5 Most Expensive Horror Movies in History, Ranked

When we think of horror movies, we think of gore, jump scares, and goosebump-inducing soundtracks.

It’s not often that we think of horror movies as being big-budget projects, but these 5 films broke the bank, and some of them ended up with deathly regrets.

5. Prometheus - $130 million

This sci-fi horror was full of otherworldly special effects and futuristic visuals true to director Ridley Scott’s vision. The story follows a group of scientists who travel to a distant moon in search of answers about humanity and creation and make a horrifying discovery.

The whole movie was filmed with 3D cameras, which added $10 million to the budget alone, but Scott’s vision turned out to be profitable, with the film grossing over $400 million.

4. I Am Legend - $150 million

The post-apocalyptic horror movie stars lone human survivor Will Smith as he navigates the barren, derelict city on his quest to find a cure to the disease that turned most of humanity into monsters.

New York is an expensive place to live. Now imagine how expensive it would be to close off parts of the Big Apple for filming. Suddenly, I Am Legend’s massive budget makes more sense.

One scene involving the Brooklyn Bridge cost the producers $5 million alone. This along with its A-list lead and extensive special effects proved astronomically costly, but its $585.4 million earnings at the box office prove that it all paid off.

3. The Wolfman - $150 million

Originally, this film had a budget of $85 million and 80 days in which to complete filming, but extensive reshoots almost doubled that, and the expensive makeup and SFX effects used to create the Wolfman added to it further.

The final product failed to wow audiences, lacking suspense and excitement, resulting in The Wolfman falling just short of breaking even with its earnings of just over $142 million.

2. Van Helsing - $170 million

Van Helsing revived the scene for the vampire genre, with the film following the famous monster hunter of the same name, in pursuit of Count Dracula. The 2004 action-horror starring Hugh Jackman has become one of the most popular in its genre but risked financial failure.

Van Helsing grossed a mere $120 million locally. Luckily, the overseas audience was eager to sink their teeth into the film, earning it an additional $180 million.

1. World War Z - $190 - $260 million

If you asked us to guess the most expensive horror movie ever made, we certainly wouldn’t have named this post-apocalyptic horror as number one, but WWZ takes the top spot with a budget that likely exceeded $200 million.

Led by Brad Pitt, the film sees a rapid spreading zombie pandemic throwing the world into chaos. This action-packed blockbuster aimed not only to appeal to horror geeks, but also attract a commercial audience.

Originally budgeted under $150 million, a change to the ending of the film resulted in 7 weeks of reshoots and tens of millions of dollars, with the final product grossing $540 million worldwide.