Most horror-focused film industry (country)

The country that makes the most horror movies as a proportion of its overall cinematic output is Indonesia. Between 2000 and 2023, the Indonesian film industry produced a total of 1,677 films, of which 433 (25.8%) have been categorized as horror. The country that produces the most horror films overall is, unsurprisingly, the United States. During the same period 10,238 horror movies were made in the USA, though this only makes up 17.3% of the country's enormous cinematic output.

Indonesian horror draws heavily on the country's folklore, in which ghosts, curses and malevolent magical creatures have always played a prominent role. Cultural commentators have also pointed to the country's history of violent political repression and its often hostile and forboding natural landscape as contributing factors in the country's longstanding fascination with horror.

The first Indonesian horror films were produced in the early 1960s, with landmark releases such as Badai-Selatan enjoying widespread popularity. They continued to be a favourite with local audiences until the 1990s, when political censorship under the Suharto government caused the film industry's growth to stall. Production rapidly ramped back up, however, following Suharto's overthrow in 1998.

Notable examples of the new wave of Indonesian horror include the work of director Joko Anwar, whose films Pengabdi Setan (English title: Satan's Slaves, 2017) and Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (English title: Impetigore, 2019) have attracted a cult following on streaming services. Both feature characters tormented by restless forces unleashed by the sins of earlier generations.