10 Awesome 2023 Horror Movies That Didn't Deserve To Flop
These horror movies deserved all the box office glory.
2023 has been another great year for horror, and another year that proved that while Hollywood is currently in a period of decline for mega-budget blockbusters, the horror genre is seemingly bulletproof at the box office.
Between the generally low budgets of horror fare and the ever-eager audience of teens and gore-fiends happy to watch them all, it's incredibly difficult for a horror movie to flop commercially.
And yet, as 2023 also proved, it does happen, and more to the point, it doesn't just happen to bad movies either.
These 10 horror films were all well-received by critics and delivered a damn worthwhile time for audiences, and yet desperately few of us actually left our homes to watch them on the big screen.
Each of these movies ended up flopping horribly at the box office, from widely-hyped auteur projects to movie star comebacks, and very obvious attempts to cash in on the A24-led "elevated" indie horror boom taking place right now.
Yet for as great as these films generally were, they were left to make most of their money on streaming, with the box office receipts proving distressingly underwhelming...
10. Infinity Pool
Even though Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool was never going to become a breakout hit with the masses, the filmmaker's growing esteem with horror fans following the success of his previous film Possessor, combined with rising genre star Mia Goth playing the lead role, nevertheless suggested that it might offer a decent return on Neon's investment.
But despite releasing in 1,835 theaters in North America alone and benefitting from strong reviews, Infinity Pool grossed a paltry $5.2 million worldwide.
And while the distributor has never disclosed the film's budget, it's reasonable to assume that it cost somewhere in the $10-20 million ballpark.
And so, netting a mere fraction of its price tag theatrically isn't gonna cut it.
Though Infinity Pool likely fared better on streaming - especially with the theatrical cut being trimmed down to avoid an audience-annihilating NC-17 rating - there's no looking at this movie and dubbing it a financial success.
Given Cronenberg's terrific work behind the camera and the courageous efforts of his cast, though, it's a damn shame it didn't do better.