by James Mathers
Cinematographer and Founder of the Digital Cinema Society
(Excerpted from the March 2026 Digital Cinema Society eNewsletter)

Hooray for Horror: Celebrating Some of the Behind-the-Scenes Talent That Make Indie Horror Such a Successfully Enduring Movie Genre

I’m currently in early discussions with a director about shooting his indie horror feature. I’m excited at the possibility of work, but if I’m honest, horror is not my favorite genre, even though I have worked on plenty of them. My first feature behind the lens was the indie horror Sole Survivor, not as DP, but as Production Manager with cinematography handled by another first-timer, Russell Carpenter, ASC, who went on to win an Oscar for Titanic. The last feature I shot, The Windigo, was also horror, and I have far too many in between to mention them all. Although only a few scored a domestic theatrical release, most still made a good return on investment.

While indie horror remains a very successful recipe for success, that is not always the case for larger budgeted pictures. Scream 7, with a reported budget of $45 million, was the domestic box office champ the weekend it opened on February 27th with almost $64 million in ticket sales, however, The Bride, opening to only $7 million domestically with a reported $80-90 million budget, could be considered a disaster.

Indie Horror doesn’t always get the respect it deserves, but according to author and film industry data research analyst, Stephen Follows, the horror genre, among all the various types of indie features, makes the best case for a financial success. He believes that horror is structurally cost-effective because it lends itself to contained locations, smaller casts, and tension built through craft rather than spectacle. Horror is also less dependent on star power, depending more on a strong hook.

That said, the upside can be asymmetric where modest investments can generate outsized returns, without needing blockbuster scale budgets to get there. Horror also benefits from community and word of mouth building momentum in ways other genres struggle to replicate. Horror’s global fundamentals are strong since fear is a universal language adapting well across cultures and territories, whether the release path is theatrical, streaming, or both. Find out more in Stephen’s report, Building the Business Case for Horror Movie Investment, included with the Film Pro Edition of The Horror Movie Report. (Links to follow this essay.)

Jason Blum, a fantastically successful Producer, whose name is synonymous with horror, has over 200 credits to his name, and was recently honored with the Producers Guild of America’s Milestone Award for his “historic contributions to the entertainment industry.” He has also successfully ventured into some larger scale productions, Get Out, The Invisible Man, and even some non-horror features like BlacKkKlansman and The Lost Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey. However, he has said that he doesn’t want his company Blumhouse Productions to lose the capacity to make low budget and super low budget movies at the sub-million dollar budget level. This from a man who knows how to make profitable movies.

Another example of Horror success is Iron Lung, a film written, directed, and self-financed by YouTuber “Markiplier,” (Mark Fischbach.) It became an indie sensation in early 2026, earning over $21.7 million worldwide against a budget under $3 million. By bypassing traditional studio systems and leveraging fan based demand from his established YouTube following, the film nearly matched major studio productions at the box office. So, in the parlance of the genre, you might say horror seems like the “beast that wouldn’t die.”

When talking about movies, you will usually hear about the stars or director, but I’m more interested in what goes on behind the lens, so let’s explore a couple of modestly budgeted indie horror movies, the cinematographers who shot them, as well as the tools and techniques they used. They actually have a lot in common, with relatively short shooting schedules, (18 and 20 days,) and in a big plus for such projects, they both took place almost entirely in a singe location. Their success can be measured by the fact that they are both now receiving a theatrical release, (which doesn’t always happen for these smaller pictures.) I had the pleasure of separately interviewing the two cinematographers who shot these movies. My friend, Steven Poster, ASC, lensed Scared To Death and Kevin Duggin shot The Mortuary Assistant. 

Steven Poster is a veteran cinematographer and past President of the ASC as well as of the International Cinematographers Guild. He is responsible for shooting scores of major motion pictures including Donnie Darko, Rocky V, and Someone to Watch Over Me. He has also shot a number of horror classics such as Amityville: The Awakening, (which was produced by the aforementioned Jason Blum.)

Compared to the long and storied career of Steven Poster, Kevin Duggin might be considered more of an up-and-coming DP, although he already has a number of horror credits to his name, (even if you might not recognize the titles.)  These include Truth or Dare, Untitled Horror Movie and Jester 2, as well as a lot of music videos and commercials. He is a graduate of the Cinematography programs of both the Brooks Institute of Photography and AFI.

Scared to Death, lensed by Poster, is what you might call a “horror/comedy,” mixing laughs and jump-scares. It’s the story of a young filmmaking team who decides to research a movie involving a seance by taking part in a real one only to be trapped inside a haunted house by a sinister force. Steven employed the Canon C500 MKII camera with Canon Flex zoom and Sumire prime lenses, along with Tiffen filters. He also tried the DJI Ronin for the first time.

Meanwhile, The Mortuary Assistant, based on a popular video game, is the story of a newly hired mortician’s first overnight shift at the morgue who falls victim to possession from a demonic entity. Kevin Duggin shot mostly on the ARRI Alexa 35 and Optica Elite 2X Anamorphic lenses, but he also used a 16mm Bolex, a Blackmagic Pocket 6K, and even a VHS Handicam for select scenes. In addition, he extensively used the Infinity Photo-Optical TS-160 Micro/Macro series of lenses for several extremely unique sequences. For lighting, he took advantage mainly of Cineo Quantum IIs and an assortment of GVM Pro units as well as K5600 800w Jokers, (more on that to follow.).

I wanted to get more detail and find out from each of them why they chose some of the tools they used on these features. Let’s start with Mr. Poster, whose approach was influenced, not only by a tight budget, but also by the unique practical location, which was as much of a character in the movie as any of the actors. It was quite a stately, but decrepit old house with three stories plus a basement and an attic. The very narrow stairs would have been quite a challenge for dragging a dolly up and down stairs, which led him to try the Ronin for the first time instead. It became somewhat indispensable, not only allowing for a lot of fluid motion, but also for serving as a remote head. 

Spending a lot of time on the Ronin, he wanted a relatively compact camera and chose the Canon C500 Mark II based largely on its image science and ability to capture exceptionally clean filmic images even at the very high 3200 ASA that he regularly likes to shoot at. Color science is extremely important to Steven Poster. In fact, he has spent the last few years consulting for 6P Color, a company developing systems to accurately transport and display all the vivid colors humans can perceive. He is particularly fond of Canon’s image science, because, as he explained, they add more voltage to the chip as you up the ASA. This allows them to keep a consistent noise floor even at high ASA levels. He explained that they also have a trick of randomly firing their photo-sites, so when they start to exhibit a bit of noise, it mimics the film grain we all love. 

He shot the entire Scared to Death movie at 3200 ASA, just as he had on the bigger budgeted Amityville picture. In this case, working at such a high camera sensitivity allowed him to use small battery powered lights which also helped to keep set-ups moving quickly. As the former President of the IA Camera Local 600, he was proud to say that they never needed to go into overtime, a feat he also credits to his long and close relationship with his Gaffer, Jim Plannette.

For lenses, Poster also went with Canon, in this case using the Flex zoom lenses and Sumire primes. The two C500 MKII cameras were largely outfitted with the Flex zooms, one with a 20-50mm wide and the other with a longer 45-135mm. This combined range and the relatively fast T2.4 stop meant the Sumires didn’t see too much action. Steven also pointed out that these lenses have almost completely imperceptible breathing. Interestingly, although not a factor on his movie which was shot full frame, these lenses are user-convertible to cover S35mm at an incredibly fast T1.7, the very fastest zoom that I know of. In this case a T2.4 was plenty fast enough considering he was shooting at 3200 ASA.

Steven Poster likes the control he gets using filters, especially when shooting digitally, and believes that images should be modified before they enter the lens rather than in post. He feels that taking the harsh edges off of digital imagery helps to convey a more impressionist view of the world which is beneficial for storytelling. On this movie, he used Tiffen Black Fog and Tiffen Night Fog filters. There were very few daylight exterior shots on Scared To Death, but he also shared that when he does shoot outdoors he always uses a polarizer, not only to get rid of unwanted reflections, but also to make colors more vibrant and help bring out the features of faces by removing the glare you can get on an actor’s skin while shooting outside.

Now, let’s take a look at the tools that Kevin Duggin had up his sleeve to capture The Mortuary Assistant. Even though I’m not the biggest horror fan, I enjoyed the screener and especially Kevin’s masterful cinematography. For his A-Camera, Kevin chose an ARRI ALEXA 35, mostly due to its wide dynamic range and the way it handled the blacks at the higher ISOs. He shot open-gate 2x anamorphic with the main lenses being an Elite Anamorphic S7 prime set. However, he was not afraid to completely mix camera formats and lenses when called for in certain scenes. He employed a Blackmagic Pocket 6K Pro when he needed an extremely compact camera using a Metabones PL adaptor in order to fit the Elite anamorphics. For flashback sequences he shot film, taking advantage of a 16mm Bolex that he owns, managing to fit an anamorphic projector lens on his vintage 25mm Kerr lens. 

Duggin even shot a sequence with a VHS Handicam for a scene that was to be played back practically on a VHS deck on the TV within a scene. Kevin tells me that one of the lead actors was a little nervous when he showed up for his first shot in the movie and all he saw for camera gear was the Handicam. It was a low budget production, but not as low budget as this actor may have feared. First impressions can be deceiving, but it all turned out well and the actor was quickly won over by the professionalism exhibited by Kevin and his crew.

Some of the most unique shots Duggin captured were care of the Infinity Photo-Optical TS-160 Micro/Macro series of lenses. One planned super macro shot so impressed the director that he and Kevin designed a whole motif and created numerous shots to take advantage of these lenses’ capabilities. From an extreme macro shot of an eye pulling out through a small hole to reveal that a victim is trapped in a coffin, to a shot of a jaw being wired shut that is so close you feel you’re inside the mouth. (Several snippets are featured in the trailer at the link following this essay.) 

I’ve used the Infinity Micro/Macro lenses quite a bit myself, and like to say that having a TS-160 kit is like having an optical erector set. These lenses open up so many micro/macro, probe, and periscope configuration possibilities, along with their ability to hold almost unlimited depth of field, so they can really stimulate a cinematographer’s creative instincts. However, working with these lenses does present some challenges, mostly due to their requiring more exposure than usual. Kevin acknowledged the challenge, but with the sensitivity of the ALEXA 35, and the ability to plan his lighting accordingly, they didn’t cause him any great concern.

Having been based on a video game, the story had lots of threads that didn’t always tie neatly together, however, this gave Kevin lots of interesting scenarios to light. Aside from just a few night exteriors, the remainder of the 18 shooting days were on sets that were custom built for this production on a warehouse stage in Missouri. Working with Production Designer Chelsea Turner, Duggin was able to strategically place windows and practical lighting while the sets were being built.

Soft overhead lighting was care of two Cineo Quantum II and a whole host of GVM Pro LED fixtures, (650B, 500B, 300B, 300C), and Astera Titan tubes, as well as numerous practicals all controlled wirelessly on the set via DMX by Gaffer Marcus Batton on his iPad. Marcus spent a few days building the DMX plots in prep so that he could quickly bring up practical effects like lightning and flame on cues as called for. This, and basically being in one location, helped them to move quickly and make the most of their schedule.

The pre-programmed wireless DMX was especially helpful when shooting with the Infinity probe lenses. As mentioned, they allow for some wonderfully unique and creative shots that would be hard or impossible to get any other way, but they do require a lot of exposure. When jumping within a scene between the Elite lenses shooting around an F4 to the probe lenses, which can require something akin to an F32, it would have been really tough to maintain a consistent look. However, Gaffer Marcus Batton could simply do a couple of swipes on his iPad while they swapped out lenses and they would be ready to go. It was also helpful that the large Cineo Quantum II units had such a great output allowing the ambient light to be easily dialed up and down as needed. Although mostly shot on a set, Duggin did have a couple of large night exteriors to contend with. I was very impressed with his DYI creative solution for nighttime ambiance. He brilliantly bounced his K5600 800w Jokers off of two 12′ diameter helium filled weather balloons purchased for a very reasonable price online. They floated over the set tied down with black zip line that was actually in the shot but not visible as long as it was not back lit.

Indie horror movies only seem to get acknowledged when they make a huge return on investment. However, I think the kind of creative problem solving that can make dimes look like dollars on the screen is largely thanks to the below-the-line talent. So, let’s hear it for the unsung heroes of indie horror, and especially the DPs who make such modestly budgeted productions successful.

Links:

The Mortuary Assistant theatrical trailer on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtY6JoPX5MU

Scared To Death theatrical trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh53-BQQXzk

James Mathers’ complete interview with Steven Poster, ASC: https://vimeo.com/945053627

Stephen Follows’ The Horror Movie Report 2.0: https://horrormoviereport.com/