‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ Aren’t the Year’s Only Box Office Horror Hits

Everyone in the horror-loving world has been talking about “Backrooms” and “Obsession” for what feels like forever. The two breakout hits, from twenty-something filmmakers Kane Parsons and Curry Barker, dominated box office conversation in Q2 — cutting through a panicked entertainment landscape to bring fresh life to the first-run theatrical business at a particularly scary time.

A24’s “Backrooms” has earned more than $330 million worldwide, while Focus Features’ “Obsession” turned a sub-$1 million budget into a global haul over $374 million. Each release pointed to a slightly different lesson for Hollywood, as IndieWire’s Christian Zilko argued last month. But taken together as one cultural moment, they also reinforce a key principle that serious genre fans have understood for decades: Investing in the right new voices can build both excitement and audience loyalty.

Horror has long functioned as one of the movie business’ better talent incubators, effectively offering unknown storytellers a comparatively accessible path to national exposure and increased creative freedom. Still, it’s frustrating that original genre concepts from unknown creators so often need to emerge as full-blown commercial phenomena before originality itself is treated as a wise investment.

‘Obsession’ ©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection

That does seem to be changing, albeit slowly. Hollywood’s response to “Backrooms” and “Obsession” suggests plenty of executives understand this spring doesn’t have to be an anomaly — for these two filmmakers or the countless rookies like them. For his part, Barker is already making the leap from microbudget sensation to studio-backed filmmaker. His upcoming horror-comedy “Anything but Ghosts,” (also U.S. distribution from Focus), was co-written with his longtime creative partner Cooper Tomlinson, and points to an industry interested in Barker’s career trajectory beyond his next hit. Whether that approach proves sustainable will tell us a lot about what auteur status actually looks like in horror today.

Meanwhile, Parsons is taking a more traditional route through A24, with a “Backrooms” sequel already in development. Of course, even that familiar franchise play looks different in light of the specific digital mythology that “Backrooms” tapped into. This week, Warner Bros. announced it would soon adapt the creepy “Siren Head” phenomenon — pairing yet another internet-native nightmare with more established Hollywood creatives. Brian Duffield (“No One Will Save You”) will direct a script written by Zach Cregger (“Weapons”), and that suggests, at least at Warner Bros., the blockbuster pipeline is evolving alongside a fractured monoculture rather than fighting against it.

‘Backrooms’Courtesy Everett Collection

Not every ambitious new horror director will become a massive financial success, and broadly speaking, they shouldn’t have to. The healthy theatrical ecosystem that many filmmakers, audiences, and investors want, particularly in the horror space, will instead depend on a wide variety of films that support emerging talent, as well as the fan communities that help movie executives find them. Fostering discovery through those niche groups will likely prove essential to keeping the spirit of cinema alive.

Plenty of other horror films released in April, May, and June brushed against the same buzzy momentum that fueled “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” but none were celebrated with the same fervor. Looking back to get ahead, these are the essential box office stories genre fans might have missed in Q2.

1. The Independent Film Company and Shudder Quietly Reasserted Themselves as Horror Tastemakers

After celebrating a massive decade for Shudder in 2025, the Independent Film Company’s popular horror operation entered this year seeming weirdly deflated. A relatively quiet Q1, coupled with surprising programming changes to the fan-favorite streaming series “The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs,” left many Shudder devotees wondering what was next for the brilliant sickos behind last year’s “The Ugly Stepsister,” “Good Boy,” and more.

April offered a somewhat compelling answer.

‘Faces of Death’©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

Recruiting Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber for a sideways “Faces of Death” reboot built naturally on the internet-age credibility that the writer and director had established years earlier on Netflix’s “Cam.” And starring Barbie Ferreira as a vigilante web sleuth, their latest project successfully tapped into an earlier strain of viral folklore that resonated strongly with IndieWire’s chief film critic David Ehrlich.

Still, the Independent Film Company’s best movie of the quarter was a disappointment at the box office, earning approximately $2.6 million domestically. Shortly after that, Jorma Taccone’s “Over Your Dead Body” tried and failed to leverage the star power of scream queen Samara Weaving, and Natalie Erika James’ “Saccharine” suffered from asking audiences to invest in an unfamiliar mythology and cast that some viewers, like IndieWire’s Kate Erbland, found overwhelming to consume all at once.

‘Saccharine’©AMC/courtesy Everett Collection

That said, the two companies’ larger strategy (or, at least, what remains of it since major staffing changes late last year) was clear. The Independent Film Company and Shudder are still betting on visionary filmmakers and enterprising audiences to shape the future of fear online and in theaters.

2. Neon Continued to Champion Multidisciplinary Genre Stories

After distributing the Spanish-French road trip thriller “Sirāt” in North America this February, Neon enjoyed a genuinely exciting Q2 by leaning into the spirit of adventure. Trusting specific filmmakers to make specific movies for audiences who are eager to meet them halfway, the studio put out several hyper-stylized genre films that operated like major horror events whether they were scary or not.

Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” emerged as one of the season’s most passionately embraced titles, with the outspoken writer/director turning nearly every press appearance into a rousing argument for politically engaged cinema. Nearly a decade since “Sorry to Bother You” (Riley’s only other movie), the artist’s dedicated fanbase has never felt more fierce. Neon wisely positioned itself as the exact right home for that enthusiasm with an inventive promotional tour that included, among other stops, a free gas giveaway. The release made up for that by drawing in $9.5 million domestically.

‘I Love Boosters’ Courtesy Everett Collection

The studio showed strong instincts when picking creative partners on the horror side, too.

Damien McCarthy’s “Hokum” built naturally on the Irish filmmaker’s growing reputation after Shudder’s “Oddity” launched him into mainstream horror discourse two years ago. Neon proved especially shrewd handling its follow-up, selling McCarthy’s witchy haunted inn as both prestige fare and an accessible vehicle for star Adam Scott. The “Severance” actor’s presence gave the film a slightly cleaner commercial hook while managing to keep its visual calling card — a terrifying, goat-like face that went viral immediately — mysterious. That made a relatively contained concept feel larger than life, and “Hokum” earned about $15 million worldwide against an estimated $5 million production budget.

‘Exit 8’Courtesy Everett Collection

Simultaneously, Genki Kawamura’s “Exit 8” benefited not just from its recognizable video game IP and the same liminal-space appeal that made “Backrooms” so popular, but also from its Japanese director’s enormous fame in Japan. Kawamura was already known for producing massive movies abroad, including Makoto Shinkai’s exquisite “Weathering with You,” “Your Name,” and “Suzume.” That reputation no doubt helped “Exit 8” make more than $40 million on the international market, but as a non-English-language release, Kawamura’s horror film also performed especially well in the U.S. because of Neon.

Finally, there was Adrian Chiarella’s “Leviticus,” a contemporary queer horror film that generated sincere buzz without compromising its specificity. IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio said “Leviticus” should be the genre’s next big sensation in June, and audiences largely agreed. Bolstered by improbably strong weekday holds, “Leviticus” connected especially well with younger horror fans and earned over $6.7 million worldwide. That’s just a sliver of the same group that turned out for “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” but further evidence that audiences are hungry for horror that’s unapologetically personal.

‘Leviticus’Courtesy Everett Collection

Considering how well internet horror performed at the box office this quarter, it’s still kind of amazing that Neon’s “Shelby Oaks,” from YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann, struggled as much as it did last fall. That said, these four new releases hint at Neon emerging as something more complex than a horror powerhouse. In 2026, the studio’s best asset seems to be delivering on the simple promise that whatever you’re about to see, it will come from a real point of view.

3. Horror Remains a Safe Haven for Marginalized Storytellers

For all the industry’s talk of protecting marginalized voices, two of the year’s most distinctive horror movies arrived with remarkably little fanfare. Yes, it’s great that these queer and female-centered films exist, but it would be nice to see some “Obsession” and “Backrooms”-sized love for them, too.

Aleshea Harris’ ferocious “Is God Is” delivered an intriguing swing from Amazon MGM that worked well for nearly everyone who saw it. Adapting the playwright’s acclaimed stage work into a sprawling revenge nightmare that mixed Southern Gothic drama and dark satire with Western and horror iconography, Harris’ feature directorial debut benefited from a recognizable ensemble, including Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Sterling K. Brown, Janelle Monáe, and Vivica A. Fox.

‘Is God Is’©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection

It also had a much wider rollout than many projects like it. But even opening on 1,500 screens, Harris’ brilliantly dexterous approach proved too much for the film’s marketers. While critics mostly embraced Harris’ brutal commitment to conjuring such a twisted tale, Amazon MGM put out a muddled sales pitch that grossed under $5 million domestically. Here, it seems the obstacle wasn’t a lack of vision so much as uncertainty about which audiences wanted it and a subsequent failure to help them turn out.

From Dark Sky Films, Avalon Fast’s “Camp” arrived with more modest expectations and a much, much smaller theatrical footprint. Even so, the Canadian indie about an eerie summer retreat sparked the kind of passionate conversation online that many film executives rely on to confirm they’ve been making the right decisions. At IndieWire, David Ehrlich praised “Camp” for its ambient queerness and psychological uncertainty, arguing that its atmosphere was ultimately more seductive than frightening. That’s a genre-defying triumph that a bigger distributor, like Amazon MGM, might have had a harder time promoting.

‘Camp’

With MUBI already backing Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” after its celebrated Cannes debut, projects like “Is God Is” and “Camp” are prime examples of the horror community once again taking responsibility for the kind of complex work that the broader film marketplace used to champion more openly. Horror remains one of the few realms where difficult and disturbing stories are an asset, but underrepresented creators should still have more reach.

4. Legacies Still Matter, but Audiences Are Getting More Selective

After making a killing with “Scream 7” in Q1, Paramount spent this quarter testing the staying power of two very different types of horror celebrity. The results were revealing. On one hand, André Øvredal’s “Passenger” — an original ghost story set against the hell of van life — grossed $31 million worldwide against a $15 million budget. Still, it struggled to resonate beyond the Norwegian director’s core fanbase and, even with seasoned producers Walter Hamada and Gary Dauberman onboard, left theaters quickly.

Also from Paramount, “Scary Movie 6” used its heavy hitters differently and turned the studio’s first contribution to the infamous spoof franchise into a cultural moment. Reuniting the Wayans brothers with their smash-hit series after 25 years proved nostalgia can still sell tickets, if audiences want the people who originally made the IP back in the spotlight. Grossing more than $217 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, the Wayans’ sequel delivered the exact kind of crowd-pleasing victory lap many fans hoped for. Critics weren’t as fond of the weirdly toothless movie, but audiences showed up anyway.

‘Scary Movie 6’©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Sometimes stewardship matters more than reinvention, and a similar lesson emerged from “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” — albeit from the opposite direction. The Irish filmmaker’s gnarly reimagining of the ancient monster generated roughly $90 million worldwide on a reported $22 million budget, giving Warner Bros., New Line, Blumhouse, and Atomic Monster a solid return on their faith in Cronin as a brand unto himself. Having already brought “Evil Dead” back to life at Warner Bros., the writer/director injected this latest mummy experiment with enough of his signature style to lure those same moviegoers back. In that sense, Cronin proved his involvement was indeed just as important as the IP itself.

‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Lastly, there was A24’s “Mother Mary.” Coming just weeks after the extraordinary success of “Backrooms,” the studio’s horror-adjacent thriller — starring Anne Hathaway, whose global visibility was boosted by a concurrent press tour for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” at Disney — earned less than $3 million worldwide. David Lowery did well for the studio with 2021’s dark fantasy film “The Green Knight,” but neither he nor A24 could turn their involvement here into an automatic must-see. That said, this was another movie that IndieWire’s David Ehrlich loved and his rave review arrived as a rare Critic’s Pick.

Oddly drawn to disconnect, horror fans crave novel experiences that feel both startling and strangely familiar. Q2 reinforced the idea that audiences are becoming more selective about which artists and brands they trust to deliver those films. And soon enough, Parsons and Barker will face the same challenge: convincing horror fans whatever they make next is worth being in the dark.