Weekend Preview: Audience Enthusiasm Behind ‘They Will Kill You’ Speaks Volumes About Horror

Earlier this year, we established the baseline horror audience with  January’s Primate. With it, we highlighted the foundational metrics and ratios that apply to horror releases throughout the rest of 2026.  This helps uncover which broad audience ranges apply to  upcoming films and how many additional factors impact potential turnout. Release dates, screen counts, competition, and more come into play when assessing upcoming new release They Will Kill You’s possible path this weekend. But, in terms of audience analysis, enthusiasm is the new metric goal.

After analyzing numerous horror films this year already, obvious patterns emerge. Horror often plays younger with a certain ceiling of intent among the general public. But there also exists a dependably small but strong floor of those always interested for the next horror title. From low budget to original projects to franchise entries, overall horror Interest and Intent actually does not sway too far from the averages.

Interest and Intent, combined with Awareness and overall growth within the final weeks create the framework of the likely audience and subsequent weekend projections per film. However, additional “enthusiasm” metrics complete the picture when trying to compare two seemingly similar films. Here, enthusiasm is defined based on the Interest and Intent among those either aware of the film (reflecting enthusiasm of the target audience more likely to turnout) or unaware of the film (reflecting enthusiasm of the target audience more likely to “walkup” for the film).

Overall, goals for performance include ensuring that those aware and/or interested are converted to theatrical ticket buyers. Although inevitable dropoffs between Interest and Theatrical Intent occur, converted majorities of the Aware and Interested cohorts ensures a better targeted and more engaged audience. As additional performance goals, films generally aim for an Intent among Awareness of around 60% and an Intent among Interested of around 70%. Going below these averages possibly indicates a smaller target audience, misplaced awareness, while over-performing those rates indicates a highly engaged fandom.

Checking on  two titles with similar premises and tracking profiles, discrepancies and potential warnings signs can surface. Up until their respective final weeks, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and They Will Kill You retained similar topline metrics, showing similar metrics and ratios to January horror film Send Help. With Ready or Not 2, its final week revealed a certain distance between its interest and interest among aware for the 35+ crowd compared to Send Help, a demographic that delivered effective  counterprogramming to Iron Lung. With They Will Kill You, similar distances also appear.

Although not a wide distance, the roughly  5% gap in Intent Among Aware and Intent Among Interested not only places They Will Kill You below Ready or Not 2, but also places the film below the recommended 60% and 70% benchmark averages. Additionally, with They Will Kill You’s smaller Awareness metrics, the smaller Intent Among Aware indicates a less aware audience and a  less engaged aware audience. That’s a higher concern for turnout. 

Having enthusiasm below the benchmark averages is not a final nail in the coffin as long as the enthusiasm is made up in some additional way. Female-driven dramas Regretting You and Reminders of Him overcame significantly lower overall Intent Among Aware by focusing solely on turnout among the interested group. They increased  the Intent Among Interested for Women Under 35 solidly into that 70%+ rate no matter what rate of interest or awareness. Low budget Undertone overcame significantly lower overall Intent Among Interested by focusing slowly on its own aware fandom. Overall Intent Among Aware rates reached  70%+ at various points heading into release.

Enthusiasm analysis reflects the goal that has always been there for every film’s opening: strategic growth. Matching in pace in rates of target awareness, interest, and intent with comparable films are the important step in keeping in pace with the overall horror audience. However, maintaining growth while retaining or growing rates of enthusiasm become the difference between a possible audience and an activated audience.