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, It is the most successful horror movie ever. Directed by Andy Muschietti, the film adapts half the story of Stephen King’s book of the same name. Thanks to a spine-chilling performance by Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, the Dancing Clown, It managed to reach beyond the regular horror public to take home an impressive $701 million at the box office. To put things in perspective, the second place on this list goes to 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
While The Silence of the Lambs didn’t gross as much as other horror movies, it did the impossible and snatched seven Oscar statues. The Academy Awards frequently snubs horror movies, which proves how well-received The Silence of the Lambs truly was. It’s not only the number of Oscars that make The Silence of the Lambs stand out, as the movie is also one of three productions to ever snatch the five central Academy Awards, together with 1934’s It Happened One Night and 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Big Five, as they are known, were awarded to The Silence of the Lambs for Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), and Best Actress (Jodie Foster).
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 George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Released in 1968, Romero’s groundbreaking horror movie created a new meaning for the word “zombie.” Before Romero, zombies were people enchanted by voodoo who became puppets for evil masters. That’s right, the concept of the dead coming back to life as flesh-eating creatures simply didn’t exist until Night of the Living Dead. Nowadays, the zombie subgenre is thriving, with dozens of movies, TV shows, and video games being released every year – 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.