Budget: $15,000
If you thought that $150,000 sounded low, you’re probably pretty shocked to hear that the next film on our list was shot for an incredible $15,000. “Paranormal Activity” tells the age-old tale of a family living in a haunted house with some undead residents that aren’t fond of sharing the space. It was filmed entirely using home cameras on tripods, and there were very few cast members and locations involved, which really helped to cut down on the costs.
The film was a box office hit and wound up bringing in more than $193 million. It also sparked a brand-new franchise that has so far seen a total of 6 motion pictures.
Little Miss Sunshine
Budget: $8M
Abigail Breslin found her breakthrough role in the form of Olive Hoover, daughter of Sheryl and Frank in "Little Miss Sunshine," for which she won her own Academy Award. The film, which follows an eclectic family across the country on a road trip in their yellow van, brought in over $100 million in theatres. In the grand scheme of things, that may not seem like a lot, but it is considering the fact they created the masterpiece with only $8 million.
It was written by a newbie screenwriter named Michael Arndt, who was actually planning on crowdsourcing as much as possible and shooting it with a handheld camera himself. He even wrote the final scene for the screenplay just 6 weeks before it debuted at Sundance. Luckily, he ended up pitching it to the professionals instead and sold it for a quarter-million dollars to Marc Turtletaub, who also paid the $8 million in production costs for the movie to come to life.
Buried
Budget: $2M
Buried is an underrated film that hasn’t gotten as much credit as it really deserves. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as a soldier who finds himself in a terrifying predicament — he’s buried alive with only his lighter and thoughts to keep him company. The movie was produced using only $2 million, thanks in large part to the fact they didn’t need a ton of locations for filming.
But since the story and acting were so incredible, audiences flocked to theatres to see Reynolds in action, and the movie ended up bringing in over $20 million. The profit is more than was originally anticipated, but not surprising considering how intense the storyline and thrills are throughout the film.
Halloween
Budget: $300,000
"Halloween" is a cult classic in the horror industry. The 1970’s film that was created by John Carpenter revolves around a deranged psychopath in a mask that’s obsessed with finding and brutally murdering his sister (Jamie Lee Curtis). The movie set the bar for slasher films and became enormously successful, all with only a $300,000 budget. Now, there are 11 films in the franchise, which have together grossed over $600 million in the box office.
In 2007, horror director Rob Zombie remade the classic film with a much higher budget of $15 million. John Carpenter’s original movie grossed around $67 million after its release, while Rob Zombie’s made around $80 million.
Night of the Living Dead
Budget: $115,000
When you ask someone to tell you what they consider to be the original zombie movie, 9 out of 10 times, they are probably going to say "Night of the Living Dead." The horror classic was directed by George Romero and produced for just under $115,000. The film was shot and premiered in Pittsburgh and ended up bringing in $12 million from the U.S. box office and nearly $20 million internationally.
The zombie thriller was so well received that Romero went on to direct 5 more of them. The original movie was done in black and white in 1968, and in 1990, a color remake directed by Tom Savini debuted. Unfortunately, Romero had never given his okay and found himself fighting for a percentage of the profits in court with Savini.