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Post by jurassicpark on Sept 3, 2023 6:02:00 GMT
And by low budget, I mean shoestring.
Mine would be Mike Flanagan's Absentia. He went and above and beyond with practically no budget and delivered a truly great and creepy film.
What would your best/favorite low budget horror be?
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Post by novastar6 on Sept 3, 2023 6:13:19 GMT
A lot will probably say Blair Witch Project, rightfully so.
Halloween. You can TELL it's not a big budget film, but that gives it a sense of reality, it's scary because it feels so real, like these are real people, in a real little town, instead of a feeling of cheapness.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Sept 3, 2023 13:05:54 GMT
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Sept 4, 2023 3:08:05 GMT
A lot will probably say Blair Witch Project, rightfully so. Halloween. You can TELL it's not a big budget film, but that gives it a sense of reality, it's scary because it feels so real, like these are real people, in a real little town, instead of a feeling of cheapness. Interestingly, the budget for Blair Witch was only $60k while the budget for Halloween was over 5 times that, and in 1978 dollars no less. While I'm at it, the OP's example cost $70k while TCSM cost $140k. Sticking to movies made for less than $100k, my answer would probably be A Horrible Way To Die ($75k). |
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Post by novastar6 on Sept 4, 2023 5:23:39 GMT
A lot will probably say Blair Witch Project, rightfully so. Halloween. You can TELL it's not a big budget film, but that gives it a sense of reality, it's scary because it feels so real, like these are real people, in a real little town, instead of a feeling of cheapness. Interestingly, the budget for Blair Witch was only $60k while the budget for Halloween was over 5 times that, and in 1978 dollars no less. While I'm at it, the OP's example cost $70k while TCSM cost $140k. Sticking to movies made for less than $100k, my answer would probably be A Horrible Way To Die ($75k).
Then there's Nightmare on Elm Street, made for slightly less than $2M, which you never hear about, outside of Roger Corman movies.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Sept 4, 2023 5:38:24 GMT
Interestingly, the budget for Blair Witch was only $60k while the budget for Halloween was over 5 times that, and in 1978 dollars no less. While I'm at it, the OP's example cost $70k while TCSM cost $140k. Sticking to movies made for less than $100k, my answer would probably be A Horrible Way To Die ($75k).
Then there's Nightmare on Elm Street, made for slightly less than $2M, which you never hear about, outside of Roger Corman movies.
Yeah, it took me a minute to find one that cheap. I also thought about Romero's Martin ($250k) and Night of the Living Dead ($114k), Murder Party ($190k, which I don't understand), and almost settled on Eraserhead ($100k). |
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Post by Prime etc. on Sept 5, 2023 5:47:26 GMT
If we mean low low budget then maybe the Flesh Eaters.
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The Pumpkin King
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Post by The Pumpkin King on Sept 5, 2023 6:43:44 GMT
Terrifier (2016) would be one of my more recent favorite low budget horror movies. It was a fun clown horror film with some great style and nods to '80s kind of horror plots. A budget of $30,000.Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972) would be one of my older favorite low budget horror movies. The story and zombies themselves seemed aimless at time, but they still do in some movies and TV shows today. A budget of $50,000.Basket Case (1982) would be something out of the 80's though it's been a while since I watched it. It just overall had that creepy factor to it that even today comes off creepy. A budget of $35,000.Spookies (1986) although the movie plot makes no sense. The film is a cult horror slash so-bad-it's-good in the movie ranks today. I can't find a budget for the film, but I imagine it was made for little to nothing with all of the directors and constant script rewrites.Some other classic horror films I would recommend not yet mentioned, made for a bit more but nothing compared to their box office gross are the movies Phantasm (1979, $300,000), The Evil Dead (1981, $350,000), Paranormal Activity (2007, $215,000) and V/H/S (2012, $242,000). (;   
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 5, 2023 11:26:26 GMT
Terrifier (2016) would be one of my more recent favorite low budget horror movies. It was a fun clown horror film with some great style and nods to '80s kind of horror plots. A budget of $30,000.Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972) would be one of my older favorite low budget horror movies. The story and zombies themselves seemed aimless at time, but they still do in some movies and TV shows today. A budget of $50,000.Basket Case (1982) would be something out of the 80's though it's been a while since I watched it. It just overall had that creepy factor to it that even today comes off creepy. A budget of $35,000.Spookies (1986) although the movie plot makes no sense. The film is a cult horror slash so-bad-it's-good in the movie ranks today. I can't find a budget for the film, but I imagine it was made for little to nothing with all of the directors and constant script rewrites.Some other classic horror films I would recommend not yet mentioned, made for a bit more but nothing compared to their box office gross are the movies Phantasm (1979, $300,000), The Evil Dead (1981, $350,000), Paranormal Activity (2007, $215,000) and V/H/S (2012, $242,000). (; I'm surprised it took this long for someone to mention The Evil Dead. Other than. The Blair Witch Project it's my first thought of a cheap, low budget, slapped together kinda movie that became a big hit. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 5, 2023 11:32:45 GMT
A lot will probably say Blair Witch Project, rightfully so. Halloween. You can TELL it's not a big budget film, but that gives it a sense of reality, it's scary because it feels so real, like these are real people, in a real little town, instead of a feeling of cheapness. Interestingly, the budget for Blair Witch was only $60k while the budget for Halloween was over 5 times that, and in 1978 dollars no less. While I'm at it, the OP's example cost $70k while TCSM cost $140k. Sticking to movies made for less than $100k, my answer would probably be A Horrible Way To Die ($75k). It becomes hard to quantify because even though some of those low budget movies of the past cost more than some of the newer ones, the resources and tools have become so much cheaper and more readily available in those intervening years which skews those production budgets way lower than they would have been in previous eras. It's odd to think, but Halloween could be made at a tiny fraction of its cost today vs 1978. |
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Sept 5, 2023 13:29:39 GMT
Terrifier (2016) would be one of my more recent favorite low budget horror movies. It was a fun clown horror film with some great style and nods to '80s kind of horror plots. A budget of $30,000.Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972) would be one of my older favorite low budget horror movies. The story and zombies themselves seemed aimless at time, but they still do in some movies and TV shows today. A budget of $50,000.Basket Case (1982) would be something out of the 80's though it's been a while since I watched it. It just overall had that creepy factor to it that even today comes off creepy. A budget of $35,000.Spookies (1986) although the movie plot makes no sense. The film is a cult horror slash so-bad-it's-good in the movie ranks today. I can't find a budget for the film, but I imagine it was made for little to nothing with all of the directors and constant script rewrites.Some other classic horror films I would recommend not yet mentioned, made for a bit more but nothing compared to their box office gross are the movies Phantasm (1979, $300,000), The Evil Dead (1981, $350,000), Paranormal Activity (2007, $215,000) and V/H/S (2012, $242,000). (; I'm surprised it took this long for someone to mention The Evil Dead. Other than. The Blair Witch Project it's my first thought of a cheap, low budget, slapped together kinda movie that became a big hit. Well, it's probably the most expensive movie mentioned so far besides NOES. However, I did brainfart on Basket Case. That's my new pick. |
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Sept 5, 2023 13:32:26 GMT
Interestingly, the budget for Blair Witch was only $60k while the budget for Halloween was over 5 times that, and in 1978 dollars no less. While I'm at it, the OP's example cost $70k while TCSM cost $140k. Sticking to movies made for less than $100k, my answer would probably be A Horrible Way To Die ($75k). It becomes hard to quantify because even though some of those low budget movies of the past cost more than some of the newer ones, the resources and tools have become so much cheaper and more readily available in those intervening years which skews those production budgets way lower than they would have been in previous eras. It's odd to think, but Halloween could be made at a tiny fraction of its cost today vs 1978. That's a fair point, although there's also that Donald Pleasance money. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 5, 2023 15:02:58 GMT
It becomes hard to quantify because even though some of those low budget movies of the past cost more than some of the newer ones, the resources and tools have become so much cheaper and more readily available in those intervening years which skews those production budgets way lower than they would have been in previous eras. It's odd to think, but Halloween could be made at a tiny fraction of its cost today vs 1978. That's a fair point, although there's also that Donald Pleasance money. Yeah.. I don't know how much he cost at the time, but nowadays well known actors do shitty little movies that nobody ever sees on a regular basis. Whoever the equivalent of Donald Pleasance is today would probably do a small horror movie by an mostly unknown writer/director pretty readily. It's just a different world. |
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Sept 5, 2023 15:56:08 GMT
That's a fair point, although there's also that Donald Pleasance money. Yeah.. I don't know how much he cost at the time, but nowadays well known actors do shitty little movies that nobody ever sees on a regular basis. Whoever the equivalent of Donald Pleasance is today would probably do a small horror movie by an mostly unknown writer/director pretty readily. It's just a different world. Everyone I know has worked with Eric Roberts. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 5, 2023 17:26:49 GMT
Yeah.. I don't know how much he cost at the time, but nowadays well known actors do shitty little movies that nobody ever sees on a regular basis. Whoever the equivalent of Donald Pleasance is today would probably do a small horror movie by an mostly unknown writer/director pretty readily. It's just a different world. Everyone I know has worked with Eric Roberts. I haven't! ...yet |
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Post by twothousandonemark on Sept 6, 2023 0:44:57 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Sept 6, 2023 1:39:27 GMT
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Post by James on Sept 6, 2023 1:50:46 GMT
Depends on what range we're zeroing in on that is considered shoestring.
<$1 million - Halloween (1978)
<$100,000 - The Blair Witch Project
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