What is the most profitable horror movie ever made?
For a genre typically centred around special and practical effects, you’d think that horror movies would cost a lot to make, but they tend to be one of the cheapest.
You see, horror has historically still achieved popularity even when the blood used is painfully fake, and you can tell when a body has been replaced by a mannequin. Some of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time, like Dario Argento, have used admittedly low-budget effects, because if you’ve got a scary story, that is often enough to carry you across the cinematic finish line.
Horror has always occupied a niche, though; it’s rare you’re going to see a slasher up for any Academy Awards, for example. Still, it’s one of the most beloved genres, and we’ve likely all got a favourite subgenre, whether that be supernatural or found footage. Maybe you prefer the raw intensity of low-budget horror movies over more polished ones (I know I tend to do), even if the effects are a bit dodgy and the acting isn’t great.
Horror’s come a long way over the years, but it’s often the indie gems that really leave a mark. There’s just something about that raw, gritty feel that audiences can’t get enough of – it all feels a bit too real, which is exactly the point. Take The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Halloween, for example. Both were made on shoestring budgets – under $150k and $300k, respectively – yet pulled in millions at the box office. Proof, if ever you needed it, that you don’t need blockbuster cash to scare the living daylights out of people.
But when it comes to the most profitable horror movie, we need to look elsewhere.
So, what is the most profitable horror movie ever made?
If we’re talking about films that squeezed the most bang out of a tiny budget, Paranormal Activity takes the biscuit.
The found-footage fright fest was knocked together for just $15,000 by Oren Peli, who didn’t just write and direct it, but also produced, edited, and did the bloody cinematography. Using a bog-standard home-movie camera to make the story of a couple haunted in their house feel all the more real, Peli managed to keep costs low while actually enhancing the film’s creepy vibe.
When Peli began searching for a distributor, the film fell into the hands of Jason Blum, and finally, they got the film seen by DreamWorks, which was soon bought by Paramount, who distributed the movie. There were plans for the movie to be remade with a larger budget, but test screenings soon indicated that this version would do just fine. It terrified the audience.
In the end, the film grossed $194.2million, which leaves the film the most profitable horror movie of all time. Even with Paramount’s additional $200,000 that they threw at the movie, it still made such a record-breaking profit that aspiring filmmakers can surely rest easy in the knowledge that you don’t need to have access to millions to make a successful film.
Paranormal Activity subsequently spawned a popular franchise, although none held up to the truly authentic DIY feeling of the original.
