As you might have guessed, this article will not be about the now defunct movie and video game rental service, but about movies with a considerable commercial success. And with an added twist, this collection will be about blockbusters created with a surprisingly low budget. And, to be even more specific, we'll stick to a massively popular genre, which gives the chills on a starry summer night - horror.
Shooting a horror movie is often a gamble - and doing it on a low budget is a risky thing to do for filmmakers.
Just as you can never tell if you will hit the jackpot or have to make do with a winning streak at the Royal Vegas Casino, you can never predict if the scary flick you are making with such passion will grow up to be a classic or sink into mediocrity. When at the Royal Vegas online casino, you know that its specials and promotions fill your pocket, and guarantee you enough play time to feel great at the end, wanting more. Besides, it has enough games to keep you entertained hour after hour, day after day. The game library at Royal Vegas consists of over 700 online slots you can choose from, some with potential wins that can change your life - or fund a horror movie. The jackpots at its slot machines promise a life of grandeur and welfare to their luckiest players. Besides, its promotions are mouth-watering. Not just filling your pockets with some well deserved cash to play with, some of them can send you on the trip of a lifetime, or offer you other great prizes to worth competing for.
When it comes to movies, though, predicting the viewers' reaction is almost impossible. They might want to see more and more of your work, but they could also forget about your movie as soon as it ends - or even worse, leave the theater at the middle of the screening. These movies, shot with a low budget, have surely been the lucky ones making an impression big enough to assure at least one (or, in many cases, several) sequels. Or should we consider ourselves the lucky ones for getting more of the monsters we love?
7. Halloween (1978)
Michael Myers is one of the best known "silent killers" in horror movie history. Born in Haddonfield, a small town in Illinois, he shows his criminal nature by stabbing her sister at the age of 6. After spending 15 years in a mental institution, he returns to his home town and starts a killing spree with a big knife and a William Shatner mask on his face.
Made on a budget of $325,000, the movie generated revenues of approximately $60 million internationally ($47 million in the US only) in 1978.
6. Friday the 13th (1980)
Another classic "silent killer", so popular in the 1980s (thanks to Michael Myers above), Jason Voorhees has also deserved a spot in our list. Made with a budget of approximately $500,000, the first Friday the 13th movie has grossed over $5.8 million on its opening weekend. The massive success of the character has spawned 10 sequels to the adventures of this masked murderer who apparently cannot die.
5. The Purge (2013)
What would you do if the government would decide that murder is not against the law for 12 hours each year? Or that nothing is against the law? Would you hide out in your fortified home or go out and hunt for some unlucky being stuck outside? And would you let one in if he was asking for help?
The Purge, this excellent thriller / horror flick, was made on a budget of $3 million, generating $34 million on its opening weekend in the US, with a worldwide gross of $89 million. The $3 million best spent, don't you think?
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Zombie master George A. Romero's big screen debut, often cited as "the original zombie movie", surely made a sensation. Made on a budget of approximately $114,000, the movie grossed $30 million worldwide in 1968, but more importantly set the stage for a whole new genre to appear. Romero himself directed several sequels to the original 'of the dead' movie, offering fans of zombie horror more delicious moments to explore.
3. The Conjuring (2013)
Nobody expected The Conjuring to beat the crap out of The Lone Ranger on its opening weekend, but it has happened: the movie, made out of a budget of circa $20 million, grossed $41 million on its opening nights, and generated revenues of $300+ million worldwide. Not that it would have so many original themes: a haunted house, a bunch of paranormal investigators, not to mention the "based on a true story" part (let me check again - isn't it called "Poltergeist"?).
2. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Founder of the "found footage" genre (and one of the first movies to go viral), the Blair Witch Project was shot on a budget of approximately $60,000, which is minuscule compared to what producers spend on movies nowadays. To show that budget is not everything, here is the total gross revenue of the movie worldwide: $248,639,099 (according to IMDb).
1. Paranormal Activity (2007)
A mix of Poltergeist and the Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity follows the fate of a family inhabiting a haunted house. Instead of a handycam, they are using security cameras to record the supernatural activity in their home (and to scare the living crap out of the audience). The result: a movie made on a $15,000 budget, which managed to gather revenues of $19 million on its opening weekend, and a worldwide gross of $190+ million. No wonder it has so many sequels trying to repeat its success.
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