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In 2011 and 2012, it felt as though we were constantly inundated with horror films. Discussions about the box office performances of the various projects was so stale that it seemed as though we could just take previous commentary, change the name, and pass it off as new. Honestly, that was probably not much different than what the producers of actual movies in the genre were doing, so maybe box office analysts would have been justified in providing the same level of diligence and thought to analysis of horror projects.

2013 was different. Not only were studios more measured with their offerings, pacing them out at a rate of less than one per month, but the films themselves were also more divergent, with as many new, original ideas as there were sequels and/or remakes. Audiences responded positively to fresher fare, hopefully giving incentive to studio suits to provide more original, exciting ideas for the genre rather than stale retread after stale retread.

That’s not to say that some of the tried-and-true formulas were unsuccessful. January kicked off the horror scene with yet another reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, this time a “sequel” to the original 1974 film. After a $21.7 million opening weekend debut, the film sputtered along from there to a $34.3 million domestic take, but was almost surely a financial winner for Lionsgate considering the mostly unknown cast and ancillary home video revenue streams.

Another mildly successful remake was Carrie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel and the 1976 film by the same name, although at the time of its release it was viewed as something of a missed opportunity. With a $30 million budget, the teen-targeted film opened with $16.1 million, eventually tallying $35.3 million on the domestic front and putting MGM/Screen Gems in the black even before international or home video dollars were added in. Those overseas venues were worth another $43 million, meaning that even one of the more lukewarm horror projects of the year found financial success.

The most popular reboot/remake of the year was Evil Dead, the Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell-endorsed re-imagining of the classic 1981 film. With a nice social media push from Campbell himself, along with a marketing campaign aimed solidly at the 20-somethings who are generally responsible for the majority of movie tickets, Evil Dead had a debut weekend of $25.8 million. It easily beat its $17 million budget by the end of its third day in theaters, and accrued $54.2 million from North American venues as well as $43 million internationally. Considering that the original movie earned just over $2 million during its entire time in theaters, I think we can safely say that the brand has grown over time.

If remakes/reboots delivered on expectations, original concepts exceeded them by far. The first of these was the Guillermo del Toro-presented Mama, a supernatural ghost story that featured Jessica Chastain, who was hotter than hot during the film’s January release frame thanks to the awards attention she was receiving for Zero Dark Thirty. The film opened during the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, and earned a magnificent $28.4 million during its first three days (and $32.1 million over the four-day portion of the frame). The film had mostly positive reviews and word-of-mouth from audiences, which it was able to translate to a fabulous $71.6 million domestic and $75 million from overseas venues compared to its $15 million budget. It was the first indicator that audiences were thirsting for original horror ideas, and also that female audiences like being scared, too – 61% of the opening weekend audience was female.

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