The low-budget chiller Paranormal Activity won a weekend battle of slashers flicks, overtaking part six of the Saw franchise and scooping up $22 million at the weekend box office.

Fueled by rave word-of-mouth reviews on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Paranormal Activity has taken the box office by storm to become the year’s most unlikely number one hit. Following in the footsteps of 1999′s cult horror thriller The Blair Witch Project, director Oren Peli’s 2006 film was made for a microscopic $11,000 and has already earned $62 million in North America.

That means a $14.8 million debut for Saw VI, a franchise that has been an annual Halloween fixture at theaters since 2004. It was the worst opening ever for Lionsgate’s Saw series, whose previous low was $18.3 million for the original movie.