10 Most Expensive Horror Movies Ever Produced
2. Van Helsing - $160 Million
Following the success of films such as The Mummy series, horror saw interest in more classic villains spike hugely in the early 2000s. This interest culminated in Universal Picture's 2004 release, Van Helsing. The ultimate homage to all of the classic gothic horror villains over the years, the film stars Hugh Jackman as vampire hunter Van Helsing, the long running enemy of Count Dracula.
Reception to Van Helsing was mostly negative, with plenty of critics pointing to the abundance of CGI monsters and action sequences and the lack of much else going on. The film holds a 24% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is not what a studio is looking for when it pumps in a whopping $160 million to get a film up and running.
Despite Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale putting in as strong a performance as anyone would expect to see, it wasn't enough to make this disappointing film's box office look respectable. The film opened at #1 during its opening weekend, but $300.2 million was a long way off the amount Universal would have been looking for a film stacked full of everyone's favourite baddies.