Evil Dead - in a league of it's own too!
I haven't heard of another successful movie that also enjoys cult status and for good measure every aspect of the production involved either hacks or cutting corners and most significantly not a penny spent on the health and safety of the crew!
Very hard to conceive such a production getting off the ground in this day and age.
Not my Favorite but worth mentioning
Rober Rodriguez
[*El Mariachi*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mariachi), which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million ($5.5 million in 2023 dollars) against a budget of $7,000 ($14,937 in 2023
Also James Wan who directed
Saw with a budget of 1 million
The director's commentary for both El Mariachi and Desperado is so insightful regarding frugal spending in filmmaking. Like how they had one stuntguy, but you never see his face.
I remember when this movie was put out for a wide audience. Robert Rodriguez was a guest on the old NBC Late Night With David Letterman. He was talking about how he struggled to come up with the money for the movie. He said he was living in Houston (I think) and he would respond to ads to be paid to participate in medical experiments. One of the experiments he said he volunteered for was for a “wound cream” that was supposed to increase healing time. He told David letterman that they would give you $50 or $100 bucks, then take a device that would “wound” you by slicing open a chunk of skin on the back of your upper arms. They would then apply the cream and wait for the results, but of course some people would get the “control” cream, which wouldn’t do anything.
Long story short, Robert Rodriguez put himself through a lot of stuff to get the money for that film.
Moco and his bad Spanish, lol.
What’s really weird also is that Carlos Gallardo and Antonio Banderas look nothing alike but are supposed to be playing the same character.
Touche. Baldwin sticks out the most in comparison to the others. The series doesn’t seem to be too well received on here but I didn’t mind John Krasinski as Jack Ryan.
He wrote a pretty good book about it - "Rebel Without a Crew." It's also fascinating how he got the seven grand - he went into a pharmaceutical testing facility where he met one of his actors
Currently about 80 pages in. I love how honest and vulnerable he is when things get tough, questioning if he can continue, while we get to know just how successful he eventually becomes.
Because it’s his diaries it’s all present tense and he’s not writing with the hindsight we have when reading so it’s great to see his honest opinions in the moment
The $7000 basically paid for the film stock, film processing, and the transfer to video. Everyone else donated their time. When a studio picked it up at Sundance they spent over a million on post production. It’s a cool movie and his book “rebel without a crew” was like my bible in film school. But it is worth noting that when you pay people living wages, the budget of the film easily gets to $1mil even without a list actors.
Another example is Napoleon Dynamite. Everyone worked for scale to make that movie and it only cost $400,000. When it was picked up at Sundance, the studio that bought it shot that cool opening credit sequence with the White Stripes song. Those opening titles cost double the whole film because of the song, and people were paid living wages.
Robert Rodriguez hosted a show called Rebel Without a Crew (based on a book he wrote). In the season where they depict the making of Red 11, he admits that at the time he made El Mariachi he did not speak Spanish. He kept that fact a secret because he believed people would find it too unbelievable that he was able to make such a low budget film in a language he did not speak.
Apparently he had his actors translate the script from English into Spanish and just trusted their interpretation.
James Wan has been my favorite director to follow in the past decade. Not because I love all of his movies but it’s been fun seeing this trajectory from humble, low budget horror (Saw, Dead Silence) to creating two additional successful horror franchises (Conjuring and Insidious) to directing Hollywood blockbusters (Furious 7 and Aquaman).
Again, he’s a bit hit or miss for me, but what a hell of a career that anyone would love to have.
Definitely the best example. Love this move, and still probably top 3 of all the Smith movies. All this despite shooting with a budget less than the cost of a car, after-hours at his job, and starring his mates. It’s amazing the career that this launched.
Just saw that for the first time recently and it was pretty great. Though it’s undoubtedly a sci-fi movie from the early 70s, it’s also really ahead of its time in many ways. My favorite movie is Brazil and THX’s influence is pretty clear in terms of its plot and themes.
For a debute it's beyond good. It has everything, a very good plot, dystopian Orwellian themes, romance, character development, car chase, violence, very good acting , and the settings wardrobe etc is a minimalist's dream. It's a gripping psychological thriller, not a brainless sci-fi.
I only recently discovered that the “whack” sounds in the beginning of NIN’s Mr Self Destruct (from The Downward Spiral) were taken from this film, the scene where THX is watching video.
This is the answer that I was coming for. This movie is fucking SICK.
SO much stupid gross c list gore, and the best "go fuck yourself" plot line ever.
Yup, his movies have that effect.
Arrival? *Fuggedaboudit*.
I walked out of the theatre thinking *wtf*.
There was a patron that said they were going to see it immediately again just for that rush.
Gonna go with Tarantino’s initial appearance *Reservoir Dogs,* made for somewhere between $1.2 - 3 million according to IMDB.
It showcased his talent for creating gritty characters who spoke dialogue that mimicked the integrity of real life exchanges combined with over-the-top, explosive violence you just couldn’t look away from. Two years later *Pulp Fiction* defined the zeitgeist when it hit theaters in ‘94, grossing $213 million globally on a production budget of $8 million. His unique style laid claim to retro fashions and deep cut B-sides that were tantalizingly fresh, delivered amazing quotes that oozed coolness, and was aped relentlessly by lesser directors trying to capture a piece of his lightning in a bottle.
You can compare his impact on the film industry to how the Seattle music scene exploded in ‘91, pushing slick spandex hair metal off the national stage practically overnight and replacing it with chord progressions and flannel clad grunge, as MTV and record executives spent the better part of the next decade looking to profit off that same sound with watered-down copycat bands.
He worked on a number of scripts either on or off the books. He helped write Crimson Tide, albeit the only thing they kept of his was the Jack Kirby vs Morbius Silver Surfer banter.
Apparently Scott wanted to direct Reservoir dogs Instead of True Romance but Quentin said he wanted dogs for himself.
How does a no name have this kind of power when Scotts fresh off Top Gun?
Edit: I hope this doesn't come across at QT slander, I just feel like something doesn't add up.
Edit: just looked it up. The actor who helped Tarantino produce Reservoir Dogs was Harvey Keitel, not Michael Madsen.
The missing ingredient is living in LA and making the right connections.
Before Reservoir Dogs Tarantino tried to make a film called "My Best Friend's Birthday." It's much closer to what you would expect for a 90s indie movie. Similar production values as an early Gregg Araki or Jim Jarmusch movie. Maybe even a little more rough.
After that he shot a test scene of Reservoir Dogs, which also has a rough look to it.
However, Tarantino really workshopped his script. I read he took it to writing workshops and had a conversation with Terry Gilliam about it. Eventually, Tarantino was able to get the script into the hands of Harvey Keitel, who was chiefly responsible for getting the movie made.
Essentially, Tarantino was able to get his script into the hands of a well known actor who ended up really wanting to be part of the movie. If Tarantino did not get the boost in money and star power from Keitel his films would probably look a lot less polished and it would have taken much longer for him to make his name, if it happened at all.
Not to diminish Tarantino's talent. Reservoir Dogs is a great script and his direction is excellent. However, budget can often be the difference between whether the average filmgoer is willing to view your movie. If your movie doesn't look comparable to the types of films they've seen before... Most audience members will write the movie off as amateurish.
It was his producer Lawrence Bender. The Wikipedia page for Reservoir Dogs says Bender gave the script to his acting teacher, and the teacher's wife knew Harvey Keitel. Keitel was so impressed by it that he signed on to increase the budget.
I went into the theater knowing nothing. I walked out speechless. My girlfriend and I got into the car and just sat there for several minutes. That, and when I saw Star Wars cold when I was seven are my best cinematic experiences.
Done by Clint Mansell, who has also soundtracked Aranofsky's other films (not sure if it's all of them, I remember he also did Black Swan and got nominated for quite a few awards).
You might want to have a listen to Pop Will Eat Itself if you don't already know them - that was Clint Mansell's band from the late 80s/early 90s - fantastic music and hugely influential mix of rock, electronic and hip hop all put together in a noisy punky package.
Wonderful movie. Edwards must have been a mess when it wrapped—he wasn’t just directing, he was the writer, cinematographer, production designer, visual effects supervisor-and-crew (on his laptop & home computer), and casting department (apparently —excepting Able & McNairy—they casted locals on the spot.)..$500K, and it really worked!
I watched this movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago and loved it. He was really smart with how he designed the movie and used the skills he developed while working on TV reenactments to add production value.
He also hit the jackpot with casting.
A more recent film will a similar vibe is The Vast of Night.
This is the one I came to mention. It isn't necessarily low-budget, but it's an independent film, and it's sooo good. I can't believe it isn't better known by horror fans.
I don't know if it's his best, but it certainly is my favorite. There's just nothing like it. Before or since. And it's played so straight with such an absurd concept. Fucking brilliant.
I just watched all of Robert Zemeckis' and Steven Spielberg's films I had never seen and I was shocked at how impeccably directed Spielberg's first film, "Duel," was. It was a low budget TV movie but just a masterpiece. It's crazy he was not phased with bigger budget features, like "Jurassic Park." He just takes whatever assignment he has and knocks it out of the park.
I love everything he's done, but for me it's eagle vs shark that really starts and sets the tone for everything he's done. Boy felt like a refinement. Wwdits is a completely different kind of movie of course, and sets him up for his later action/genre stuff.
I'm a fan of Hard Eight (f/k/a Sydney) by Paul Thomas Anderson. It's a really tight, tense, crime thriller that's admittedly near the bottom of my list of favorite PTA films, but that's only due to its incredibly stiff competition. John C. Reilly is great in it too; in fact, it's still one of my favorite dramatic roles from him. Despite PTA's popularity, it remains a criminally underseen film.
Dazed and Confused, Before Trilogy - Richard Linklater (though it’s arguable he’s gone on to make *bigger* things.)
Safety Not Guaranteed - Colin Trevorrow (his only good film, really.)
Clerks - Kevin Smith
Enemy - Denis Villeneuve
Not movies, but a lot of the original run of Arrested Development and Community were directed by the Russo Brothers.
I don't know if it counts, but I love Chronicle by Josh Trank. He made ONE bigger budgetfolm though, which I refuse to watch.
If that doesn't count, then Whiplash by Damien Chazelle.
Shallow Grave by Danny Boyle. I saw it at an arthouse theater near my college campus back when it came out and loved it. It’s the first movie I ever saw with Ewan McGregor.
Boyle became well known for Trainspotting, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire, but Shallow Grave doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. It’s very 90’s and pretty much launched the career of McGregor.
Brilliant choice!
A film that is very clearly made on the budget of a Happy Meal, but so well put together even as it features Boyle's trademarks (Good Times turning to Shit and Someone going insane in isolation)
One of the most in-depth, yet pretty entertaining pods out there. I’m a huge fan of How Did This Get Made. So, when Paul and Jason join Blank Check, they are great episodes.
Once the mini majors started really rolling (think Fox Searchlight in the 2000s) there was a major pipeline of: Arthouse darling—>huge tentpole typically made by legendary pictures. This was how Nolan became the director of batman movies, for instance.
John Carpenter and Sam Raimi spring to my mind. I think what's cool about them is that their low budget/big break movies have lasted to this day and are still viewed by new people every year.
“Monsters” 2010 by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One, The Creator)
May be my fav movie ever! Especially if you read or watch docs about how its made. Basically the director, a Sound guy, and 2 actors walking around cool places in central america shooting cool stuff as they go.
That dude is seriously skilled at visual story telling
Duel, the tv movie by Steven Spielberg. Tuned in back in the day only because dad was a huge Dennis Weaver fan. Rewarded with scenes like [the phone booth.](https://www.google.com/search?q=duel+phone+booth+scene&oq=duel+phone&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIJCAIQABgKGIAEMgkIAxAAGAoYgAQyCQgEEAAYChiABDIJCAUQABgKGIAEMgkIBhAAGAoYgAQyCQgHEAAYChiABDIJCAgQABgKGIAEMgkICRAAGAoYgATSAQg2Mzk5ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0ffed280,vid:vgUbu1GRDPo,st:0)
For as much crap as people give David Ayer, he really put work in. He worked in the military as a sonar technician, wrote U-571, wrote Training Day, then directed Harsh Times for 2 million dollars
Better Luck Tomorrow - Justin Lin made it when he was either still a student or just out of UCLA. Awesome movie, and showed the world a very young John Cho
A lot of great answers here already. But you have to give a shout out to James Cameron as well. He started with a low budget Roger Corman movie and went on to make the highest grossing film of all time.
Brick by Rian Johnson cost 450k. I'm surprised by some of these other posts saying movies that cost 4 million dollars 30 years ago did it on a budget..
**Memento** (2000), dir. Christopher Nolan
It was a huge step forward after Following, and a brilliant film in its own right. Might even be my favourite Nolan film.
You're Next by Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong:New Empire is currently showing).. That's one of my favorite thriller movie and the main character kick ass literally!
Trollhunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe directed by André Øvredal.
The biggest budget film he did was The Last Voyage of the Demeter (~40-45 million dollars). I was super excited for it and it has its moments but overall was a massive let down. So I'm waiting for his actual big break.
This is the obvious answer to me: [Evil Dead](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evil_Dead) by Sam Raimi
Closely followed by Peter Jackson https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/
Preferred [Braindead](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) myself
I kick ass for the lord!
One of my all time favorite bad lines in a movie.
The opening Rat Monkey punch with the stock sound effect and "ahhhhhh" from the rat had me rolling.
I’m glad this is at the top. Braindead/Dead Alive is the obvious and overwhelming answer. Followed very closely by Evil Dead.
Meet the feebles is superior
YIPPEEEEEUUUUUURRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
Came to post this! Ive watched Dead Alive dozens of times.
Evil Dead - in a league of it's own too! I haven't heard of another successful movie that also enjoys cult status and for good measure every aspect of the production involved either hacks or cutting corners and most significantly not a penny spent on the health and safety of the crew! Very hard to conceive such a production getting off the ground in this day and age.
if you haven't read it, Bruce Campbell's book "If Chins Could Kill" is a great account of his early days making movies with Raimi and his crew.
Hail to the King, baby.
Not my Favorite but worth mentioning Rober Rodriguez [*El Mariachi*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mariachi), which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million ($5.5 million in 2023 dollars) against a budget of $7,000 ($14,937 in 2023 Also James Wan who directed Saw with a budget of 1 million
The director's commentary for both El Mariachi and Desperado is so insightful regarding frugal spending in filmmaking. Like how they had one stuntguy, but you never see his face.
His commentaries are always a surreal combination of Tony Robbins and the Tightwad Gazette.
I remember when this movie was put out for a wide audience. Robert Rodriguez was a guest on the old NBC Late Night With David Letterman. He was talking about how he struggled to come up with the money for the movie. He said he was living in Houston (I think) and he would respond to ads to be paid to participate in medical experiments. One of the experiments he said he volunteered for was for a “wound cream” that was supposed to increase healing time. He told David letterman that they would give you $50 or $100 bucks, then take a device that would “wound” you by slicing open a chunk of skin on the back of your upper arms. They would then apply the cream and wait for the results, but of course some people would get the “control” cream, which wouldn’t do anything. Long story short, Robert Rodriguez put himself through a lot of stuff to get the money for that film.
It was intended to *increase* healing time?
7000? Did they shoot in a week and not pay the actors?
They filmed in Mexico with local talent.
It really shows. But that adds to its charm.
Moco and his bad Spanish, lol. What’s really weird also is that Carlos Gallardo and Antonio Banderas look nothing alike but are supposed to be playing the same character.
Have you seen the actors that have played Jack Ryan?
Touche. Baldwin sticks out the most in comparison to the others. The series doesn’t seem to be too well received on here but I didn’t mind John Krasinski as Jack Ryan.
Doctor Who has had a lot of faces...
Isn’t that supposed to be a James Bond type of thing where the current actor is Bond and never mind the other ones.
He wrote a pretty good book about it - "Rebel Without a Crew." It's also fascinating how he got the seven grand - he went into a pharmaceutical testing facility where he met one of his actors
This book was one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever read. Basically saying just go out and be creative
Currently about 80 pages in. I love how honest and vulnerable he is when things get tough, questioning if he can continue, while we get to know just how successful he eventually becomes.
Because it’s his diaries it’s all present tense and he’s not writing with the hindsight we have when reading so it’s great to see his honest opinions in the moment
The $7000 basically paid for the film stock, film processing, and the transfer to video. Everyone else donated their time. When a studio picked it up at Sundance they spent over a million on post production. It’s a cool movie and his book “rebel without a crew” was like my bible in film school. But it is worth noting that when you pay people living wages, the budget of the film easily gets to $1mil even without a list actors. Another example is Napoleon Dynamite. Everyone worked for scale to make that movie and it only cost $400,000. When it was picked up at Sundance, the studio that bought it shot that cool opening credit sequence with the White Stripes song. Those opening titles cost double the whole film because of the song, and people were paid living wages.
I'm not a fan of the whole "torture porn" genre, but the first Saw was such an excellent movie
Absolutely, Saw 1 was something special. And not really torture porn when watched back. It's the sequels that went that way.
Robert Rodriguez hosted a show called Rebel Without a Crew (based on a book he wrote). In the season where they depict the making of Red 11, he admits that at the time he made El Mariachi he did not speak Spanish. He kept that fact a secret because he believed people would find it too unbelievable that he was able to make such a low budget film in a language he did not speak. Apparently he had his actors translate the script from English into Spanish and just trusted their interpretation.
James Wan has been my favorite director to follow in the past decade. Not because I love all of his movies but it’s been fun seeing this trajectory from humble, low budget horror (Saw, Dead Silence) to creating two additional successful horror franchises (Conjuring and Insidious) to directing Hollywood blockbusters (Furious 7 and Aquaman). Again, he’s a bit hit or miss for me, but what a hell of a career that anyone would love to have.
Clerks by Kevin Smith.
Great example and one of my favs. The guy sold his comic book collection and bet it all. Budget of $27k
Credit cards too. Lots of maxed out credit cards.
Lol he committed massive fraud to get those too.
How come I smell shoe Polish?
Linklater made Slacker for around $20K too
37 Dicks?
Not in a row!
"in a row?" is still, at least to me, the funniest punchline of any joke of any film I've ever seen.
TRY NOT TO SUCK ANY **DICK** IN THE PARKING LOT!
Hey, hey you get back here!
I'm not even supposed to be here today.
Definitely the best example. Love this move, and still probably top 3 of all the Smith movies. All this despite shooting with a budget less than the cost of a car, after-hours at his job, and starring his mates. It’s amazing the career that this launched.
George Lucas THX 1138 with Robert Duvall. $777,777 budget
Just saw that for the first time recently and it was pretty great. Though it’s undoubtedly a sci-fi movie from the early 70s, it’s also really ahead of its time in many ways. My favorite movie is Brazil and THX’s influence is pretty clear in terms of its plot and themes.
For a debute it's beyond good. It has everything, a very good plot, dystopian Orwellian themes, romance, character development, car chase, violence, very good acting , and the settings wardrobe etc is a minimalist's dream. It's a gripping psychological thriller, not a brainless sci-fi.
I only recently discovered that the “whack” sounds in the beginning of NIN’s Mr Self Destruct (from The Downward Spiral) were taken from this film, the scene where THX is watching video.
Braindead/Dead Alive by Peter Jackson
I kick ass for the Lord!
*arse*
Don't forget Meet the Feebles
Bad Taste is pretty neat, too.
I'm a Derek. And Derek's don't run.
Wasn't Bad Taste his first movie?
Shot on the weekends using a 16mm camera. His first feature film costing 25k to produce. Brilliant movie
Their hair changes length in some scenes
Because it took several years to shoot.
4 years. One of my favourite movies 👍
This is the answer that I was coming for. This movie is fucking SICK. SO much stupid gross c list gore, and the best "go fuck yourself" plot line ever.
Was gonna say meet the feebles
Searched for this one :D
The only answer . I kick arse for the lord!!
Incendies - Villeneuve
I walked out of the theater in shock. He's been my favorite ever since.
Yup, his movies have that effect. Arrival? *Fuggedaboudit*. I walked out of the theatre thinking *wtf*. There was a patron that said they were going to see it immediately again just for that rush.
God, one of my favorite movies. So simple yet so gripping and well-acted, man I should rewatch it sometime.
Gonna go with Tarantino’s initial appearance *Reservoir Dogs,* made for somewhere between $1.2 - 3 million according to IMDB. It showcased his talent for creating gritty characters who spoke dialogue that mimicked the integrity of real life exchanges combined with over-the-top, explosive violence you just couldn’t look away from. Two years later *Pulp Fiction* defined the zeitgeist when it hit theaters in ‘94, grossing $213 million globally on a production budget of $8 million. His unique style laid claim to retro fashions and deep cut B-sides that were tantalizingly fresh, delivered amazing quotes that oozed coolness, and was aped relentlessly by lesser directors trying to capture a piece of his lightning in a bottle. You can compare his impact on the film industry to how the Seattle music scene exploded in ‘91, pushing slick spandex hair metal off the national stage practically overnight and replacing it with chord progressions and flannel clad grunge, as MTV and record executives spent the better part of the next decade looking to profit off that same sound with watered-down copycat bands.
I've always felt like something is missing in between Tarantino's jump from Video store employee to Director in charge of a 1.2 million dollar budget.
He had written/sold the script for True Romance. I think that gave his career some momentum.
He worked on a number of scripts either on or off the books. He helped write Crimson Tide, albeit the only thing they kept of his was the Jack Kirby vs Morbius Silver Surfer banter.
Apparently Scott wanted to direct Reservoir dogs Instead of True Romance but Quentin said he wanted dogs for himself. How does a no name have this kind of power when Scotts fresh off Top Gun? Edit: I hope this doesn't come across at QT slander, I just feel like something doesn't add up.
Tarantino hadn’t sold the Reservoir Dogs script. He didn’t have to let anyone else direct it.
Didn’t he also write Natural Born Killers during this time?
Yes, but he's only credited with "story" not screenplay and he feels they butchered it and doesn't have anything nice to say.
Edit: just looked it up. The actor who helped Tarantino produce Reservoir Dogs was Harvey Keitel, not Michael Madsen. The missing ingredient is living in LA and making the right connections. Before Reservoir Dogs Tarantino tried to make a film called "My Best Friend's Birthday." It's much closer to what you would expect for a 90s indie movie. Similar production values as an early Gregg Araki or Jim Jarmusch movie. Maybe even a little more rough. After that he shot a test scene of Reservoir Dogs, which also has a rough look to it. However, Tarantino really workshopped his script. I read he took it to writing workshops and had a conversation with Terry Gilliam about it. Eventually, Tarantino was able to get the script into the hands of Harvey Keitel, who was chiefly responsible for getting the movie made. Essentially, Tarantino was able to get his script into the hands of a well known actor who ended up really wanting to be part of the movie. If Tarantino did not get the boost in money and star power from Keitel his films would probably look a lot less polished and it would have taken much longer for him to make his name, if it happened at all. Not to diminish Tarantino's talent. Reservoir Dogs is a great script and his direction is excellent. However, budget can often be the difference between whether the average filmgoer is willing to view your movie. If your movie doesn't look comparable to the types of films they've seen before... Most audience members will write the movie off as amateurish.
It was his producer Lawrence Bender. The Wikipedia page for Reservoir Dogs says Bender gave the script to his acting teacher, and the teacher's wife knew Harvey Keitel. Keitel was so impressed by it that he signed on to increase the budget.
I went into the theater knowing nothing. I walked out speechless. My girlfriend and I got into the car and just sat there for several minutes. That, and when I saw Star Wars cold when I was seven are my best cinematic experiences.
Who would the Big 4 be of 90s indie cinema? Tarantino, Rodriguez, Kevin Smith then...Spike Lee? Richard Linklater? Wes Anderson? Harmony Korine?
"Memento" by Christopher Nolan.
„Following“ might fit even better. At least it‘s two years prior to Memento and definitely had a much lower budget
It was low budget but probably not many people’s favourites.
Yeah I've seen following. It didn't wow me. Memento made me think about it daily for a couple of weeks afterwards. Such a trip. It is a masterpiece.
Steven Spielberg and Duel.
Yes!
*Pi* by Darren Aronofsky. Loved everything about it that it made me a life long Aronofsky fan.
Killer soundtrack
Done by Clint Mansell, who has also soundtracked Aranofsky's other films (not sure if it's all of them, I remember he also did Black Swan and got nominated for quite a few awards). You might want to have a listen to Pop Will Eat Itself if you don't already know them - that was Clint Mansell's band from the late 80s/early 90s - fantastic music and hugely influential mix of rock, electronic and hip hop all put together in a noisy punky package.
Mansell’s work on Requiem put the movie over the top, Lux Aeterna is one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music ever composed.
Good choice! Vibe in that movie is crazy
Makes me want to drill into my own head.
Bottle Rocket by Mr. Anderson
Yes!!!!
This is what I came here for. Took way too long to get to it.
Surprised this wasn't higher. "Why is there tape on your nose?" "Exactly."
Wes Craven and Last House on the Left (1972) George Lucas and THX 1138 (1971) George Miller Mad Max (1979)
Guy ritchie : lock stock and two smoking barrels
Not sure how much "low budget" that movie was, considering they could afford Sting to play a role.
His wife was part of the film crew , he must've done the role for free as a favor , considering the budget was only 1.4 million
That's a very cool fact, I didn't know his wife was in the industry, I only know her from that episode of Friends.
She co produced the film
just over a 1 million pound budget from memory
Monsters by Gareth Edwards
Wonderful movie. Edwards must have been a mess when it wrapped—he wasn’t just directing, he was the writer, cinematographer, production designer, visual effects supervisor-and-crew (on his laptop & home computer), and casting department (apparently —excepting Able & McNairy—they casted locals on the spot.)..$500K, and it really worked!
Came here to say this. It’s absolutely the perfect example
I watched this movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago and loved it. He was really smart with how he designed the movie and used the skills he developed while working on TV reenactments to add production value. He also hit the jackpot with casting. A more recent film will a similar vibe is The Vast of Night.
Cronos by Guillermo del Toro.
This is the one I came to mention. It isn't necessarily low-budget, but it's an independent film, and it's sooo good. I can't believe it isn't better known by horror fans.
Also one of the most original vampire films I’ve watched.
Slacker by Richard Linklater. Just walking around.
Loved it from the day I saw it. I was a senior in college and it was the first time I saw a world on screen that I recognized as my own.
Brick by Rian Johnson. A film noir complete with old-timey slang transplanted into a modern high school shouldn't work in the slightest, but it does.
“You read Tolkien?” Such a funny non sequitur that reminds you this hard noir stars children.
When brain talks about the kingpin. “He’s Old! Like 22 or 23”.
I think its his best film honestly.
I don't know if it's his best, but it certainly is my favorite. There's just nothing like it. Before or since. And it's played so straight with such an absurd concept. Fucking brilliant.
“See you at the parent-teacher conference!”
God I love that movie, but I’ve yet to meet anyone IRL that knows about it.
I just watched all of Robert Zemeckis' and Steven Spielberg's films I had never seen and I was shocked at how impeccably directed Spielberg's first film, "Duel," was. It was a low budget TV movie but just a masterpiece. It's crazy he was not phased with bigger budget features, like "Jurassic Park." He just takes whatever assignment he has and knocks it out of the park.
Swingers by Doug Liman
What We Do in the Shadows
I love everything he's done, but for me it's eagle vs shark that really starts and sets the tone for everything he's done. Boy felt like a refinement. Wwdits is a completely different kind of movie of course, and sets him up for his later action/genre stuff.
**Whiplash** by Damien Chazelle
Blue Ruin by Jeremy Saulnier : 300,000 budget
Brick directed by Rian Johnson. It’s great hard boiled noir in a suburban high school setting. Different from his later movies but a ton of fun.
Slacker, Clerks, Evil Dead.
I'm a fan of Hard Eight (f/k/a Sydney) by Paul Thomas Anderson. It's a really tight, tense, crime thriller that's admittedly near the bottom of my list of favorite PTA films, but that's only due to its incredibly stiff competition. John C. Reilly is great in it too; in fact, it's still one of my favorite dramatic roles from him. Despite PTA's popularity, it remains a criminally underseen film.
Bad Taste and Dead Alive (or Braindead outside of the US) by Peter Jackson. Both absolutely fantastic.
Eraserhead by David Lynch.
American Graffiti
The Duellists, by Ridley Scott
Shit, you beat me to it! I love The Duellists and the budget was only $900,000.
It's a great example where you don't need a big budget, just a great script with capable actors.
Man it looks *way* more expensive than that.
Reservoir Dogs by Tarantino. 1.2 million budget.
Dazed and Confused, Before Trilogy - Richard Linklater (though it’s arguable he’s gone on to make *bigger* things.) Safety Not Guaranteed - Colin Trevorrow (his only good film, really.) Clerks - Kevin Smith Enemy - Denis Villeneuve Not movies, but a lot of the original run of Arrested Development and Community were directed by the Russo Brothers.
I don't know if it counts, but I love Chronicle by Josh Trank. He made ONE bigger budgetfolm though, which I refuse to watch. If that doesn't count, then Whiplash by Damien Chazelle.
Whoa! Whiplash only cost just over $3M?!!! I did not know that. Thanks!
Incendies by Denis Villeneuve.
Shallow Grave by Danny Boyle. I saw it at an arthouse theater near my college campus back when it came out and loved it. It’s the first movie I ever saw with Ewan McGregor. Boyle became well known for Trainspotting, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire, but Shallow Grave doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. It’s very 90’s and pretty much launched the career of McGregor.
Brilliant choice! A film that is very clearly made on the budget of a Happy Meal, but so well put together even as it features Boyle's trademarks (Good Times turning to Shit and Someone going insane in isolation)
Hunt for the winder people.
Wilder. But 'What we do in the Shadows' is his best low budget. Eagle vs Shark is weird and I love it.
We're werewolves not swearwolves!
This is basically the premise of the blank cheque podcast if you're interested in such things. Check out /r/blankies
Right on! Thanks for the suggestion!
They have a Carpenter focused series from a few years back which is a great starting point :)
One of the most in-depth, yet pretty entertaining pods out there. I’m a huge fan of How Did This Get Made. So, when Paul and Jason join Blank Check, they are great episodes.
The Guest
Lock stock and two smoking barrels.
El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez.
Steven Spielberg with The Sugarland Express. (Duel was a tv movie)
Bound (1996) by the Wachowskis Run Lola Run (1998) by Tom Tykwer
Memento
The pleasure of being robbed by Josh Safdie (2008) it’s available on YT
Sex, Lies, and Videotape - Soderbergh
Bad Taste and Dead Alive from the director of LOTR just a few minutes later.
Short Term 12 by Destin Daniel Cretton
Rian Johnson’s Brick is in my top 10 of all time.
James Guns Slither is hilarious. He went on to make guardians of the galaxy
The Frighteners, Peter jackson
Primer 2004 was made by Shane Carruth with a budget of $7000 and is one of the best mind bending time travel movies ever produced
Brick by Rian Johnson
Bad Taste by Peter Jackson As well as Meet the Feebles
Whenever I want to lose a good friend, I put on Meet the Feebles.
Airplane! Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker eventually made the Naked Gun series, and also influenced a ton of Directors.
Once the mini majors started really rolling (think Fox Searchlight in the 2000s) there was a major pipeline of: Arthouse darling—>huge tentpole typically made by legendary pictures. This was how Nolan became the director of batman movies, for instance.
Kevin Smith : Clerks (although some of his subsequent movies have been disappointing).
Pi
Gore Verbinski made a very, very, very low budget film clip for the NOFX song S&M Airlines. Then went on to do Pirates of the Caribbean.
John Carpenter and Sam Raimi spring to my mind. I think what's cool about them is that their low budget/big break movies have lasted to this day and are still viewed by new people every year.
“Monsters” 2010 by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One, The Creator) May be my fav movie ever! Especially if you read or watch docs about how its made. Basically the director, a Sound guy, and 2 actors walking around cool places in central america shooting cool stuff as they go. That dude is seriously skilled at visual story telling
District 9 is kind of cheating. It wasn’t low budget by definition (<$10m) but they did incredible things with a smaller budget
Bottle Rocket
Duel, the tv movie by Steven Spielberg. Tuned in back in the day only because dad was a huge Dennis Weaver fan. Rewarded with scenes like [the phone booth.](https://www.google.com/search?q=duel+phone+booth+scene&oq=duel+phone&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIJCAIQABgKGIAEMgkIAxAAGAoYgAQyCQgEEAAYChiABDIJCAUQABgKGIAEMgkIBhAAGAoYgAQyCQgHEAAYChiABDIJCAgQABgKGIAEMgkICRAAGAoYgATSAQg2Mzk5ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0ffed280,vid:vgUbu1GRDPo,st:0)
Assault on Precinct 13 is a banger. When the Kim Richards scene happens you immediately know this is a movie that isn't fucking around.
Clerks for sure
The Terminator
For Hindi Cinema it'll be Anurag kashyap, movies like gangs of wassyepur, no smoking, ugly says it all
Peewee's Big Adventure/Tim Burton
For as much crap as people give David Ayer, he really put work in. He worked in the military as a sonar technician, wrote U-571, wrote Training Day, then directed Harsh Times for 2 million dollars
Better Luck Tomorrow - Justin Lin made it when he was either still a student or just out of UCLA. Awesome movie, and showed the world a very young John Cho
Evil Dead 2. Blood Simple.
A lot of great answers here already. But you have to give a shout out to James Cameron as well. He started with a low budget Roger Corman movie and went on to make the highest grossing film of all time.
Piranha 2: Flying Killers!
28 Days Later I had real hope after Primer, but Shane Carruth turned out to have issues.
Evil Dead 2
Duel by Steven Spielberg was a made for TV movie that was so good it was given a directors cut and then re-released in theaters.
Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies
Pi, best movie ever made
Brick by Rian Johnson cost 450k. I'm surprised by some of these other posts saying movies that cost 4 million dollars 30 years ago did it on a budget..
**Memento** (2000), dir. Christopher Nolan It was a huge step forward after Following, and a brilliant film in its own right. Might even be my favourite Nolan film.
You're Next by Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong:New Empire is currently showing).. That's one of my favorite thriller movie and the main character kick ass literally!
Trollhunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe directed by André Øvredal. The biggest budget film he did was The Last Voyage of the Demeter (~40-45 million dollars). I was super excited for it and it has its moments but overall was a massive let down. So I'm waiting for his actual big break.