Whether or not fans want to call these films elevated horror, A24's horror movies have become some of the most celebrated and recognizable of recent years. Films such as Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019), and most recently, X (2022), have wowed fans of the genre and been hard to look away from.
According to worldwide box office numbers from Box Office Mojo, there are a few A24 horror movies that didn't gross very much, ranging from under $50,000 to under $2 million.
The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015): $38,348
The Blackcoat's Daughter is an underrated A24 horror movie starring Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka as young women connected to a boarding school called Bramford Academy. The movie, also called February, tells the story of Kat (Shipka), who has to stay at school one winter break. The film also follows Joan (Roberts), who seems to be lost and is hitching a ride, and Kat's peer Rose (Lucy Boynton) who thinks she could be pregnant and who is scared.
There are many great horror movies grossing under $10 million and The Blackcoat's Daughter has a dark, demonic plot that is worth watching. The film really has it all: affecting performances, a strong setting, shocking scenes, and a perfectly paced plot.
The Monster (2016): $74,700
Not many may have heard of the 2016 film The Monster, which only grossed $74,700 at the worldwide box office. The film stars Zoe Kazan as Kathy, a woman who goes on a road trip with her daughter Lizzy (Ella Ballentine). When the car breaks down, a monster comes out of the nearby forest and before they know it, their lives are in danger.
The Monster deals with some important and fascinating themes, such as the relationship between a mother and daughter, which can become very complicated. While there are some bad horror movie monsters, this one is terrifying and also represents the danger that parents often feel is near their children.
Saint Maud (2019): $1,383,868
The 2019 horror movie Saint Maud has a terrifying ending, and the entire movie is worth it, too, although it only grossed $1,383,868 at the worldwide box office. When Saint Maud (Morfydd Clark) begins taking care of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), Maud judges her for having sex and sets out to rid her of her supposed sins.
Written and directed by first time filmmaker Rose Glass, Saint Maud wowed audiences and critics and quickly became one of the best A24 horror movies. Glass told Bad Feeling Mag of her main character, " I hope people do root for her, in a weird way. I always like characters where you don’t quite know if you can trust them or not. And I just find it more true to life. Obviously, not everybody’s like Maud, but no one person is entirely good or bad or the same in every circumstance. I just enjoy spending time with characters and films that you feel you can’t quite trust, but you’re sort of along for the ride."
Tusk (2014): $1,882,074
Kevin Smith directed Tusk, a horror comedy movie about Wallace Byrton (Justin Long) who has a podcast where he talks about videos that have gone viral alongside Haely Joel Osment's character Teddy, his good friend. When Wallace meets Howard Howe (Michael Parks), a man who loves walruses, things get strange. Howard tells Wallace that a walrus, Mr. Tusk, saved him, and Howard wants to turn Wallace into him.
The movie is definitely creative and unique and grossed only $1,882,074 at the worldwide box office. Justin Long told Bloody Disgusting, “My agents definitely didn’t want me to do it. I was intrigued by the prospect of getting to do those scenes with Michael, and by the challenge of that completed transformation. I needed to challenge myself. It was scary – it wasn’t like a no-brainer, but I knew I was going to do it because I was a big fan of Kevin’s. It was because of my fear [of the role] that I had to do it.”
A Ghost Story (2017): $1,951,683
Both Blumhouse and A24 release amazing horror movies, and 2017's A Ghost Story made people think and got them talking. M (Rooney Mara) and C (Casey Affleck) are a married couple, and when one of them passes away, they appear as a ghost.
While 2018's Hereditary has a fairly fast-paced plot, at least compared to some other elevated horror movies, A Ghost Story is beautifully shot and makes audiences think long and hard about its themes. David Lowery wrote the movie's script in one day, according to a profile in The Guardian. The movie will stay with fans for a long time as the character who is a ghost wears a white sheet, an interesting choice since that's a common Halloween costume.