10 Horror Movies You Didn't Realise Secretly Bombed

10. Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Budget: $8 million

Box Office: $19.8 million

A Nightmare On Elm Street had so much potential as a slasher franchise. But as the subsequent sequels devolved into derivative schlock, it was apparent the series' creative juices had been drained. When the last entry, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare killed off the titular villain, it looked like Elm Street had finally been put to sleep.

So, when a new instalment called Wes Craven's New Nightmare was announced, moviegoers collectively groaned, assuming it would be more of the same.

But this film sounded like it could actually work. Not only was it directed by A Nightmare On Elm Street's creator Wes Craven, it took place in the real world, with the fedora-sporting dream demon attacking the cast and crew of the original film.

Since meta-slashers were a novel concept in the 1990s, New Nightmare was way ahead of its time. Because this film marked the first time we'd see Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) and Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson) playing themselves, it seemed like this instalment was giving us everything we wanted.

Sadly, it failed to make a splash at theatres. Now, because Wes Craven's New Nightmare made over double its money back, it can't be classified as a total box office bomb. But considering it was the least successful entry in the series, there's no question New Nightmare massively underperformed.