Horror Box Office Hits That Have Caught Us By Surprise In 2023

Major movie studios have tried many, many times to buy the kind of press that “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” gained naturally last year. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield capitalized on the fact that A.A. Milne’s beloved literary creation recently entered the public domain by producing an ultra-cheap, down-and-dirty slasher film starring the honey-loving bear. When the first pictures surfaced online, the internet went absolutely apes***. Online chatter doesn’t always equate to financial success, but in this case, Drake-Waterfield and his financial partners found themselves on the right side of a big hit — even in the face of downright scathing reviews from critics (read our 1 out of 10 review here).

Curiosity from moviegoers rewarded the low-budget flick, which ended up making just shy of $5 million at the box office. Let’s be clear, that’s a tiny number that would represent a disaster for any studio movie. But this was never supposed to be anything more than a Redbox play/direct-to-VOD schlock. Produced for less than $100,000, this movie made out incredibly well. Especially because all of the attention the relative success garnered in the press only served to benefit the movie once it did arrive on VOD. A sequel is being rushed to capitalize on the success because that’s just the nature of the beast. Say what you will about the film itself, but it’s pretty surprising that this, in a very odd way, turned out to be one of the little films that could in 2023. It’s only rivaled by one other movie that we’re about to talk about.