Horror movies do something to us. Besides providing the best escapism film can offer, they scare up the box office dough.
Horrors stir us up, leave us with the post-movie chills and give us something to tell our friends about. And although the grim truth the genre faces is only the strongest survive, those relative few usually have thrilling box-office runs–and sometimes become huge hits.
With Halloween lurking around the corner like Micheal Myers, we’ve compiled a list of the 25 most popular horror movies of all time–and the results will flat-out scare the heebie-jeebies out of any thrill-seeking moviegoer.
On a less frightening note: We’ve adjusted all movies’ earnings to current day ticket prices to see how they would truly stack up against one another, an oft-neglected yet vital factor in comparing box-office numbers across multiple years. Enjoy…if you dare.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Adjusted Gross Domestic Box Office1 | Gross Domestic Box Office |
| 1 | Jaws (1975) | UNIVERSAL | $795,369,426 | $260,000,000 |
| 2 | The Exorcist (1973) | WARNER BROS | $686,631,452 | $232,671,011 |
| 3 | The Sixth Sense (1999) | BUENA VISTA | $357,566,366 | $293,506,292 |
| 4 | The Mummy Returns (2001) | UNIVERSAL | $221,650,716 | $202,019,785 |
| 5 | Jaws 2 (1978) | UNIVERSAL | $215,603,340 | $81,766,007 |
| 6 | The Amityville Horror (1979) | AMERICAN INT. | $213,841,738 | $86,432,000 |
| 7 | Alien (1979) | FOX | $200,233,659 | $80,931,801 |
| 8 | The Mummy (1999) | UNIVERSAL | $189,949,583 | $155,385,488 |
| 9 | What Lies Beneath (2000) | DREAMWORKS | $179,115,699 | $155,464,351 |
| 10 | The Omen (1976) | FOX | $177,620,519 | $60,922,980 |
| 11 | The Blair Witch Project (1999) | ARTISAN | $171,800,749 | $140,539,099 |
| 12 | Interview with the Vampire (1994) | WARNER | $155,538,215 | $104,694,000 |
| 13 | Scream (1996) | MIRAMAX | $144,714,476 | $103,001,286 |
| 14 | Seven (1995) | NEW LINE | $142,937,987 | $100,125,643 |
| 15 | Aliens (1986) | FOX | $142,545,860 | $85,160,248 |
| 16 | The Ring (2002) | DREAMWORKS | $137,432,001 | $128,579,698 |
| 17 | Scream 2 (1997) | MIRAMAX | $137,017,261 | $101,273,628 |
| 18 | Halloween (1978) | COMPASS | $124,730,769 | $47,000,000 |
| 19 | Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) | SONY | $123,601,446 | $82,600,000 |
| 20 | Sleepy Hollow (1999) | PARAMOUNT | $123,550,077 | $101,068,340 |
| 21 | Van Helsing (2005) | UNIVERSAL | $120,177,084 | $120,177,084 |
| 22 | Haunting (1999) | DREAMWORKS | $111,473,051 | $91,188,905 |
| 23 | The Grudge (2004) | SONY | $110,175,871 | $110,175,871 |
| 24 | The Others (2001) | DIMENSION | $105,846,318 | $96,471,845 |
| 25 | Scream 3 (2000) | DIMENSION | $102,704,845 | $89,143,175 |
| TOTALS: | $5,191,828,508 | $3,110,298,537 |
In addition, we conducted a search of the highest grossing films that bridged the horror and comedy genres. Below are the top six in this hybrid category:
| Title | Studio | Adjusted Gross Domestic Box Office1 | Gross Domestic Box Office |
| Ghostbusters (1984) | SONY | $439,237,084 | $238,632,124 |
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) | FOX | $341,981,110 | $112,892,319 |
| Young Frankenstein (1974) | FOX | $283,469,520 | $86,273,333 |
| Scary Movie (2000) | MIRAMAX | $180,907,751 | $157,019,771 |
| Ghostbusters II (1989) | SONY | $175,967,840 | $112,494,738 |
| Scary Movie 3 (2003) | DIMENSION | $113,286,895 | $110,003,217 |
| TOTALS: | $1,534,850,200 | $817,315,502 | |
| 1 Adjusted Gross Domestic Box Office figures are derived based on the total domestic gross of the film, divided by average ticket price in the year of release, multiplied by 2004 average ticket price ($6.21). Average annual ticket prices source: MPAA. | |||
