Horror movies have come a long way over the past century, with the genre stretching out
to so many sub-genres, including: slasher, supernatural, torture, and even comedy. However,
when you combine all of those sub-genres together into one big list, which are the most successful?
Which made the most money? And which didn’t deserve to have our attention. Today on Top
5 Scary Videos, I’m going to be counting down our list of the Top 5 Worst Horror Movies
That Made Millions. Before we begin though, be sure to stick around until the end of the
video where I’ll be responding to some of your comments, and with that, let’s jump
in.
5 Paranormal Activity (2009) - $107.9 Million Paranormal Activity is a 2007 supernatural
horror movie written, directed, photographed and edited by Oren Peli. The film centers
on a young couple, Katie and Micah sloat, who are haunted by a supernatural presence
in their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. The film utilizes
found-footage conventions that were mirrored in the later films of the series. Upon its
release, the movie received mostly positive reviews, with an overall rating of 83% on
Rotten Tomatoes, with the general consensus reading: “Using its low-budget effects and
mockumentary method to great result, Paranormal Activity turns a simple haunted house story
into 90 minutes of relentless suspense.” Now, while it is a truly terrifying movie,
and one that many return to, it has come over-saturated in recent years due to unnecessary sequels
which in turn deterred viewers from revisiting the original movie. The jump scares are predictable,
and the style cheap but effective. Though it had the fear, the acting left a lot to
be desired, with it at times being ridiculously cheesy and unwatchable. Saying that though,
The film opened on September 25th, 2009, to twelve theatre and took $36,146 on its opening
day and $77,873 on its first weekend. However, as it expanded to more theatres, the film
went on to gross $7 million, with it going on to reach the highest per-theatre average,
coming in fourth for the weekend, behind Couples Retreat, Zombieland, and Cloudy With a Chance
of Meatballs. On the weekend of October 23, 2009, Paranormal Activity rose to first, beating
out Saw Vi, earning $21 million. Overall, the film had gross $107 million domestically
and $85 million in foreign markets, with a total gross of $193 million.
4 The Ring (2002) - $129.1 Million The Ring is a 2002 supernatural horror film
directed by Gore Verbinski and is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film, ring, based
on the novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki. In the movie, Naomi Watts portrays a journalist
who investigates a cursed videotape that seemingly kills the viewer seven days after watching
it. Now, the film is enjoyable, is a classic horror from the early 2000’s and is definitely
a movie I return to frequently, but saying that, it is not a great horror film and we
need to accept that. Also, there is nothing more annoying than the young boy calling Naomi
Watts “Rachel” throughout the entire movie, it hurts my soul. However, everyone has differing
opinions, including critics, with one person stating: “with little gore and a lot of
creepy visuals, The Rings gets under your skin, thanks to director Gore Verbinski’s
haunting sense of atmosphere and an impassioned performance from Naomi Watts.”
However, on Ebert and Roeper, Roger Ebert gave the film “Thumbs Down” and felt it
was boring and borderline ridiculous, he also said he disliked the extended, detailed ending.
Saying that though, The Ring paved the way for English-language remakes of Asian horror
films, including: The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, Shutter,
Mirrors, and The Uninvited. The movie was financially successful, and the box office
gross increased from its first weekend to its second. The Ring made $8.3 million in
its first two weeks in Japan, compared to Ring’s $6.6 million total box-office gross.
All in all, the movie ended up raking in a whopping $129.1 million.
3 The Meg (2018) - $145.4 Million The Meg is a 2018 action horror movie directed
by Jon Turteltaub, and loosely based on the 1997 book Meg: A NNovel of Deep Terror. The
movie follows a group of scientists who encounter a 75-foot-long megalodon shark while on a
rescue mission at the floor of the Pacific Ocean. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a
rating of 46%, which I believe is pretty just. The movie is in no way Oscar worthy, but it
is compelling and an enjoyable thrill ride from start to finish. I honestly had the best
time watching this film. However, most were a little harsher with their criticism, I quote:
“The Meg sets the audience up for a good old-fashioned B-movie creature feature, but
blacks the genre thrills -- or the cheesy bite -- to make it worth diving in.” Owen
Gleiberman of Variety put it best when he wrote: “it is neither good enough -- nor
bad enough. The Meg, a rote sci-fi horror adventure film that features a shark the size
of a blue whale, comes on like it wants to be the mother of all deep-sea attack movies.
But it’s really just the mother of all generically pandering, totally unsurprising Jaws ripoffs.”
In 2019, the movie was nominated for a handful of GoldeN Raspberry Awards, including: Worst
Prequel, Ramek, Rip-off, or Sequel. Sadly, it didn’t win.
Despite all of that, The Meg grossed $145.4 million in the United States and Canada, as
well as $384.8 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $530.2 million,
against a budget of $130 million. After making $16.5 million on its first day,
weekend estimates were raised to $40 million. It then went on to debut to $45.4 million,
topping the box office and marking the best solo opening of Jason Statham’s career,
as well as Turteltaub.
2 It: Chapter Two (2019) - $195.7 Million It: Chapter Two is a supernatural horror film
and the sequel to the 2017 horror movie IT, both based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King.
The film is directed by Andy Mschietti, returning from the first movie. Set in 2016, 27 years
after the first film, it stars Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, and of course Bill
Skarsgard, who returns as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The plot once again concerns Pennywise,
who was defeated by the members of the Loser’s Club, and in turn returns 27 years later to
terrorize the town of Derry, Maine, once again. Now adults, the childhood friends have long
since gone their separate ways. But when people start disappearing, Mika Hanlon calls the
others home for one final stand. On Rotten Tomatoes the movie holds a rating
of 63%, but I have to disagree, I felt the sequel was a weak interpretation of the novel,
and felt rushed, instead of relying on the steady pacing of the book. The clown felt
like a small threat unlike in the first movie, and the casting choices felt a little bizarre,
aside from Jessica Chastain who was quite literally born to play the role. All in all,
the film had a relatively muted impacted, and delivered very little thrills and scares
throughout, instead doing what most horrors doing and giving all the jump scares away
in the trailer. Despite that, It: Chapter Two grossed $211.6 million in the United States
and Canada, and $261.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $473 million. In
the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $90-100 million from 4,570
theatres in its opening weekend, and the week of its release broke Fandango’s record for
most advance tickets sold by a horror movie. The film made $37.4 million in its first,
including $10.5 million from Thursday night previews, the second-highest total for both
a September opening and horror film, behind the first film’s $13.5 million. It went
on to debut to $91 million, also the second-best ever for a horror film and a September release,
while being over $30 million less than the first film.
1 The Nun (2018) - $117.5 Million The Nun is a 2018 gotch supernatural horror
film directed by Corin Hardy, and is a spin-off of 2016’s The Conjuring 2 and the fifth
installment in the Conjuring Universe franchise. The plot follows a Roman Catholic priest and
a nun in her novitiate as they uncover an unholy secret in 1952 Romania. On June 15,
2016, Warner Bros Pictures, and New Line Cinema announced The Nun as a spin-off to The Conjuring
2, which at the time had opened just 5 days earlier -- absolutely insane. Big moves, big
dreams. On June 13, 2018, a teaser trailer was released for the movie, but was ultimately
removed from YouTube due to an unskippable jump scare that violated the platform’s
“Shocking Content” policies. LOL. I kind of love that. Anyway, The Nun opened to mixed
reviews, leaning towards negative, with it holding a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the
general consensus reading: “The Nun boasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics,
and a couple decent set-pieces, but it’s sins include inconsistent logic, and narrative
slackness.” The movie was sadly predictable and wasted all of its quality jump scares
on its unskippable trailer. It was sad instalment in a generally satisfying franchise. Despite
its negative reviews, The Nun grossed $117.5 million in the United States and Canada, and
$248.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $365.6 million, against
a budget of $22 million. In some territories, it currently ranks as the high-grossest horror
film of all time in twelve markets, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Romania,
and UAE. Unfortunately for us, it sounds like a sequel may be in the works. In August 2017,
Wan discussed the possibility of a Nun sequel and what its storyline might entail, I quote:
“I do know where potentially, if The Nun works out, where The Nun 2 could lead to and
how that ties back to Lorraine’s story that we’ve set up with the first two Conjurings
and make it all comes full circle.” Interesting, but I think we would all rather forge The
Nun even existed.
Well, there we have it! Do you guys agree with our list? Were there any terrible horror
movies that we missed? Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and
perhaps we can do a part 2. Before I go though, I just want to respond to a few comments from
one of our last videos, Top 5 Scary Irish Urban Legends.
Jacque Morgan said: “Thanks Lucy, I’m heading to Ireland soon and now I have more
places to visit!” ----
Lillith Gold said: “That cat’s face is a mood.” ----
Christopher Mendez said: “The only thing that we want to see more than a part 2, is
the return of Lucy’s hat.” ----
Kaity McEwen said: “Another. The crowd demands another” ----
Kowboy Powell said: “Gonna be honest, just wanna hear Lucy say my name” ----
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another Scary vid. And until next
time, see ya later.