serious cultural research before creating fiction. If using real religious material, filmmakers need to thoroughly understand its origins, function, and ethical boundaries, or they can construct a fictional system of rituals to ensure creative freedom while preserving identity.
The important thing is not to ban something, but to establish transparent criteria for reflecting on and criticizing superstition. A film with spiritual elements does not necessarily mean it promotes superstition; it needs to be evaluated based on an overall ethical perspective. Is the work raising awareness or encouraging it, exposing or glorifying false beliefs?
He also emphasized the role of age classification as a balancing tool, rather than a mechanical censorship that would cause the work to lose its logic.
Vietnamese horror cinema can only mature when it achieves a balance between spirituality and reason, between cultural identity and social responsibility. "Spirituality is a cultural resource, while superstition is a harmful distortion of belief," the expert said.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/phim-kinh-di-lam-mua-lam-gio-post1853747.tpo
