13 horror movies the box office hated that became cult classics

In recent years, horror has been one of the most robust genres at the global box office – just look at the monumental takings for breakout 2026 hits Obsession and Backrooms this year for one example.

But while throughout Hollywood history there have been a myriad of other horror films that became instant success stories – from The Exorcist to IT – not every classic in the canon found its audience right away.

This week, we're looking at some of the films regarded as cult classics that initially struggled to make much of an impression on cinemagoers – whether that was to do with poor marketing, negative reviews or otherwise.

Read on for our 13 horror movies the box office hated that became cult classics.

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1. Peeping Tom (1960)

This hugely influential film wasn't just a box office disaster when it was first released – it almost completely derailed the career of legendary English filmmaker Michael Powell (who had been one half of the iconic Powell and Pressburger duo).

Its commercial failure was due largely to a sense of moral panic around the film, with contemporary critics giving it an extremely harsh reception for its handling of themes concerning violence and voyeurism. That reaction no doubt contributed to its lack of box office success – it made just under $150,000 – but has not hampered its reputation in the long run.

In the years following the release it developed a cult following and, partly helped by huge support from major cinema voices such as Martin Scorsese, it is now regarded as a classic – a proto-slasher movie that had a huge impact on the future of horror cinema.

In his autobiography, Powell wrote: "I make a film that nobody wants to see and then, thirty years later, everybody has either seen it or wants to see it!"

2. The Wicker Man (1973)

Another film which is now regarded as a British horror classic – and one that is still referenced in a huge variety of other films 50 years on – The Wicker Man was also by no means an instant success at the box office.

In fact, to begin with the film was merely released as a B-movie – part of a double feature with yet another British horror classic, Don't Look Now – and the version of the film that played in cinemas cut 15 minutes from director Robin Hardy's preferred version, adversely affecting the continuity.

For a while after that release, the film slipped into obscurity, but it began its journey to cult classic status in the 1980s and several restored versions featuring previously missing footage have emerged since. It has now been thoroughly reclaimed as a masterpiece of folk horror.

3. The Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Before the legendary virtuoso director Brian De Palma made such masterpieces as Carrie, Blow Out and Scarface, he helmed this delightful horror tinged rock musical that borrows from Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Phantom of the Opera to create something fantastically unique.

On the whole, the film was a major box office bomb – albeit with one major exception. In Winnipeg, Canada, it was a bonafide hit, playing in one cinema for eighteen weeks while the soundtrack album also sold very well.

Although this was not enough for the film to become profitable overall – it reportedly grossed just $250,000 in its initial run, less than a fifth of its budget – that success did pave the way for the film to become the cult classic that it is now.

4. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Perhaps the most famous cult film of all, Rocky Horror has a fair few things in common with the aforementioned Phantom of the Paradise – another example of a bizarro '70s musical that didn't hit the mainstream but almost instantly did attract a small but die-hard band of followers.

Adapted from Richard O'Brien's stage show, the film was successful right away in a very small handful of locations – namely London's Rialto Cinema and UA Westwood in LA – but failed to replicate that success elsewhere, with audiences so small that it was withdrawn from several cities.

The turning point came when it became a sensation on the midnight movie circuit, soon attracting a fiercely devoted following that has seen it become the longest-running theatrical release in film history, with weekly interactive screenings continuing to this day.

5. Possession (1981)

Polish director Andrzej Żuławski was not a filmmaker who made movies primed for a mainstream audience, and his 1981 masterpiece starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill is a perfect illustration of this.

The initial critical response was fairly muted, and it didn't fare any better with audiences – barely scraping to a total of $1.2 million, half of its reported production budget.

But the film developed a cult following – with Adjani's performance in particular becoming iconic – and is now often listed amongst the finest achievements in the history of cinema, including in the esteemed Sight and Sound list of the best films of all time.

That cult following has only continued to grow in recent years, becoming hugely popular among younger cinephiles as evidenced by its popularity on apps such as TikTok and Letterboxd. In fact, such is this newfound popularity, a remake of the film – starring Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner – is currently being made by Smile director Parker Finn.

6. The Thing (1982)

This masterpiece from John Carpenter was somewhat undone by unfortunately releasing at the same time as one of the biggest box office success stories of all time – Steven Spielberg's ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.

The success of that film – with audiences embracing its far more optimistic take on the sci-fi genre – has long been considered one of the chief reasons for the failure of this cosmic horror as far as box office success was considered.

But it wasn't only financially that The Thing was initially a dud. Despite praising its special effects, contemporary critics were unimpressed by other aspects of the film – with some of them descending into outright hostility (Vincent Canby of the New York Times went so far as to call it "the quintessential moron movie of the 80's.")

The reappraisal came after the film found a strong fanbase following its release on home video and television, and it is now held up as one of the landmark works in the history of sci-fi and horror cinema.

7. Near Dark (1987)

Future Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow was still relatively unknown when she made this richly atmospheric gothic vampire classic – and despite receiving mostly positive reviews at the time of release, it failed to ignite much excitement amongst the cinema-going masses.

The film made just $3.4 million – a fair bit less than its $5 million budget – with Bigelow having suggested that its lack of success at the box office could have been influenced by the release of the similarly themed The Lost Boys just a couple of months earlier.

Still, the film helped further single out Bigelow as a director to watch and she's gone on to enjoy a hugely successful career, with Near Dark having grown a significant cult following and still often singled out as one of her finest works.

8. The Blob (1988)

The '80s saw a number of remakes of horror B-movie classics from the '50s – including the aforementioned The Thing and David Cronenberg's The Fly – and this film from director Chuck Russell is another good example.

The reviews at the time were positive but not overwhelmingly so, and its box office takings of $8.2 million – compared to a budget of $10 million – were labelled "disastrous" in a report by Screen International.

Speaking about the film a few years later, Russell explained: "Maybe it was a mistake to do a remake of The Blob with a sense of humour. I thought that would be an entertaining interpretation. Unfortunately, it was released late in a very hectic summer filled with big films and it didn't have a particularly good ad campaign."

Still, the film has come to be more fondly regarded over time, with many more recent reviews arguing that it improves upon the original film. It is now regarded as a cult favourite among many horror buffs.

9. Army of Darkness (1992)

The Evil Dead franchise is regarded as one of the most successful – both critically and commercially – in all of horror cinema, with the first film in Sam Raimi's series having made almost $30 million against a micro budget of just $375,000.

You might be surprised to learn, then, that the final film in the original trilogy was considered something of a box office disappointment on its original release – although it would perhaps be an exaggeration to call it an outright bomb.

It had by some distance the biggest budget of the series so far, but only just about managed to break even when marketing costs were accounted for.

But like so many other cult horror favourites, it found a second life on home video and is now considered a hugely important entry in the Evil Dead franchise, and one which – owing to the medieval setting – remains unique when compared to the other films.

10. Braindead (1992)

Peter Jackson would go on to have huge box office success with his Lord of the Rings movies, but in his early career the New Zealand director made films that were somewhat less geared towards mainstream audiences.

Perhaps the best example is this gross-out comedy horror, which received positive reviews but was unable to translate that critical success into anything like strong box office performance internationally – barely making back a fraction of its $3 million budget (it made just $242,000 in the US).

That lack of success didn't stop the film being very influential – not least for Jackson's own career – and it is now revered as one of the finest (and goriest) examples in the "splatter" horror genre. A bona fide cult sensation.

11. Event Horizon (1997)

Paul WS Anderson is probably best known for his work in the Resident Evil franchise and a string of poorly received action films, but this 1997 sci-fi horror is a true gem in his filmography.

You wouldn't have thought that on its original release though, given the film received predominantly negative reviews and struggled at the box office – failing to make back its budget, which was estimated to be in the $50–70 million range.

In fact, the film fared so poorly that Paramount's parent company, Viacom, wrote it off as a major loss early in the run, with Anderson later criticising a rushed marketing campaign and especially the official poster – saying that: "You could throw a plate at the screen and randomly select a better image."

Like so many other films on this list, it was on home video that the film eventually found an audience, developing a major cult following and greatly improving its reputation in the subsequent three decades.

12. Jennifer's Body (2009)

This Diablo Cody-scripted comedy horror was largely dismissed by critics at the time of its 2009 release – with its Rotten Tomatoes score still sitting at just 46% – and didn't fare much better at the box office.

Although it did comfortably make back its production budget, it was nonetheless considered by analysts to have severely underperformed relative to expectations.

In the late 2010s, the consensus amongst most critics seemed to shift and many pieces have been written about how the initial wave of critics misunderstood the film – with Constance Grady writing in Vox that it was a "forgotten feminist classic".

It has also built a cult fan following, and there's even been some suggestions that a sequel could materialise in the future.

13. Suspiria (2018)

Dario Argento's 1977 giallo classic Suspiria was the best performing film of his career in American cinemas – and so you might have thought that the 2018 remake starring Dakota Johnson, Mia Goth and Tilda Swinton would do well, especially as it was helmed by Luca Guadagnino fresh off his huge success with Call Me By Your Name.

Unfortunately, the film grossed just $8 million internationally, less than half of its $20 million budget, with Guadagnino himself admitting that "it made absolutely nothing. It was a disaster at the box office."

Reviews at the time were very mixed – with Argento himself among the detractors – but less than a decade on from its release it has already built up a dedicated cult following which only looks likely to grow further in the years ahead.

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