Pi
Budget: $60,000
A film about a paranoid mathematician who has isolated himself from the world, “Pi” (not to be confused with the blockbuster hit, “The Life of Pi”), enchanted its viewers. This certainly was a big surprise, considering it cost the film a measly $60,000. The 1998 film that followed the mathematician’s search for natural patterns in the universe bought in $3.2 million in the U.S. alone.
The film ended up winning a number of awards, including the Gotham Awards, the Open Palm Award, as well the Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Budget: $140,000
Making a good horror film is like striking gold. These things can be piggy banks, running up millions at the box office. People do love their thrills. This was certainly the case for "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," as it brought in $30.9 million in the U.S. alone. The film became an instant classic and the template for the gory slasher film. The film also spawned a series of sequels, making it an obvious choice for horror nights around the world.
The film, according to Entertainment Weekly, has been listed as the second scariest film of all time, following "The Ex." Thanks, Leatherface. This character will forever be burned in our minds.
Slacker
Budget: $23,000
Richard Linklater, the master of coming-of-age stories, out-did himself in the 1991 low-budget comedy-drama "Slacker." The film, which only had a shoestring budget of $23,000, ended up grossing over $1.2 million in the U.S. Part of the budget came out Linklater's own credit card.
The film even inspired the low-budget hit "Clerks." Not only was this a box-office surprise, but the British film magazine "Empire" included it in its list of 50 greatest American independent films.
Primer
Budget: $7,000
Made with the bare minimum and with a cast of five young actors, newbie director Shane Carruth practically made his film student's budget. In fact, in order to save money on the production, Carruth took on multiple roles and was the writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and music composer. That's one talented guy. The actors were actually his friends and family, so he must have saved a fortune on the cast.
In the end, it really paid off, and the movie landed in a series of prestigious film festivals, most notably the Sundance Film Festival, for which it won the Grand Jury Prize in the year 2004. The film ultimately grossed $840,000 at the box office. Not too shabby.
El Mariachi
Budget: $7,000
A film about a traveling mariachi musician who finds himself entangled in the law by being mistaken for a murderous criminal. The film paved the way for film director Robert Rodiguez's gory obscure action films. As one of his firsts (made in 1992), the Spanish language film was both written and directed by Rodriguez and was made for only a $7,000 budget. Rodriguez, who was a film student at the time, made money for the film by being a human lab rat and getting medical tests done on him. That's commitment!
The film eventually made over $2 million worldwide, which was a huge surprise considering it was an extremely low-budget student film. The film consisted of not one professional — not in the crew and not the casts, so that is quite an accomplishment.