The Witch has been one of the most talked about horror movies since it started screening on the festival circuit last year... there are only a few days to go until it finally hits the big screen here in the UK.
The Witch
The Witch is one of the horror movies of 2016 that we are looking forward to the most and it looks set to be a film that is not to be missed this weekend if you are a fan of the genre.
To celebrate the release of the film, which is set to be the feature film directorial debut of Robert Eggers, we take a look back at some of the highest grossing horror films.
- The Sixth Sense - $672.8 million
It was back in 1999 when The Sixth Sense first hit cinema screens and sent the star of writer and director M. Night Shyamalan rocketing. This was the third feature of his career - coming after Praying with Anger and Wide Awake - but this was to be his breakthrough film project.
The Sixth Sense saw Bruce Willis take on the central role of Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who helps a young boy who can see and communicate with dead people. Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, and Olivia Williams make up an exciting cast list.
The Sixth Sense is a tense and compelling film that has one of the best twists of all time. Shyamalan gives us all of the shocks and scares that we would expect from a horror film and yet, it is characters and their relationships that are at the heart of this story.
This was one of the most talked about films of 1999 and was the film that truly made everyone sit up and take note of this new writer and director. For me, The Sixth Sense still remains his finest hour and best film.
The Sixth Sense went on to enjoy both critical and commercial success and ended 1999 as the second highest grossing film of the year, behind Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
- Jaws - $470.7 million
Jaws is the second oldest film on our countdown and was released back in 1975 - last year saw this iconic film celebrate its fortieth anniversary. Forty years on, this is a movie that still sends a shiver down my spine.
Jaws is one of Steven Spielberg's greatest film achievements as he teamed up with Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss. The movie follows a great white shark, which terrorises the small island community of Amity.
I love the fast pace of this movie, Spielberg keeps the story, the action, and the terror zipping along - never giving the audience a moment to breathe or relax. This only heightens the anxiety and keeps you well and truly on the edge of your seat. In that respect, Spielberg has delivered one of the most perfectly planned and constructed horror movies of all time.
Spielberg manipulates the mood in every shot of the film and that is a mark of a truly great filmmaker - he whipped the audience up into a frenzy and delivered the jumps and the scares that he wanted to perfection.
Jaws went on to be a critical and commercial smash and became the highest grossing movie of all time - that is until Star Wars came along. It also played a pivotal role when it came to establishing the blockbuster movie making business in Hollywood.
- The Exorcist - $441.3 million
The Exorcist is the oldest film on our countdown and was released in the UK back in 1974. Directed by William Friedkin, the movie was a big screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty.
The film follows a mother who enlists the help of two priests after her daughter is possessed by a mysterious entity. Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair made up the cast list.
A demonic and possessed child had never really been tackled on the big screen before, and certainly to the extreme that we see in the movie. Not only was it shocking to audiences, but it really did pave the way for a whole host of movies - and while this type of film has been done time and again over the years, it has never been equalled let alone bettered.
The Exorcist remains one of the most disturbing and terrifying movie ever made and it still remains as powerful a watch today as it did nearly forty years ago. It really is one of the best horror movies of all time.
The Exorcist was a commercial smash as well as a critical hit and went on to be nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film would take home Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound on the night. It has gone on to be one of the most influential horror films of all time.
- The Conjuring - $318 million
For me, The Conjuring was the best horror film of 2013 as we saw James Wan return to the director's chair and to this genre of film. In fact, The Conjuring remains one of the best horrors of recent years and I cannot wait to see what Wan delivers with the sequel.
Starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, the movie follows them as they set out to help a family that is being terrorised in their new home. This story is based on one of their real cases.
Wan is such a fantastic horror filmmaker as he doesn't need special effects of gore to have you jumping out of your seat or send chills down your spine. The Conjuring is a good old fashioned horror that uses creaking doors, bumps in the night and a provocative score to have you on the edge of your seat.
This really is a chilling film from start to finish, as Wan notches up the tension and the atmosphere frame by frame as he builds to the climax. The lack of CGI is also a very welcome breath of fresh air.
Made for just $20 million, The Conjuring made $318 million at the global box office and is one of the most successful horror movies of all time. Farmiga and Wilson are set to reprise their roles as they reunite with Wan for The Conjuring 2 later this year - the movie is set to focus on the story of the Enfield haunting.
- What Lies Beneath - $291.4 million
In 2000, Robert Zemeckis tackled the horror genre as he returned to the director's chair with What Lies Beneath. This was his first feature since Contact back in 1997 and saw him team up with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer takes on the central role of Claire Spencer, who believes that her home is haunted... or is just losing her mind?
Despite a great cast and director, What Lies Beneath is a horror film that I am not a huge fan of - in fact, I found the whole thing a little dull and uninspiring.
While Pfeiffer does give an engaging central performance as the troubled Claire, she is unable to elevate this film to something more and the story does run out of steam before the end.
Despite the mixed reviews from the critics, What Lies Beneath went on to enjoy box office success and was the tenth highest grossing film of that year at the global box office - it was also the highest grossing horror film of that year.
- Annabelle - $256.9 million
Annabelle is the most recent film on our chart as it was only released back in 2014. Directed by John R. Leonetti, Annabelle was a spin-off from The Conjuring and was a character that we did briefly meet in the James Wan-directed film.
The movie follows a couple who begin to experience terrifying supernatural events involving a doll, shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.
Annabelle was another horror film that performed will despite failing to win over the critics. Annabelle had the potential to be an incredibly interesting horror film character but this movie never really lived up to that potential. You have to wonder if Wan himself would have done a better job if he had been in the director's chair.
Despite the negative reviews, Annabelle went on to be one of the most successful horror films of the year. The movie grossed $256.9 million worldwide - not a bad return for a film that made for just $6.5 million.
- The Ring - $249.3 million
It is over a decade since The Ring hit the big screen - yes, it really was back in 2002 - and saw Gore Verbinski in the director's chair and Naomi Watts in the central role.
The film was an American remake of the much-loved 1998 horror film Ring, which was based on the novel of the same name by Koki Suzuki. The original is widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time.
The 2002 film follows Rachel Keller, a journalist, who sets out to investigate a mysterious videotape, which seems to cause the death of anyone who watches in within a week.
Verbinski created a real feel of dread that hangs over this whole film - which does leave audiences with chills running up and down their spine. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to the story, the director strikes the perfect balance between scares with interesting character development.
While The Ring didn't live up to the hype and success of the original, it was a movie that was met with positive reviews and went on to enjoy big box office success.
- The Blair Witch Project - $248.6 million
The Blair Witch Project is one of the most iconic and successful horror movies of all time and it was back in 1999 when it thrilled audiences and broke records.
Made on a tiny budget of $35,000 the film follows the story of three student filmmakers who go into the Black Hills of Burkittsville to film a documentary on local legend The Blair Witch. They never returned and bodies were never found and the film was shot in amateur documentary style.
Alright, it had no stars, no script, no budget and fairly inexperienced filmmaker behind the camera but what it did have, and used to amazing effect, was a website. The film showed the movie industry the power of the internet and kicked off the now common idea of viral marketing. Never before had chat rooms and movie sites power a film in such a way as simple word of mouth made Blair Witch a mammoth hit.
As well as the impact the film had on marketing Blair Witch also took the genre of the horror film down a different path, moving it away from the bubblegum horrors that came from the Scream franchise to the more sophisticated horrors of Signs and The Others.
The Blair Witch Project is a truly chilling movie that terrified audiences that went to see it at the cinema in the nineties. The film's villain is never uncovered, leaving the audience to imagine what happened to the central characters. This was a truly groundbreaking film that would change the way horror movies were made and marketed forever.
The Witch is released 11th March.
Tagged in Jaws The Exorcist