Disney made or owned The Sixth Sense, Signs, Arachnophobia, Scream and now Alien. Here’s how the studio’s other labels ended up with some of Hollywood’s scariest movies.
When you think of Disney, you probably think princesses and talking animals. You probably don’t think of a kid who sees dead people, killer spiders or a xenomorph bursting out of somebody’s chest.
But Disney has been in the scary-movie business for decades. It just didn’t always put its name on the poster.
Over the years, the company released horror and thriller movies through other labels it owned: Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and its Dimension Films label and, since 2019, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
Here are the scary movies you might be surprised to learn came from the House of Mouse.
Why did Disney use other labels for scary movies?
To keep the Disney name for family films.
Disney created Touchstone Pictures for movies with more mature themes than the standard Disney film, according to D23, Disney’s official fan club. Its first release was “Splash” in 1984.
When Touchstone got busy, Disney added another label, Hollywood Pictures, to spread out the work, D23 says. It started up on Feb. 1, 1989, and its first release was a horror comedy about spiders.
Disney also bought Miramax on June 30, 1993, including its genre label, Dimension Films, D23 says. Then, in 2019, it bought most of 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film studio.
Is Arachnophobia a Disney movie?
Yes. Arachnophobia (1990) was the very first Hollywood Pictures release, made with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, according to D23.
Jeff Daniels plays a doctor who moves his family to a small California town, just as a deadly spider from the Amazon starts breeding there. John Goodman plays the exterminator, D23 says.
The ads promised “eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.” The lead spider was a huge Amazonian bird-eating tarantula, according to D23.
Hollywood Pictures also released the thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), with Rebecca De Mornay as a vengeful nanny, and the monster movie Deep Rising (1998), about creatures attacking a luxury cruise ship, D23 says.
Is The Sixth Sense a Disney movie?
Yes, and it might be the biggest surprise on this list.
The Sixth Sense came out on Aug. 6, 1999, from Hollywood Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment, according to D23. Haley Joel Osment plays Cole, the boy who sees dead people, and Bruce Willis plays the child psychologist trying to help him.
It became Disney’s highest-grossing live-action movie at the time and earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, D23 says.
Did Disney make Signs and The Village?
Yes. M. Night Shyamalan stuck with Disney after The Sixth Sense.
Signs (2002) was a Touchstone Picture, according to D23. Mel Gibson plays a Pennsylvania farmer who finds giant crop circles carved into his fields. Shyamalan himself plays Ray Reddy.
The Village (2004) was a Touchstone Picture, too, D23 says. It’s about a small community terrified of the creatures living in the woods around it.
Touchstone also released Dark Water (2005), with Jennifer Connelly. It was based on Koji Suzuki’s novel and Hideo Nakata’s Japanese film of the same name, according to D23.
Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Disney movie?
Yes, but it started out under Disney’s grown-up label. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas was “a Touchstone film” when it came out in October 1993, D23 says.
These days it’s a Disney Halloween and holiday staple.
Is Scream a Disney movie?
Sort of. Scream came out on Dec. 20, 1996, from Dimension Films, according to Box Office Mojo.
At the time, Dimension was a label of Miramax, and Disney owned Miramax, D23 says. As part of that deal, Disney financed Miramax’s new movies, so Disney money helped launch one of the most famous horror franchises of the ’90s.
It was a big hit, too. Scream cost about $14 million and made more than $103 million in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo.
The Disney era at Miramax and Dimension produced a run of other horror and thriller movies, according to Box Office Mojo:
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Mimic (1997)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
The Faculty (1998)
Scary Movie (2000)
The Others (2001)
Harvey and Bob Weinstein left Miramax on Sept. 30, 2005, to start The Weinstein Company, according to D23. Disney sold Miramax to an investor group in 2010.
Does Disney own Alien and Predator?
Yes. Disney’s deal for most of 21st Century Fox closed on March 20, 2019, D23 says. That brought along 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
In January 2020, 20th Century Fox became 20th Century Studios, and Fox Searchlight became Searchlight Pictures, according to D23.
That means Disney now owns the studio behind some of the biggest horror and sci-fi monster franchises around. Recent 20th Century Studios releases include, according to Box Office Mojo:
Barbarian (2022)
The First Omen (2024)
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Predator: Badlands (2025)
Prey (2022), the Predator prequel, went straight to Hulu on Aug. 5, 2022, Laughing Place reported. It became the No. 1 premiere on Hulu up to that point, Adweek reported.
Here’s 20th Century Studios’ official trailer for Alien: Romulus:
What scary movies has Searchlight made for Disney?
Searchlight’s horror run includes Ready or Not (2019), which came out on Aug. 21, 2019, after the Fox deal closed, and Antlers (2021), according to Box Office Mojo.
The sequel, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, followed in 2026, Box Office Mojo shows.
So is Disney secretly a horror studio?
Not exactly, but it’s been close for a long time.
Even under its own name, Disney has made some scary stuff. It released “The Black Hole,” its first PG movie, in 1979, and “The Black Cauldron,” its first PG animated movie, in 1985, D23 says.
The difference is the label. Disney has spent more than 40 years putting its scariest movies under other names, and now that list includes some of the biggest horror franchises in Hollywood.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
D23 Disney A to Z: Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Films, 21st Century Fox and Ratings entries, plus entries for Arachnophobia, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Deep Rising, The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village, Dark Water and The Nightmare Before Christmas
Box Office Mojo: distributor, release and box office data for Scream, From Dusk Till Dawn, Mimic, Halloween H20, The Faculty, Scary Movie, The Others, Barbarian, The First Omen, Alien: Romulus, Predator: Badlands, Ready or Not, Antlers and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Laughing Place, June 7, 2022: New trailer and poster for 20th Century Studios’ Prey
Adweek, Aug. 10, 2022: Prey breaks Hulu records
Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers on YouTube: The Sixth Sense (1999) trailer
20th Century Studios on YouTube: Alien: Romulus official trailer
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