Best use of small budget
by testingyu | created - 24 Sep 2012 | updated - 16 Apr 2022 | Publicthese are good low-budget horror movies that I have watched. and ones that I recommend watching.
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1. Salvage (2006)
Not Rated | 80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Claire Parker is going to die at the hands of a sadistic and depraved killer, she will endure a terrifying, unimaginable brutal death, and it will all happen again, and again.
Directors: Jeff Crook, Josh Crook | Stars: Lauren Currie Lewis, Chris Ferry, Cody Darbe, Maureen Olander
Votes: 2,792
Budget: $25,000
2. The Last House on the Left (1972)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Two teenage girls heading to a rock concert for one's birthday try to score marijuana in the city, where they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln
Votes: 40,273 | Gross: $3.10M
Budget: $90,000
3. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 306,732 | Gross: $47.00M
Budget: $320,000
4. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,405 | Gross: $39.75M
Budget: $550,000
5. Splinter (I) (2008)
R | 82 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still-living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror.
Director: Toby Wilkins | Stars: Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Charles Baker
Votes: 40,897
6. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,575 | Gross: $30.86M
Budget: $83,532
7. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,354 | Gross: $2.40M
Budget: $375,000
8. Bad Taste (1987)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett
Votes: 49,121
Budget: NZD 30,000
9. Cube (1997)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller
Votes: 247,589 | Gross: $0.50M
Budget: $CAD365,000
10. The Fog (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman
Votes: 82,966 | Gross: $21.38M
Budget: $1,000,000
11. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders
Votes: 16,395 | Gross: $4.36M
Budget: $200,000
12. Deadgirl (2008)
R | 101 min | Horror
Two high school boys discover an imprisoned woman in an abandoned mental asylum who cannot die.
Directors: Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel | Stars: Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Candice King, Eric Podnar
Votes: 19,836
13. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 78,338 | Gross: $16.19M
Budget: $1,000,000
14. Dog Soldiers (2002)
R | 105 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scottish wilderness.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham
Votes: 65,638
15. May (2002)
R | 93 min | Drama, Horror
A socially awkward veterinary assistant with a lazy eye and obsession with perfection descends into depravity after developing a crush on a boy with perfect hands.
Director: Lucky McKee | Stars: Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna Faris, James Duval
Votes: 40,489 | Gross: $0.15M
Budget: $500,000
16. Population 436 (2006 Video)
R | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A census-taker (Sisto) is sent to investigate why a certain small town has had the same population -- 436 residents -- for the last 100 years.
Director: Michelle MacLaren | Stars: David Ames, Leigh Enns, Susan Kelso, Rick Skene
Votes: 13,519
17. It's Alive (1974)
PG | 91 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The Davises are expecting a baby, which turns out to be a monster with a nasty habit of killing people whenever it is scared. And it is easily scared.
Director: Larry Cohen | Stars: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, Andrew Duggan, Guy Stockwell
Votes: 8,977
18. Insidious (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye
Votes: 338,970 | Gross: $54.01M
Budget: $1,500,000
19. The Shrine (2010)
Not Rated | 85 min | Horror
Two female journalists and a photographer travel to Europe to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances, only to find themselves embroiled in a struggle against a kind of evil they never expected.
Director: Jon Knautz | Stars: Aaron Ashmore, Cindy Sampson, Meghan Heffern, Trevor Matthews
Votes: 14,288
Budget: $CAD1,500,000
20. Frayed (I) (2007)
R | 111 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A small town sheriff's worst nightmare comes true when his homicidal son escapes from a psychiatric hospital. An intense manhunt ensues as the dark secret behind the son's evil past is revealed.
Directors: Norbert Caoili, Rob Portmann | Stars: Tony Doupe, Aaron Blakely, Alena Dashiell, Tasha Smith-Floe
Votes: 1,518
21. Eden Lake (2008)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
Director: James Watkins | Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O'Connell
Votes: 94,819 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Cabin Fever (2002)
R | 93 min | Horror
Five college graduates rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.
Director: Eli Roth | Stars: Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent
Votes: 83,681 | Gross: $21.16M
Budget: $1,500,000
23. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Unrated | 95 min | Adventure, Horror
During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi
Votes: 61,125
Budget: $100,000
24. Saw (2004)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung
Votes: 466,589 | Gross: $56.00M
Budget: $1,200,000
25. Seconds Apart (2011)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
Seth and Jonah are twins with a dangerous ability: telekinesis. Things spiral out of control as their classmates die one by one. But jealousy soon divides them and they can no longer trust each other leading to a battle against themselves.
Director: Antonio Negret | Stars: Orlando Jones, Edmund Entin, Gary Entin, Samantha Droke
Votes: 6,421
26. Rest Stop (2006 Video)
R | 80 min | Horror, Romance, Thriller
The film follows Nicole Carrow, a young woman who is threatened by a maniac serial killer, after her boyfriend Jess, is abducted in a rest stop.
Director: John Shiban | Stars: Jaimie Alexander, Michael Childers, Jennifer Cormack, Gary Entin
Votes: 11,838
27. Rest Stop: Don't Look Back (2008 Video)
Unrated | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
Three friends embark on a trip to track down Nicole and her boyfriend, and they quickly find out that the mystery is stranger and scarier than they imagined.
Director: Shawn Papazian | Stars: Kelly Albanese, Michael Childers, Brionne Davis, Edmund Entin
Votes: 4,451
28. Shrooms (2007)
Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A group of friends are stalked and murdered whilst looking for psilocybin mushrooms in the Irish woods.
Director: Paddy Breathnach | Stars: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen
Votes: 17,674 | Gross: $0.00M
29. Farm House (2008)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Farmhouse is a psychological thriller set in the modern day mid-west. We follow a young couple as they leave their everyday lives behind and head out to a new beginning; starting over from ... See full summary »
Director: George Bessudo | Stars: Jamie Anne Allman, William Lee Scott, Steven Weber, Kelly Hu
Votes: 2,605
30. Necromentia (2009)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror
Explores the use of a tattooed Ouija Board through the lives and perspectives of 4 people.
Director: Pearry Reginald Teo | Stars: Layton Matthews, Chad Grimes, Santiago Craig, Zelieann Rivera
Votes: 1,837
Budget: $300,000
31. Dead End (I) (2003)
R | 85 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
Christmas Eve. On his way to his in-laws with his family, Frank Harrington decides to try a shortcut, for the first time in 20 years. It turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life.
Directors: Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa | Stars: Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Mick Cain, Alexandra Holden
Votes: 32,275
32. Storm Warning (2007)
R | 86 min | Horror, Thriller
A yuppie couple lost in a thick, brush-filled marsh seek refuge at an isolated farmhouse only to discover they've jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
Director: Jamie Blanks | Stars: Nadia Farès, Robert Taylor, David Lyons, Mathew Wilkinson
Votes: 7,517
33. Terrifier (2016)
Unrated | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
On Halloween night, Tara Heyes finds herself as the obsession of a sadistic murderer known as Art the Clown.
Director: Damien Leone | Stars: Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, Catherine Corcoran
Votes: 52,547
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