Horror thrives on reference, and a thriller that borrows visual ideas from a stop-motion cult favourite while echoing the domestic dread of a more conventional chiller is making an unusually specific promise. The comparison is useful because it tells viewers what kind of fear to expect: unease rather than shock, an atmosphere that builds through rooms and corridors instead of through sudden noise. A tight running time of roughly ninety minutes helps. Films that refuse to overstay their welcome tend to leave audiences more satisfied than longer ones that exhaust their ideas halfway through. Reaching a box office milestone matters commercially, since it justifies the faith of a distributor in a crowded season, but the more interesting question is whether the blend of styles holds together. Borrowing from two traditions can produce something genuinely new, or it can produce a film that belongs to neither, and only the audience can settle which one this turns out to be. Whether audiences accept the blend will depend on how carefully the two influences are woven rather than simply stacked.
In total, from a reported production budget of just $30 million,Black Phone 2madean impressive $132 million in global revenue,split between $77 million from U.S. theaters and a further $55 million from overseas markets. The movie was also a hit with critics, such as Collider'sJeff Ewing, who scored the film 7/10 inhis review. This year, in what has been a superb ten months for the genre, the box office horror favorite has beenRob Savage'sOther Mommy, his latest horror since 2023'sThe Boogeyman.
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention.
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
Chucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
Based on the 2024 novelIncidents Around the HousebyJosh Malerman, the film stars Academy Award winnerJessica Chastainin a dual role as a sinister entity haunts the life of an 8-year-old girl, Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), taking the form of her mom. The film opened at #1 back on October 9 and has maintained a steady presence in the box office charts throughout spooky season. Last weekend, courtesy of a further $2.5 million from 2,329 locations,Other Mommyhas surpassed the $100 million mark at the box office, against a reported budget of just $19 million.
'Other Mommy' Is Far From a Critical Hit
AlthoughBlack Phone 2balanced box office success with critical acclaim, the same cannot be said forOther Mommy. With a terrible average score of just19% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes,the film has been the subject of some truly scathing reviews, made all the worse given the impressive response to other 2026 horror films, such as28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, A24'sBackrooms, andCurry Barker's all-conquering breakout,Obsession.Pre-orders are already availableforOther Mommyon 4K, Blu-ray, and steelbook.
Other Mommyis available to watch in theaters right now after making $100 million at the box office. Stay tuned to Collider for all the latest updates.
Other Mommy
Cast
What To Watch
2026’s Most Overlooked Horror Movie Is Officially Taking Over Apple TV
The 10 Best Movies of 2026 So Far, Ranked
