Ranking: 20 Highest Grossing Horror Movies Of All Time

6. The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense Bruce Willis
Buena Vista Pictures

Box Office: $672.8 million (#1)

The highest-grossing horror film of all time is the smash hit that shot M. Night Shyamalan to fame at the mere age of 29, even scoring him a Best Director Oscar nomination.

Though its big reveal is possibly cinema's worst-kept plot twist, at the time of release The Sixth Sense blindsided audiences with its clever third-act revelation, which only enhanced the brilliance of the first two reels.

Bruce Willis, Toni Collette and especially Haley Joel Osment give spectacularly good performances in a film that favours subtlety and character-driven emotion over wild set-pieces.

It's safe to say that Shyamalan will probably never reach this level of brilliance again, but given how iconic and enduring the movie is, that's nothing for him to be ashamed of.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.