Low-budget horror films gave Hollywood their biggest return on their investments in 2013, which is great news for the horror genre moving on into 2014.  The number one investment of 2013 was Insidious: Chapter 2, grossing $160 million worldwide from a reported budget of just $5 million.  The second and third most successful films?  The Purge and The Conjuring, both horror films.   Both Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Conjuring were directed by James Wan.

How do studios calculate the most lucrative movies of the year?  You take how much the movie grossed, subtract how much it cost and then divide that figure by how much it cost.  For example, Insidious: Chapter 2 cost $5 million to make. It grossed $160.4 million. So here’s how you figure it out from here: $160.4M- $5M = $155.4M. $155.4M/$5M = 31.1.  Yes, I’m terrible with math to, so the only thing that matters is the result.

Here’s a chart showcasing the year’s nine most successful movies, and as you can tell from the chart, these three low-budget horror movies offered a better return on investments than even blockbusters such as Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Hopefully, this will lead to a horror movie boom in the upcoming years.

Courtesy of The Wrap