50 Fun Facts About Modern Horror Movie

Which director made his feature debut with Saw (2004) and later created The Conjuring Universe?

The film was shot in just 18 days after a low-budget short version of the bathroom scene helped attract producers.

Paranormal Activity (2007) was originally shot for roughly how much money?

DreamWorks later spent an additional $200,000 on a new ending, and the film is often cited as the most profitable movie ever made on return on investment.

In The Conjuring (2013), the Warrens help which family in a Rhode Island farmhouse?

The haunting was said to have begun in 1971, and the real Perron family's story was the basis of the film that started the franchise.

Roughly how much has The Conjuring Universe grossed, making it the highest-grossing horror franchise?

The combined budget of the whole franchise was around $263 million, a tiny fraction of its worldwide gross.

The demon nun of The Conjuring 2 and The Nun is an incarnation of which entity?

Bonnie Aarons played the character in both films, with The Nun set in 1952 Romania.

In Insidious (2010), what is the name of the spirit realm where Dalton is trapped?

Dalton was born with the ability to astral project and had been doing so unknowingly in his sleep.

Which Academy Award did Get Out win at the 2018 ceremony?

The film was nominated for four Oscars in total and grossed nearly $260 million on a $4.5 million budget.

What sound does Missy Armitage use as a hypnotic trigger in Get Out?

The hypnosis sends Chris to a paralysed void that Missy calls the sunken place.

What are the doppelgängers called in Jordan Peele's Us (2019)?

The film opened to $71.1 million, then the best debut ever for a horror film not based on existing property.

In Us, young Adelaide first meets her double in 1986 at a funhouse on which beach boardwalk?

Thirty-three years later she returns to the same coast on a family vacation with disastrous results.

In Nope (2022), Jupe's childhood sitcom starred a chimpanzee with what name?

In the film's backstory, the chimp snapped at popping balloons on set in 1998 and mauled most of the cast.

Which company greenlit Hereditary after seeing Ari Aster's short The Strange Thing About the Johnsons?

The film went on to gross $90 million against a $10 million budget, with Toni Collette's performance widely praised.

Although set in rural Sweden, Midsommar was mostly filmed in which country?

Shooting ran from July to October 2018 in and around Budapest, and Aster was originally pitched the film as a straightforward slasher among Swedish cultists.

It (2017) became the highest-grossing horror film of all time with a worldwide gross of roughly what?

It also set the record for the biggest single-day opening for an R-rated film, dethroning Deadpool.

Who played Pennywise in It (2017)?

He returned to the role for the 2025 HBO prequel series It: Welcome to Derry.

Who directed A Quiet Place (2018), also co-starring alongside Emily Blunt?

The script came from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and the film went on to gross more than $340 million worldwide.

The Babadook (2014) was made in which country?

Jennifer Kent shot it in Adelaide, and the film initially flopped at home before becoming a hit abroad.

In It Follows (2014), how is the pursuing entity passed from one person to the next?

The film cost just $1.3 million and grossed $23.3 million worldwide.

What is the name of the family's billy goat in The Witch (2015)?

The twins insist the goat talks to them, and Anya Taylor-Joy made her feature debut as Thomasin.

The Lighthouse (2019) was shot in black-and-white using which nearly square aspect ratio?

Robert Eggers chose the format to emphasise the lighthouse's vertical shape and the keepers' isolation.

A 2020 Broadband Choices study measured heart rates and named which film the scariest ever made?

The film's snuff-movie segments were shot on real Super 8 cameras and film stock to look authentic.

Who wrote Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002)?

He drew on George A. Romero's zombie films and John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids.

The Spanish found-footage hit REC (2007) was remade in America the following year under what title?

The Spanish film follows a TV reporter and her cameraman trapped in a sealed Barcelona apartment block.

Who directed The Cabin in the Woods (2011), co-writing it with Joss Whedon in his own directorial debut?

The pair wrote the script in three days, and MGM's financial troubles kept the finished film shelved until Lionsgate released it in 2012.

In Talk to Me (2022), what object do the teenagers use to contact spirits?

The Philippou brothers' debut cost $4.5 million and grossed $92 million worldwide.

What is the killer doll's name in M3GAN short for?

A clip of the doll dancing became a TikTok meme before release and helped the $12 million film gross over $181 million.

Smile (2022) was promoted with a stunt placing grinning actors behind home plate at what kind of events?

The film was originally meant to stream on Paramount+ until strong test screenings earned it a theatrical release.

In Barbarian (2022), Tess discovers a dark secret in a Detroit house she booked through which service?

Zach Cregger's solo debut cost about $4 million and grossed $46 million worldwide.

Which filmmaking collective's duo directed the fifth Scream film (2022), the first without Wes Craven?

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had previously made the wedding-night thriller Ready or Not.

What is the name of the silent killer in Terrifier 2 (2022)?

Damien Leone ran a $50,000 Indiegogo campaign for a single gore scene and raised $250,000.

Who played the title serial killer in Longlegs (2024)?

He also produced the film through his Saturn Films banner, with Maika Monroe as the FBI agent hunting him.

Longlegs became the highest-grossing domestic release for which distributor?

Made for under $10 million, it earned $128 million worldwide and was the highest-grossing independent film of 2024.

The Substance (2024) premiered at, and won a screenwriting prize from, which film festival?

The production used roughly 21,000 litres of theatrical blood, and Demi Moore's performance earned her an Oscar nomination.

Robert Eggers' Nosferatu (2024) was filmed primarily at Barrandov Studios in which city?

The film earned four Oscar nominations and, at $182 million worldwide, became Eggers' highest-grossing film.

What are the nicknames of the twin brothers Michael B. Jordan plays in Sinners (2025)?

The twins return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932 after seven years working for the Chicago mob.

Sinners set a record at the 98th Academy Awards with how many nominations?

It won four, including a first for a woman in Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw.

Weapons director Zach Cregger was a founding member of which comedy troupe?

He formed the troupe with Trevor Moore and Sam Brown in 2000, long before turning to horror.

In Weapons (2025), what is the name of the aunt who arrives to care for Alex's parents?

Seventeen children from one classroom vanish at 2:17 a.m., and in 2025 a prequel bearing her name was announced for a 2028 release.

Which producer founded the low-budget horror studio behind Paranormal Activity, Get Out and M3GAN?

The company began in 2000 as Blum Israel Productions and gives directors creative freedom in exchange for small budgets.

Split (2016) was its studio's highest-grossing film until which 2023 release overtook it?

Split made $278 million on a $9 million budget as a stealth sequel to Unbreakable.

Halloween (2018) broke which 1996 movie's record as the highest-grossing slasher film?

Its $76.2 million debut was then the biggest opening in Blumhouse's history.

Godzilla Minus One (2023) won which Academy Award?

It was the first non-English-language film ever to win the category, on a fraction of a Hollywood blockbuster's budget.

The 2020 lockdown horror film Host takes place entirely on which video-call app?

The cast handled their own cameras, lighting and stunts while director Rob Savage guided them remotely from home.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) is the first film in which ice-cream-named Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg series?

It was followed by Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013), each featuring a different flavour of the ice cream.

Which British actress plays the foster mother in the Philippou brothers' Bring Her Back (2025)?

Her performance was singled out by critics, and the film grossed $39.1 million on a $15 million budget.

28 Years Later (2025) was primarily shot on what?

Danny Boyle said the phones let a tiny crew reach rural Northumberland while leaving the landscape untouched.

With Titane (2021), Julia Ducournau became only the second woman to win which award?

She was also the first woman to win it solo, following Jane Campion's shared 1993 win for The Piano.

In Heretic (2024), which actor plays the eccentric Mr. Reed who traps two Mormon missionaries?

The role earned him Best Actor nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards and BAFTAs.

Final Destination (2000) began life as a spec script for an episode of which TV series?

Writer Jeffrey Reddick penned it to land a TV agent, and two writers from that show, James Wong and Glen Morgan, then turned it into the film.

Which filmmaker behind Oculus, Hush and Doctor Sleep created Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House?

His wife Kate Siegel has appeared in most of his projects and co-wrote Hush.