The New Mutants are here

It's "not really a risk" for the reasons you stated? It seems like those would all be arguments in favor of it being a bold move, innit? If it's indeed (a) a "horror film" about (b) X-Men characters that (c) nobody's heard of, doesn't each one of those things exponentially increase the risk? Horror movies are generally marketed at a slightly older audience, precluding some younger viewers; not everyone likes the X-Men or feels abreast enough of their films to "jump on" with a new movie, just like any other series with sequels in the double digits; movies about familiar, established characters generally have a built-in baseline audience, which is why Hollywood keeps churning them out.

So I think it's definitely risky. And I thank you for substantiating that point, good sir!