In this 20th Century and New Regency production, a woman (Georgina Campbell) rents a house for a short stay in a seedy Detroit neighborhood.
Upon arrival, she finds she's also been booked by Bill Skarsgard - the evil clown from the terrifying "It" movies.
"Barbarian", which also features Justin Long, was critically acclaimed.
Variety magazine called it "a new horror movie classic".
The $10 million raked in for its opening weekend is "a great start" for a low-budget horror film, according to Franchise Entertainment's David Gross.
Another release took second place, the Bollywood film "Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva", produced by a subsidiary of Disney, which raised $4.4 million - a score that is quite an achievement for a Hindi-language work shown in just 810 cinemas.
It follows the adventures of a young Indian named Shiva, whose love for young Isha is complicated by his unexpected connection to a secret society.
Two other parts are to come.
In third place is "Bullet Train", an action film from Sony, with 3.3 million dollars in revenue.
Brad Pitt lends his features to a hitman on board the fastest train in the world, in Japan.
"Top Gun: Maverick", which had created the surprise by flying again towards the first place of the box office last weekend, for its 15th week of exploitation, lost a little altitude.
Finally, the 2.8 million dollars raised by the Warner Bros. family animated film "Krypto and the Super-Animals" allow it to take fifth place, during this weekend which did not saw the big day crowds flock to the cinemas.
Here's the rest of the top 10.
6 - "The Ball from Hell" (2.6 million)
7 - "Lifemark" (2.2 million)
8 - "Beast" (1.8 million)
9 - "The Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru" (1.7 million)
10 - "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (1.3 million)
© 2022 AFP