The breadth of horror also helps, Dolgopolov adds, noting that it contains more subgenres than most other types of film (vampire, slasher, paranormal, creature feature, etc.) and is therefore less likely to feel overdone, or monotonous.
A24’s I Saw the TV Glow, a 90s coming-of-age horror-thriller, hasn’t had an Australian release yet but it has done particularly well among Gen Z and LGBTQ audiences since its US release, making over $5 million after showing in fewer than 500 theatres.
Granted, not every horror film has performed well this year. Larger-budget productions like Universal Pictures’ Abigail or Blumhouse’s Night Swim and Imaginary made minimal returns compared to their higher budgets and wider marketing campaigns. In fact, Night Swim, which made about $17 million during its opening weekend in the US, became the lowest-grossing debut for a wide-release Blumhouse movie since the Firestarter remake in 2022.
Many larger-scale horrors, such as Universal Pictures’ Abigail, have been struggling at the box office.Credit: Universal Pictures
The poor performances of these films could arguably come down to their cost. Abigail took nearly $42 million to create, while Night Swim took about $22.5 million. Larger budgets create greater pressure to perform well at the box office, especially during its first week, as word-of-mouth travels. However, Mark Ryan, an expert on the Australian horror movie industry at Queensland University of Technology, says independent horrors are not bound by such pressures.
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“It’s a low-budget genre that doesn’t need A-list actors or high production values to deliver strong box-office returns. Consequently, it has potential to generate high returns with less risk for filmmakers,” he says. “Blumhouse as a studio only makes movies between $3 and $7 million, and it regularly makes highly progressing movies.”
Because of their low-cost, low-risk approach, horror films have historically remained consistent, or, even better, helped boost the cinema industry. For example, Ryan notes The Blair Witch Project, which grossed over $371 million globally in 1999. It became the 10th most profitable film of the year despite being one of the cheapest (it cost about $748,000), beating popular films like American Pie and Eyes Wide Shut.
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