Data Confirms a Higher Horror Film Body Count Results in Lower Rotten Tomatoes Score

A stigma surrounds the horror genre that the only reason audiences flock to theaters is to see buckets of blood sprayed across the screen. According to data compiled by Rotten Tomatoes, the horror films with fewer on-screen deaths ultimately earn the more positive reviews from critics.

The review aggregator site was inspired to dig into the data as a response to last weekend’s release of the latest Halloween sequel. That film has the highest percentage of positive reviews in the franchise other than the first film. However, potentially skewing their data almost immediately is that this year’s Halloween has nearly triple the body count of the original film, rivaling the numbers of many of its predecessors that earned much more negative reviews.

What’s most worth noting is that, as Rotten Tomatoes has seemingly become the objective statistic by which movies are measured, they merely compile data to demonstrate trends, with pieces of art being completely subjective. The data points explore correlation and don’t confirm causation.

To conduct their survey, the site compiled the scores of nearly 200 horror films that belong to franchises, which the site describes as needing at least two films to have been granted wide theatrical releases. Additionally, the calculated deaths only included those that were caused by pertinent characters and omitted deaths that were merely accidental.

Based on their research, the site claimed, “Horror movies featuring between zero and five kills have a much higher Tomatometer rating – an almost-Fresh 56.7 percent– than their more kill-heavy counterparts. The same movies made more money at the box office, with an average inflated domestic total of $115 million. The worst-performing movies, both on the Tomatometer and at the box office, were those that featured more than 10 deaths.”

Another interesting detail that was discovered through their research is that, as expected, sequels typically feature higher body counts but lower critical ratings and box office returns. The theory behind these results being that, following the release of a successful film, a studio aimed to amp up the carnage while not investing as much in a compelling storyline.

Here’s how the data breaks down by release within a franchise:

• First film in franchise: $145 million average box office | 67 percent Tomatometer average
• Second: $70 million | 42 percent Tomatometer average
• Third: $68 million | 39 percent Tomatometer average
• Fourth: $67 million | 40 percent Tomatometer average
• Fifth: $49 million | 32 percent Tomatometer average
• Sixth–tenth: $45 million | 27.625 percent Tomatometer average
• Remakes (and their sequels/prequels): $52 million | 37 percent Tomatometer average

Two of the highest-scoring horror films of the year, Hereditary and A Quiet Place, both feature only a handful on on-screen deaths, adding more compelling data to the field.

Are you surprised by these results? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Rotten Tomatoes]