Since the earliest days of cinema, audiences have been hungry for horror movies. While the genre usually doesn’t rank among the highest-grossing releases, they usually profit thanks to lower budgets and a loyal audience on the hunt for new scares.
While the box office is king when measuring a movie’s success, a horror production can carve itself a place in history in many ways. Some movies have become critically acclaimed, snatching many high-prestige awards. Others are part of franchises that stand the test of time and keep releasing new sequels for decades. There are also unexpected indie projects that suddenly become mainstream.
So, what is the most successful horror movie of all time? Let’s answer this question from all possible angles.
It
The highest-grossing horror movie of all time
When talking about pure profit, The Sixth Sense, which banked $672 million. Considering that It is a full-blown horror movie while The Sixth Sense is more of a dramatic thriller, these results are even more impressive.
Paranormal Activity
The horror movie with the biggest Return on Investment
In economics, Return on Investment (ROI) refers to the proportional profit a product can get when considering its production cost. Regarding horror movies, It might have the record box office. Paranormal Activity, however, is even more successful if we look at ROI. Paranormal Activity has a production cost of only $15,000 but grossed over $193 million worldwide. That’s 12,866 times its initial production cost and the biggest profit margin of any horror movie. For comparison, It had a budget of $35 million, which means its $701 million box office is only approximately 20 times its cost.
The Silence of the Lambs
The most-awarded horror movie of all time
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Puppet Master
The horror movie with the most sequels
If we measure the success of a horror movie by the number of sequels it gets, Puppet Master wins the race. Written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller, the first Puppet Master tells a spooky story revolving around deadly toys brought to life through ancient Egyptian spells. The movie was released directly on video, but that didn’t stop Puppet Master from gathering a cult following. So far, the franchise has fifteen movies, including a crossover with Demonic Toys, a reboot, and two spinoffs.
Night of the Living Dead
The horror movie with the most significant cultural impact
No movie changed the film industry as much as some better than others. Even people who don’t like horror can identify a zombie, unaware that the creature was created not long ago. So, if we look at cultural impact, Night of the Living Dead is the most successful horror movie of all time.
Published: Mar 19, 2024 08:40 am