20 TERRIBLE Horror Movies That Were Huge Hits
4. Chernobyl Diaries
A found footage film set in the shadow of the Chernobyl disaster is a pretty damn promising setup, but Chernobyl Diaries ultimately had little more going for it than its awesome setting, given the paper-thin characters, cliched scares, and terrible VFX on offer otherwise.
That said, Chernobyl Diaries still pulled in $37.2 million worldwide - a stellar return on its mere $1 million production budget, achieved by shooting in the budget-friendly Serbia and Hungary with a cast who were largely little-known.
In addition to releasing at a time when found footage was hugely popular, the marketing smartly focused on the eeriness of its Pripyat setting and the involvement of Paranormal Activity filmmaker Oren Peli, while paying little attention to the characters and story.
Despite the obvious potential for the movie's success to spawn several similarly low-budget sequels, whether theatrically released or sent straight to streaming, Chernobyl Diaries surprisingly remained a one-off.