20 Hit Horror Movies NOBODY Saw Coming
13. Buddy
Casper Kelly's surreal horror-comedy Buddy received strong reviews out of its Sundance premiere back in January, but its twisted premise - centered around a nightmarish version of a Barney & Friends-esque kids' TV show - didn't suggest it'd do much business theatrically.
But by the end of September, Kelly's film had grossed more than $25 million on a budget of just $3 million, and even served up the second-highest opening weekend in distributor Roadside Attractions' history.
As for what made such an aggressively niche genre film break out? It's surely a combination of several factors - the meme-worthy nature of the murderous mascot protagonist, Kelly's cult following as a filmmaker, and clever marketing which targeted younger, genre-savvy audiences.
Though hardly a mammoth smash hit compared to some of 2026's biggest horror successes, it's still an incredible performance relative to both its budget and the expectations of such a project.