
Blumhouse Productions is a production company founded by the titular Jason Blum in 2000, but really became a powerhouse in The New '10s as it released low-to-No Budget horror films such as Paranormal Activity and Insidious that almost always make a profit due to their small budgets (rarely costing more than $10 million, even for sequel/franchise films).
Blumhouse mainly produces horror films, dramas (Whiplash, The Normal Heart) and thrillers (The Gift) though they occasionally produce films in other genres. (The Tooth Fairy. Seriously.) They're also notable for defying Executive Meddling, as not only do they take an auteurist stance regarding what their filmmakers are allowed to do (in no small part due to Jason Blum's experience working for the Weinsteins), but the films are so low-budget that any meddling would be considered meaningless. Blumhouse's policy
is to keep their budgets to no more than around $5-10 million, except for a small handful of films (usually sequels and films by proven directors) that they know will be hits, as that is about how much money they can normally expect to make from home video and streaming if the film doesn't get a wide release. Understandably, a number of filmmakers, from upstart indie directors to those looking to have more control of their projects, have flocked to Blumhouse.
For all its success, the studio is very polarizing among horror fans. Their detractors cite their worst films as cliché storms with unlikeable characters, no atmosphere, and an over-reliance on jump scares that teenagers eat up. Their defenders, meanwhile, feel that they allow for more freedom in the Hollywood system, citing their best films as ones where filmmakers were free to take risks within the boundaries of the budget without having to worry about interference from producers. Blumhouse's filmography ranges from universally-acclaimed gems (e.g. Get Out, widely considered to be one of the best horror films of The New '10s, won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) to some of the worst B-Movie schlock one can imagine to everything in between, and of course, their box office success is undeniable.
Since The New '10s, Blumhouse has also branched off to producing series for the small screen, including those aired on HBO, as well as anthology series of movies, such as Hulu's Into the Dark and Prime Video's Welcome To The Blumhouse.
Blumhouse Productions projects with TV Tropes page:
- 13 Sins (2014)
- Amityville: The Awakening (2017)
- The Bay (2012)
- The Belko Experiment (2016)
- Benji (2018)
- Best Night Ever (2013)
- Birth of the Dragon (2016)
- Black Christmas (2019)note
- BlacKkKlansman (2018)note
- The Black Phone (2022)
- The Boy Next Door (2015)
- Cam (2018)
- The Craft: Legacy (2020)note
- The Creep series (2014, 2017)
- Dark Skies (2013)
- The Darwin Awards (2006)
- The Deep House (2021) note
- Delirium (2018)
- The Exorcist Believer (2023)
- Fantasy Island (2020)
- Firestarter (2022)
- Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
- Freaky (2020)
- The Gallows series (2015, 2019)
- Get Out (2017)note
- The Gift (2015)
- Graduation (2007)
- The Green Inferno (2013)note
- Halloween (2018)note
- Halloween Kills (2021)
- Halloween Ends (2022)
- Happy Death Day (2017)
- Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
- The Hunt (2020)note
- Hush (2016)
- The Insidious series (2010, 2013, 2015, 2018)
- In a Valley of Violence (2016)
- The Invisible Man (2020)note
- Jem and the Holograms (2015)
- The Keeping Hours (2017)
- The Lazarus Effect (2015)
- The Lords of Salem (2012)
- Lowriders (2016)
- M3GAN (2023)
- Martyrs (2015) note
- Ma (2019)
- Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022)
- Not Safe for Work (2014)
- Nanny (2022)
- Oculus (2013)
- Ouija (2014)
- Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
- The Paranormal Activity series (2007, 2010-12, 2014-15, 2021)
- The Passenger (2023) note
- The Purge series
- The Purge (2013)
- The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
- The Purge: Election Year (2016)
- The First Purge (2018)
- The Forever Purge (2021)note
- Run Sweetheart Run (2022)
- Seven in Heaven (2018)
- Sick (2023)
- The Sinister series (2012, 2015)
- Sleight (2016)
- Soft And Quiet (2022)
- Split (2017)
- Glass (2019)
- Stephanie (2017)
- Sweetheart (2019)
- They Them (2022)
- Thriller (2018)
- The Tooth Fairy (2010)
- The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
- Truth or Dare (2018)
- Unfriended (2014)
- Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)
- Unhuman (2022)
- Upgrade (2018)
- Vengeance (2022)
- Viral (2016)
- The Visit (2015)
- Whiplash (2014)note
- You Should Have Left (2020)note
- Ascension (2014)
- Betaal (2020)
- Eye Candy (2015)
- Ghoul (2018)
- The Good Lord Bird (2020)
- Hellevator (2015-16)
- Into the Dark (2018-21)
- The Jinx (2015)
- The Purge (2018-19)note
- The River (2012)
- Sharp Objects (2018)
- Welcome To The Blumhouse
- The Lie (2018)
- Black Box (2020)
- Evil Eye (2020)
- Nocturne (2020)
- Bingo Hell (2021)
- Black As Night (2021)
- Madres (2021)
- The Manor (2021)
Tropes applying to their works:
- Auteur License: Blumhouse is known for giving these provided you stay on time and on budget.
- B-Movie: Blumhouse's output of horror, thrillers and genre films can be compared to Hammer Studios and The Cannon Group; with Blum's production style also drawing comparisons to Roger Corman.
- Downer Ending: Rare is the Blumhouse movie with a Happy Ending, or even a Bittersweet Ending.
- Every Episode Ending: One last Jump Scare straight at the camera is a specifically common ending for their movies. As Brad Jones puts it in his review of The Gallows:Brad: "'Cause it's a Blumhouse movie. Of fucking course it ends with a jump scare."
- Jump Scare: Their movies are well known for their liberal use of jump scares, sometimes to the point of excess.
- No Budget: The films made by Blumhouse usually cap off at $5 million. note