With Halloween creeping closer, low-budget horror movies are making a killing at the box office.
The scary movie industry has raked in $495.7 million in ticket sales this year—52 percent more than last year at this time, according to Rentrak, a media measurement firm. Though horror films don’t earn nearly as much as other genres, like comedy, which brought in about $1.64 billion last year, they tend to be more profitable, since they have low production costs and don’t require the A-list actors or expensive special effects found in big blockbusters.
RELATED: 12 HORROR MOVIES THAT SCARED UP A BIG PROFIT
No, the horror movie industry simply relies on movie-going thrill-seekers looking for a good scare. One production company, in particular, has become somewhat of a low-budget horror movie powerhouse.
Blumhouse Productions—a 15-person company behind some of this season’s biggest box office hits, has made billions off the low-budget movies.
RELATED: HALLOWEEN ALERT: DARK CLOUDS OVER DARK CHOCOLATE
Blumhouse Productions produced “Insidious: Chapter 2,” the sequel to the 2011 film that centers on a couple and their demon-infested son. It only cost about $5 million to make, but it brought in $128 million worldwide (about 26 times its production costs). The movie generated more ticket revenue than any other movie in September, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In fact, over the last five years, Blumhouse Productions has pumped out eight hit horror flicks for a measly $27 million. Those movies have earned more than $1.1 billion at the box office, according to The New York Times.
RELATED: 10 OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
This includes the infamous “Paranormal Activity” franchise, which is filmed using camcorders and tri-pods. The fourth installment, which cost just $5 million to make, earned $140 million in ticket sales. Similarly, “The Purge,” which was released in June, cost just $3 million to make while grossing $87 million at the box office.
Blumhouse Productions isn’t alone. Other horror hits like the “Friday the 13th” series produced by Paramount Pictures is the highest grossing scary movie franchise in history—raking in $687.1 million for the 12 movies, with a collective budget of just $80 million. The “Nightmare on Elm Street” series of nine slasher movies cost a total of $101 million and has earned a total $592.8 million.
Now that’s what you call scaring up some profits.
