10 Horror Movies Test Audiences Loved (And Everyone Else Hated)

It simply isn't enough to shoot a movie, edit it, and then release it to the masses - the vast majority of films are put through the test screening process, where they're shown to a group of unsuspecting viewers to gauge how the most general of audiences will respond.

The test screening response can then be used to decide whether the movie needs to be re-edited, if new material should be shot, and even adjust how the film is marketed.

While we often hear about disastrous test screenings of films which lead to a huge round of reshoots, perhaps less common is to hear that a test screening went down a storm - especially in the horror genre of all things.

But these 10 horror movies all tested supremely well, and with word getting out ahead of time, expectations were certainly high for each film.

But in the end, general audiences were left underwhelmed and perhaps even infuriated by the outcome, that these horror films failed to live up to the early buzz.

It just goes to show, those pesky test audiences can't ever be trusted...

Unfriended: Dark Web - a follow-up to 2015's surprisingly decent screenlife horror Unfriended - was shot in total secrecy, such that when word of a test screening did the rounds in October 2017, it came as quite the surprise to fans.

More to the point, the early word was that the test audience response was "extremely positive," suggesting that the sequel would be a marked improvement upon its not-bad yet undeniably flawed predecessor.

But Unfriended: Dark Web ultimately landed with a thud of indifference, netting passable reviews from critics but pure disinterest from audiences, with a mere 40% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and "C" CinemaScore.

More to the point, it ended up grossing barely a quarter of what the first Unfriended did, and while it still turned an easy profit on its $1 million budget, the unenthusiastic response seemingly pumped the brakes on a third film, which still hasn't materialised five years later.