Top 10 Brilliant Movies Made With Almost No Money

Top 10 Brilliant Movies Made With Almost No Money
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Films that were put into production with a small budget of less than a million dollars, these movies far surpassed expectations in the Box office and even went on to inspire franchises such as Mad Max and Paranormal Activity. WatchMojo presents the Top 10 Movies to be made on a shoestring budget, but what will top the list of micro-budget films? Will it be horror movies like Halloween, or The Blair Witch Project, or the action wonder film El Mariachi! Watch to find out!
00:50 #10. “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004)
01:52 #9. “Clerks” (1994)
02:54 #8. “The Evil Dead” (1981)
03:56 #7. “Night of the Living Dead” (1968)
05:00 #6. “Pi” (1998)
05:52 #5. “Mad Max” (1979)
06:54 #4. “El Mariachi” (1992)
08:05 #3, #2, #1 ????
Watch on WatchMojo.com watchmojo.com/video/id/17095/
Big thanks to Calvin Zhang for suggesting this idea, and to see how WatchMojo users voted, check out our suggest page here: watchmojo.com/suggest/Top+10+B...
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[@UsePreparationH]

No love for Chris Nolan's debut Following? It was made for $6,000 and he shot it only on weekends with his friends, as they all had work on the week. And it's damn brilliant.

[@hoselrocket8636]

I wondered about that too. Good flick.

[@KaipitainKai]

i actually clicked on this video because of following it made about 40 times its budget back

[@afzinm.k4456]

Thank you soooo much for mentioning it

[@ProlMLGJoe]

How much did that pull it?

[@DarkForcesStudio]

And it looked and sounded pro.

[@obarbeito]

favorite one from this list is El Mariachi, followed by Evil Dead

[@WatchMojo]

WatchMojo in Portuguese: kzbin.info WatchMojo in Spanish: kzbin.info WatchMojo in Dutch:kzbin.info/door/ht3DEu9qWOSQWa1YzxADjA Watchmojo in German: kzbin.info/door/9hLYAhlQsx71_yNUbTeWWQ Watchmojo in Turkish: kzbin.info/door/V_0rWL0R2EcYlcko1ZxUIg WatchMojo in Polish: kzbin.info/door/0CC_MaeMKk6qRoQVwFdo_g Many more to come!

[@charlie2791]

Gracias mojo! 😘

[@Jakicjakic]

serbian pleasee

[@Magare]

yea, make videos on serbian

[@WatchMojo]

In case you were wondering how the Mojoholics voted in our poll, see the votes and entries here: watchmojo.com/suggest/Top+10+Best+Low-Budget+films Head to www.WatchMojo.com/suggest to sign up and contribute to future lists, suggest Top 10 ideas and vote on your peers’ ideas! Note that Viewer votes are just one of the hundreds of data points and variables that we look at when we create our lists.

[@sikovert]

Sorry, But LAME WITCH PROJECT Was Not The One That Started The "found footage" Films. The Original That Created That Style & Made Controversy Was Ruggero-Deodato's 1980 CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST!

[@13dirty666]

I feel they were referring to BWP starting the trend of the Found Footage films. CH wasn't very popular whilst BWP made the whole style popular and lead to way too many copy cats

[@aliciaseecharan]

i could understand going to a third world country for filming on a small budget. so dynamite napoleon's unreal success completely wowwed me. It must have been filmed in a school for free on the weekends, because the set design is just too real. i'll love to see their logistics. how did they get away with that....

[@heidistokes9273]

Where was Saw?! The original Saw had a budget of only around $10,000 and was made by people fresh out of uni who could only afford to rent a single room.

[@rexfellis]

+Heidi Stokes WTF are you talking about? Yeah, Saw was extremely low-budget compared to most Hollywood films. But, the budget was $1.2 million, not $10 grand. Sorry, but you have been misinformed.

[@PiratesBay-Byron]

No no, he's talking about the first one, the original first one, that was made in one single room for real and was a bomb, but i'm sure it didn't hit the "office" as high as these ones, reasons may vary but a honorable mention could've been given at least.

[@rexfellis]

+Pirates Bay-Byron(1290) So, she was talking about the 9 1/2 minute short that was used to try to sell the script? That is not a film. It was basically a commercial for the film. So, I don't think it qualifies.

[@PiratesBay-Byron]

rexfellis Exactly, of course it doesn't qualify, was just thinking if it could be mentioned on the honorable mentions for its iconic values, it's a true piece of art and inspiration after all.

[@milkytoad8388]

Pirates Bay-Byron(1290) a lot of films start that way, don't be silly lol

[@terryasheim9038]

Rocky (1976) was made for barely a million dollars.

[@Triangulove]

300,000

[@jjmanzano9]

I think the low budget helped add to creativity of the movie. I absolutely hate the big budget sequels. They lack the passion and desperation of Rocky.

[@AB3L30NE]

@@jjmanzano9man you are missing out. Rocky IV is amazing… so is III and II

[@matthewbowles2097]

Very inspiring to see that a short budget is no excuse to make art

[@hshsnndshdhndjs7182]

A million dollars is not no money

[@DudeHunder]

for movie it is

[@TheBodyOnPC]

when compared to big hollywood movies its not much, but in general for movies its a still a lot

[@hshsnndshdhndjs7182]

Oo hell yeah My trick of getting a million likes and replies to my comment is working.

[@ilyasasilgaly2744]

Not for Trump

[@leocunhadabahia]

I was going to write the same thing

[@supahtyp]

As a producer of a movie like Paranormal Activity I would be pretty ashamed to need 8 times more money than Rodriguez needed for El Mariachi.

[@HeatherCoste]

Clerks is one of my all time faves!! When I had to go to jersey for a family event, I made sure I visited the conscience store and movie store (the movie store was closed entirely, and they had changed some things on the inside but we still had a good time taking pictures.) I wanted to start pulling all the eggs out, but I was afraid the clerks when I was there were not as tolerant.

[@FLUXXEUS]

paranormal activity was/is the dumbest film series I've ever seen ...

[@frankthetank2284]

FLUXX840 IKR

[@FaposaurusRex69]

The first one was good though

[@RicardoEspinal9752]

Only dumbest? boring and lazy too Nothing happens in the film until the end. Only a final screamer -_-

[@abbymalloway1]

Yeah i also got bored its the kind of movie that you turn off after watching 10 mins the movie is extremly overrated

[@terminaldeity]

The first one was actually really effective in theaters. The soundtrack with a low, barely audible bass track like background noise really helped. Probably not as effective at home unless you have a quality sound system.

[@DanielMartActor]

Other HM's: Following Don Plum Plan 9 From Outer Space Nosferatu Texas Chainsaw Massacre Taxi Hyperfutura Rocky Deep Throat Enter The Dragon Reservoir Dogs Eraserhead Friday The 13th Brother Slacker

[@itwasbetterinthetrailer2539]

Daniel Mart where's cool cat saves the kids

[@chillenkillen7277]

Deep Throat sounds interesting.

[@zarakdurrani7584]

Chillen Killen yea, it starred linda lovelace.

[@angelsinger4574]

The stage version of “Once” is also amazing, especially if you are an instrumentalist.

[@ASMRJonie]

This was actually interesting~

[@Tardisius]

"Tis but a scratch" =))

[@KublawiA]

We'll call it a draw

[@vipers8268]

Tardisius video

[@blakeschultz7598]

jay Stuart are you asking what it's from or is it a rhetorical statement that I'm just not getting and yes I know I'm seven months late

[@zanethezaniest274]

A scratch your bloody arm is ripped off

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

Films you could have mentioned (all under a mill according to IMDB & other movie resources) ...Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Shallow Grave, Eraserhead , Swingers, Bad Lieutenant, Primer, Blood Simple, Heathers (surprising considering the cast) & Saw. I Think the first Rocky movie was said to made for under a mill too, but I guess if you go back in time a bit 1 million bucks was worth more so...

[@PictureProductStudio]

Primer had an honorable mention!

[@y2jfan462]

Heathers had a $3,000,000 budget according to Wikipedia.

[@dieyounger1657]

Wheres Jurassic Shark Shark Exorcist The Amazing Bulk Cool Cat Saves the kids The Room Birdemic Birdemic 2?

[@SexyButCurious]

IHE reference lol. Think the Amazing Bulk and Shark Exorcist is worst than Birdemic and The Room.

[@billmasters385]

Those made a cool $14.00 at the box office. :)

[@enterthefollowing]

Die Younger it's a difference in cheap movies that suck and the rare gems man

[@dieyounger1657]

Lucas360Gaming Yeah and also Whats Up, Cars Life 1 and 2

[@basedbattledroid3507]

Die Younger Hollywood Burn

[@abramsullivan7764]

I love The Evil dead ,Halloween ,and Night of the living dead.

[@joehaske306]

does my movie I made in 9th grade count?

[@thelitbos]

CynDer Puma "Brilliant"

[@otomackena7610]

how much did it gross? XD

[@joehaske306]

Larish V.P about 50 dollars

[@otomackena7610]

wow! where can i see it ? netflix or pornhub? lol

[@joehaske306]

Larish V.P redtube

[@mrdestruct1]

hopefully this episode will expose the mariachi trilogy to those who have not seen it. great action movies IMO

[@RossM3838]

Don't forget Detour the 1945 noir classic by Edgar Elmar. Made with a budget of basically zero this movie is exciting and existential and entertaining and great. and has the femme fatale to end all femme fatales

[@bennoboii9624]

So happy that Clerks made the list, should be much higher though!

[@alejorag]

I'm sorry but Primer just HAS to be number one on this list, Carruth is a legend. Also check out his other film, Upstream Color, 50k Budget, amazing movie.

[@PrimePhilosophy]

Thank you! I was going to be sorely upset if I didn't see someone mention this.

[@thenightrider2121]

alejorag Primer should have been number 1. Fuck Paranormal Activity!

[@Leprutz]

I loved primer, but disliked Upstream Color.

[@keithlarsen7557]

"If you're lucky, you can hack through your ankle in 20 minutes"... Mad Max is the inspo to Saw.

[@vvmpqqllmhfsb]

What about Following?! It is one of the cheapest movies ever, and really good, starting Nolan's career

[@SaltPepperEconomics]

I would've put the Blair with at number 1. It started a whole new genre of horror movies and had one of the best marketing campaign a movie has ever had

[@borizovskimilan]

""Mad Max" inspired several sequels including "Fury Road""...so that means George Miller inspired himself, because he made both of the movies.

[@miguelvidalmartinez9456]

That's how awesome he is.

[@aurelstuf]

eraserhead? it started lynch's career and was made with only 10,000 bucks, it may not have sold as much as the rest but it definetly is a classic

[@ruben1222]

'Repo Man' is my favorite low budget film (1.5 million. Low, not super low) Was not a huge hit at first, but has become a cult classic. 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was made with only 140 thousand dollars and made a mint. 'Maniac' was made for about 300k (there was no budget. Director Lustig and star Joe Spinell shot whenever they could raise money) and made about 10 million.

[@nickmadison422]

If the budget for Reservoir Dogs was slightly lower, it would be number one

[@FerroAudio]

This passes some decent inspiration.

[@kingkong22100]

Top Ten expensive movies with a fall short box Office.

[@riokamichika1101]

Napoleon Dynamite, Evil Dead, Mad Max, and El Mariachi are my favorites.

[@CmdrFirewalker]

After checking it's budget and return and seeing how the main list sorting element seems to be the return/budget-ratio, I still would have liked a mentuin of Brick (with Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

[@calebclayton2543]

Once should've been much higher. It was such a great movie. Great story, great soundtrack, great actors and great ending.

[@EdwardWinstonBear]

You left out "David and Lisa" one of the all-time great movies.

[@handsomeguy7723]

My favorite low budget flick is -and will always be. "DEEP THROAT".

[@thefutureapocalypse]

In all seriousness Deep Throat still reigns as the most profitable independent film in history.

[@---kx1xc]

10:21 reminded my of phil miller "tandy" from last man on earth with his brother. lol, they always sing like that together

[@pabloAT98]

Reservoir Dogs!!! A 1.5 millions dollars masterpiece

[@RayfieldA]

Spike Lee's first film, "She's Gotta Have It!" is a great low budget film!

[@MorbozHn]

am I the only one who hasn't watched paranormal activity? it just looks stupid

[@anettecavalcanti5871]

Olvin Lara you're not alone

[@marcelcarp9290]

Olvin Lara it may look that way but ia crippy as hel

[@danilo.pereira]

I saw the japanese one thinking it could be better, but no, same shit

[@SedriqMiers]

If ppl want a scare, try living in the wild for a week with a few implements. If you survive that, then you'll fear nothing.

[@lordmarx]

It is stupid. One of the worst i've seen. Total waste of time.

[@Mayvau]

I would add the recently released film "Tangerine" to the list of honorable mentions. Filmed on 3 i'phones the movie is awesome.

[@iizacharmander3354]

If you are reading this..... You can read

[@heatcheck3000]

haha ,dead :v

[@howcrops]

No shit xD

[@SpiralingOut.ofControl]

Røÿäłtÿ HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD I NEVER KNEW THAT

[@frankiecastillo2865]

cool

[@mmmtsp]

im sorry i cant read in English, i cant write in English either, the only words i know in English are the ones i use to explain all this.

[@mmmtsp]

if i make a movie for 1 penny and its grosses 5 dollars will it make the list?

[@edgarspavlovics3540]

nope, because that wouldn't be a movie, it would be a piece of shit

[@mmmtsp]

Edgars Pavlovičs why not both? jack and Jill is both a movie and a piece of shit.

[@andresguzman3195]

Best comeback ever *gives you a cookie*

[@edgarspavlovics3540]

mario miranda Jack and Jill had a little bit more budget than 1 penny tho

[@thekanad4134]

SAW!?!?!?!

[@DudeHunder]

OMG u right. oh wait $1,2Million budget

[@drfumbles1598]

DudeHunder that's REALLY SMALL for a film.

[@ruatahmar5987]

they used a max buget of 1 mil as a criteria

[@thesoultwins72]

'Dr No' (first James Bond film and pre-cursor to arguably the longest-lasting, most profitable and ground-breaking cinematic franchise in history). Produced for less than US$900,000 - grossed over US$66 million.

[@grantperry5180]

I got 7 Lego minifigures yesterday

[@petermoney9061]

well done

[@seanwattsmoore8507]

Cool

[@KurtisandHurdle]

Grant Perry great

[@Nestalgba92023]

Then make then into a movie.

[@railwayhobo872]

Then get the duck off here

[@christianmartin3710]

"Once" is such a beautiful movie :)

[@fenderg1988]

Brain Dead, Cube, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The good The Bad And The Ugly. You listed Paranormal Activity as number one because it was a gimmick that spawned countless crappier sequels. You like to praise it because all the teens who saw it think that is what horror should be.

[@BB-zy2te]

Clerks is so funny Monty python is awesome Napoleons dynamite is great Paranormal activity is great too

[@Taycore9]

Thata amazing what you can create with such a low budget. Some of these films are more iconic then most high budget films because they have that one thing many high budget films dont have. Creativity.

[@conradschmidt251]

Sorry to tell you but Paranormal Activity is far far away from beeing a brilliant movie. Just because it's the most successful movie of all time doesn't mean that it's brilliant. It was the hype and the new idea who made that movie popular but it's actually really boring, even Blair Witch is scarier than that. It may be a classic but beeing classic is no proof for beeing good

[@kellz3920]

If you say so

[@Kaneko2518]

For the Evil Dead, you forgot to mention that it had spawned parodies like that in Reboot where they participated in that horror graveyard game.

[@Devilman6066]

I've watched so many WatchMojo videos. But I don't know if I can forgive you guys for Top 10 Worst Smells. I'm starting to think you guys should be on that list.

[@BiteThemBack75]

I wonder about "Following" from Christopher Nolan.

[@chinaman1]

"Top ten numbers" please.

[@solokom]

yeah and may God have mercy on them, if don`t put number 6 in there! it`s the best number ever! period.

[@rexfellis]

69, 13, 666, 58008, 3.14159265359, 71, 68, 37047734, 1134206, and of course, 6. Because solokom says so!

[@nintendozilla9843]

#1: 9000

[@stanleyteriaca2184]

Zombie movies existed before Night of the Living Dead. But the film was one of the first to have flesh eating ones (as oppose to the Cruribuan zombie slaves, both drugged type and undead).

[@Fu7_7_y]

Nice list, but I guess that ''Following'' should be at least in the honorable mentions.

[@mladenkulic446]

You guys forgot Christopher Nolans Following 1998 budget 6000$

[@DeadlyHotspurs]

Before the ad finishes Clerks better be on this!!

[@ravifan1]

Haven't started the video and I'm already sure that Primer will be on here.

[@ravifan1]

Wow. Just an honorable mention. Horseshit.

[@foughtstatue1023]

Before watching, Holy Grail, Napoleon Dynamite, and Evil Dead better be here

[@TheQuestionsssssssss]

You guys should do a top 10 overused movie themes

[@ramirovazquez2282]

"Assault that Ass Vol. 23" is my all time favorite.

[@theScytheofGod]

In his book,. Robert Rodriguez says El Mariachi costed $35,000.

[@theguyonthecouch42024]

Never give up on a dream/ if your an amateur writer/ inspired film maker, don't give up, I love these kind of movies because there is heart to making them before you sell out.

[@basedbattledroid3507]

Evil Dead is an awesome masterpiece

[@vb2388]

Aguirre : The Wrath of God had a pretty low budget..

[@eviljujuguy801]

The Evil Dead had such a low budget they had to use real guns and actually shoot at each other, they made sure to aim high though.

[@boston4715]

you forgot "Collin - the £5 zombie film"

[@juanma590]

And what about Duel (1971)? It was the very first movie of Steven Spielberg, with a $500.000 budget.

[@hoselrocket8636]

Good flick. There is one shot from head on where the truck is on the tail of the car and it looks amazing. When I saw the movie Stand by Me and they had the scene where the kids are scrambling to get off the bridge before they are run over by the train I thought it must have been inspired by Duel.

[@CounterCultureCantCount]

"Café" should be on this list.

[@odinson99m]

"Hey you! Get back here!" lol

[@cazia9]

Blair Witch Project was indeed a product of its time - when it came out, the idea of using the Internet as a major marketing tool for a film was in its infancy, making people come out in droves to see if this really was the surviving footage of these 3 people's last hours, and then Paranormal Activity took this to a new level. Blair Witch remains a classic bc it doesn't rely on the 'tech of the day' to make sense and that's why the best horror movies are often the simplest ideas

[@movietrivia1553]

Halloween, notld and paranormal are my favorites but respect to all.

[@siccimo4501]

u should have mentioned the man from earth . very low budget but a great mind blowing movie

[@jaimep456]

birdemic and the room better be on here

[@bandgeek89]

Once is such a great and underrated movie

[@lukealthaus8822]

You forgot "Who killed Captain Alex?" That had a budget of under $200

[@dannokane5272]

This is proof you can make a great film without breaking the bank., I'm been learning about filmmaking all my life., and what I've learn is a system in making movies that smartly balances in directing., cinematography., writing and producing on a basic or shoestring budgets., I took an online course in producing for film years ago and picked up many info on how to make a low-budget movie without going over in cost.,,.

[@williamcrowe2576]

Just out of curiosity, what was the budget for The Toxic Avenger?

[@DRAG-zm4el]

and the 1 movie of Rocky Balboa ??

[@plottwist3364]

Trivia: the gag of the coconuts replacing horses in Holy Grail came from the fact that they couldn't afford horses for the shooting.

[@robertrigopoulos1444]

monty python should be IN the list

[@sportscrew81]

WHERE IS KUNG FURY?

[@philconnors1522]

Check out automaton transfusion. Best zombie movie scene ever in that very low budget film.

[@DevonConnelly]

I love all of these movies so much (except paranormal activity).

[@matthewboulter7339]

y'all are wonderful

[@solokom]

shut up.

[@ShatteredVinyl]

I was promised a Tom Hardy film. And while I saw glimpses of it, twice, it was never mentioned.

[@thatsfxguy]

Why do you use expletives on the "F" bombs but not the "C" word ??? just asking

[@thebirdmusicplaylist601]

What's the C word?

[@treyliles117]

what about Christopher Nolan's Following?

[@historiadelaciencia6860]

Pi is a underrated masterpiece

[@allanrichi]

Where is Nolan's Following ??

[@bptnmrphy3991]

queintin tarantino looks like he would be that one kid who yelled timeout when he got cornered in tag

[@bogdan-cristiantimofte5625]

Where is Saw 1? That video only took a small room and a couple of actors, and now it is one of the most well-known horror movie series! And it had a huge profit

[@iamapigeyedtraitorthatisin1319]

What Rodriguez did with $7,000 in el mariachi is amazing.

[@nerodeathstep5239]

WTF where is Reservoir Dogs

[@JohnDoe-qx3zs]

Too big a budget?

[@PictureProductStudio]

It had a budget of 1 million. It's a low budget movie, but not a no budget like these listed.

[@ricardocorreia2542]

The budget was 1 million, and if you convert it to today's money would not check the needs to enter the list

[@senorbestia7749]

In your dreams

[@alekseyslaughter]

I was looking for a movie I forgot the name of, I searched up "low budget horror movies and what do you know it shows up as the evil dead".

[@jeffreyelya9996]

This again, is a spotty list, and honestly, there are a handful of other extremely low budget films that could have been listed. I'm surprised The Terminator didn't make the list. While James Cameron may not have had a staggering low budget,.....the crew had exhausted nearly all of their resources in getting all their shots finished. For example, the plastic cover that was used from Cameron's suit was used in the shot where Kyle Reese is taken away as a corpse. Another example is the smoke that comes up from the machine just after the terminator is crushed, this is actually cigarette smoke. What I find odd about Paranormal Activity is the fact that lots of extremely low budget films are often shot hand held. Today, it's a bit of an art, but it I've seen plenty of movies from the 60s and the 70s that were low budget,.....and whether or not they're hand held, I can't really tell a difference because the cameras were extremely shaky. Not only that, but there have been more than just a few horror flicks that came out about the same time, or just after Halloween that share the same quality of film that I'm referring to when I talk about the 'hand held' method. Not only that,.......but in 1982, Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper forever changed storytelling for ghost stories w Poltergeist. That movie alone has scared plenty of kids from the early 80s. Today, being the first day of 2017, how many kids do you know have actually seen this movie?? The 2015 movie done by Sam Raimi is a completely different storyline. Today it's all about the CGI. The mass amount of usage it gets in the movies, can and does remove the magic of Hollywood.

[@divisionbell143]

kinda surprised Monsters didn't make this list.