Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Top Grossing Horror Films of 2011

2011 has come and gone and I'm betting that most of us are looking forward to a better 2012...  I know I am, anyhow.  It better be good, especially if The Mayans are right.  If they are, we've got less than a year to go because it all ends on Dec 21, 2012.  So, if you were ever going to get off your ass and make that movie, you better do it now.  Otherwise, forget about it and hunker down in your bunker filled with beer and canned food, we'll hope to see you next Christmas.

Anyhow, let's look back at 2011 and see how horror did at the box office.  I went through the list of the 592 films that received theatrical releases and pulled the films that I considered to be horror or horror related and, yeah, yeah, I took some liberties.  I don't consider "Twilight" to be horror either and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a stretch, but... I liked Apes and "Twilight" had vampires and werewolves in it.  Here's the list and how they ranked overall...

3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
25. Paranormal Activity 3
36. Battle: Los Angeles
37. Immortals
41. Contagion
58. Insidious
71. Final Destination 5
77. Scream 4
97. Priest
107. Sanctum
116. Fright Night (2011)
117. Apollo 18
118. The Thing (2011)
122. The Darkest Hour
133. Straw Dogs
199. Red State
204. Attack The Block
221. Hobo With A Shotgun
239. Creature (2011)
279. Troll Hunter
286. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
323. I Saw The Devil
325. The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence
346. Evil Bong 3D
354. Inkubus
435. 11-11-11
443. Evidence of a Haunting
456. Bonnie & Clyde Vs. Dracula
465. Stake Land
591. A Good Day to Die
592. Redneck Carnage

Do note that all these films are not created equal.  For example, "Twilight" grossed over $276Million domestically and "Redneck Carnage" grossed $372...  I get that.  However, "Redneck Carnage" DID get a theatrical release.  Also, I may have missed a few horror films here and there because from film 300 to film 592, there was lots that I've never heard of.  Anyhow, what can we take away from this?

First off, horror didn't do so well...  there's only a handful in the top 100 and anything below that, for a studio film, would be considered a disappointment.  Now, I don't think that's necessarily a reflection on the state of horror.  I think that's more a reflection on the state of studio horror.  Horror is alive and well, it's just being distributed outside of the studio system...  it is good to see films like "Troll Hunter", "Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil" and "Stake Land" getting theatrical releases, though. 

Now, I'm interested in what you have to think.  What were your favorite horror films of 2011?  Did they get a theatrical release?  Talk to us!

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