ABSTRACT
Robert Eggers’ The Witch was, at the time of its release in 2016, the most financially successful film the independent studio A24 had distributed, and the film has subsequently been embraced by horror cinema fans. The film also inadvertently helped popularize “elevated horror,” a cycle of horror which began in the independent sector during the mid-2010s. This chapter examines the position of The Witch in the American independent film market as it relates to the following aspects: genre, branding, marketing, and distribution. Through a survey of the existing literature on the film and the author’s own analysis of A24’s market strategy, the chapter provides an overview of the varied and interrelated generic and industrial factors surrounding the film and its release.
