10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Dominated The Box Office

You would never believe Friday the 13th would become a massive franchise based on how negative the original film was received. Gene Siskel famously said it was a "cruel film" and "a disgusting artless shocker". With ratings like this, it seemed like Friday the 13th was guaranteed to bomb.

However, the common masses ignored the harsh critics and showed up at cinemas in droves. The film earned $59.8 million worldwide, making over a hundred times its budget. It was also the most successful horror of the year, which was pretty impressive considering it had some stiff competition including The Fog, Prom Night, and, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Friday the 13th did so well, it was released across the globe, which was virtually unheard of at the time for an independent movie with no bankable stars in the cast.

Excluding the Freddy vs Jason crossover and the remake, the original Friday the 13th is still the highest grossing entry in the franchise. Even though the series is best-known for starring the hockey masked killer, Jason Voorhees, he ironically doesn't appear in the most successful film.