Horror keeps breaking records.

The horror genre continues its stellar year at the box office, with Godzilla Minus Zero scoring a massive $31.6 million US opening weekend, the biggest debut ever for a live-action foreign-language film. Meanwhile, Clayface crossed $100 million worldwide after becoming the highest-grossing body horror film of all time when it bested the $82 million global haul of The Substance earlier this week.

Especially with the added hurdles of being an R-rated foreign-language film and an R-rated body horror thriller, respectively, their success is a testament to the genre’s growing mainstream appeal. Godzilla Minus Zero, the first Japanese film shot for IMAX, was made for an extremely cost-effective budget of around $20 million, while Clayface cost around $40 million.

Moreover, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, another massive hit for the horror auteur after last year’s Weapons, crossed $400 million worldwide.

With the films following the colossal global success of Backrooms and Obsession, which grossed over $400 and $500 million, respectively, Hollywood is becoming increasingly drawn to the horror genre’s low-cost, high-reward formula and its ability to pull audiences away from their TVs and into theatres.

While blockbuster, big-screen comedies and dramas have dwindled towards extinction, horror has experienced a surge in the 2020s, bolstered in part by a growing level of respect for the genre as seen in the awards success of films like Get Out, The Substance, and Sinners. Where films like Godzilla Minus Zero and Clayface may have once been regarded as niche, trashy fun, the audience response will ensure that more blockbuster horror outside of Blumhouse Atomic will be on the way.