20 Awesome Recent Horror Movies That Flopped At The Box Office
So... whose idea was it to drop 28 Years: The Bone Temple in January?
Horror is among the most financially dependable of all movie genres - with the generally low costs of production and insatiable appetite of your average horror fan, most theatrically released genre offerings do end up turning at least a modest profit.
But of course, there just isn't enough oxygen in the room or money in the world for all horror films to make bank, and it's especially heartbreaking when the flop films in question are actually really damn good.
And that's unfortunately the case with these 20 recent horror films, each of which delivered on or above expectations creatively, and yet couldn't bring home the much-needed box office bacon for the studio.
There are generally one of a few factors to blame here - bad marketing, a poor release date, or shortened theatrical windows - which have incentivised many horror fans to simply catch a movie at home a few weeks later.
Whatever the reason, these terrific recent horror films all deserved to do so, so much better at the box office. And so, we can only hope they'll ultimately be vindicated by cult classic status on streaming...
20. Primate
Primate certainly seemed to have a lot going for it on paper - a fun concept and surprisingly positive reviews positioned Johannes Roberts' killer chimp movie to offer up at least a modest return on its $24 million budget.
However, after four weeks on release the film has grossed an underwhelming $36 million, leaving it far off the likely $50+ million Paramount was expecting it to comfortably crack.
It's a shame considering this is far and away Roberts' (47 Meters Down, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) strongest and best-received directorial effort to date, delivering an ultra-gory and darkly amusing riff on the typical slasher template.
While hardly reinventing the wheel, it's made with skill, solidly acted, and just a whole ton of grisly fun.
That even the ever-dedicated horror crowds didn't turn out for it is a real shame, and though Primate 2 is probably out of the question, one suspects it'll probably end up posting strong numbers on streaming.