As of May 26, indie-horror film Obsession grossed $90.2 million worldwide. Directed by YouTube creator Curry Barker with a budget of $1 million, the film has caused quite a stir in the film industry. However, it’s far from the first horror movie to find massive financial success after being produced on a micro-budget. The horror genre has always been a major money-maker, and it attracts a lot of first-time filmmakers due to being relatively cheap to produce. In fact, many of the most famous horror movies were made by people with very little experience and very little money. Here's a list of some of the best examples of indie horror movies that made it big!
THE EVIL DEAD (1981)
As hard as it is to believe, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi wasn’t always the Hollywood bigshot he is today. When he was a teenager, he and childhood friend Bruce Campbell spent their time making short film projects together. Eventually, they had the idea for The Evil Dead. They shot a proof-of-concept to attract financiers, begged everyone they knew for donations, and eventually raised $375,000 for the film. Raimi, Campbell, and a crew composed of their friends and family traveled to a remote cabin in Tennessee to shoot the film. All 13 crew members stayed in the cabin during the entirety of shooting, where there was no plumbing or heat. Conditions were so extreme that they ended up burning all of the furniture to stay warm. When the film was finished, Raimi showed it to anyone who was willing to watch it. Eventually, he got a meeting with Irvin Shapiro, one of the founders of the Cannes Film Festival. Shapiro allowed Raimi to screen the film at the 1982 festival out of competition, where it attracted the attention of Stephen King. King became one of the film’s largest supporters during its early attempts to find a distributor, and his rave review helped garner more publicity. British distributor Stephen Woolley finally decided to take the risk and distribute the film in the U.K. The film was promoted very unconventionally for its budget, with dozens of promotional pieces including trailers and posters displayed all over the U.K. These marketing efforts generated a lot of interest in the film before it was released, and New Line Cinema eventually negotiated a deal to distribute the film in the U.S. The film ended up grossing $2.7 million worldwide, catapulting Raimi into Hollywood at only 23 years old. (Available on VOD/Digital)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
The Evil Dead wouldn’t have even been a thought in Raimi’s mind if it wasn’t for Night of the Living Dead, the first iteration of the modern zombie archetype. What many might not know about this horror genre staple, however, is that it was produced for a budget of only $114,000. It was also director George Romero’s first feature film. He had some experience making television commercials and industrial films with the company he co-founded with Russell Striener, but it took them a while to decide that they had enough experience and equipment to create a feature. The duo pitched their idea to a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm and the two companies merged to create Image Ten. Each member of the company invested $600 for a share of the profits. Ten more investors contributed another $6,000, but this still wasn’t enough. Production had to be put on pause multiple times while Romero used the footage he had to persuade additional investors. The small budget was what dictated many of the decisions made on set. They didn’t have the money to build or purchase a house, so they rented a farmhouse that was scheduled for demolition. The blood seen in the movie was really Bosco Chocolate Syrup (the same used for the infamous shower scene in Psycho 8 years earlier), and the human flesh that’s consumed by ghouls was meat donated by a butcher shop. The decision to shoot on black-and-white film was also due to the budget. Upon completion, the team had a hard time finding anyone who was willing to distribute the film. Columbia didn’t like the lack of color and American International Pictures wanted the more gruesome scenes to be cut. Finally, the Walter Reade Organization agreed to distribute the film uncensored. Not only did it ended up grossing $30.24 million worldwide, but it’s frequently cited as a milestone in the development of the horror genre. (Stream on Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, Prime Video, Tubi, Pluto TV, PLEX, and YouTube)
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
While working as an assistant film director at the University of Texas at Austin, Tobe Hopper was developing a screenplay that was influenced by the many changes in the cultural and political landscape of early 1970s America. He formed a company called Vortex, Inc. with co-writer Kim Henkel and they asked their friend Bill Parsley for funding. Parsley invested $60,000 through his company MAB, Inc. and was promised 50% of the profits in return. Filming took place in an early-1900s farmhouse in Texas. Art director Robert A. Burns drove around the countryside collecting the remains of cattle and other animals in various states of decomposition to litter over the floor. The walls of the farmhouse were covered with drops of animal blood obtained from a local slaughterhouse. The crew filmed 7 days a week for up to 16 hours a day in the Texas heat with no air conditioning and very little ventilation. Production ended up exceeding the original budget of $60,000. Film production group Pie in the Sky provided $23,532 in exchange for a 19% stake in Vortex. In August 1974, Louis Peraino of Bryanston Distributing Company agreed to distribute the film worldwide. Production manager Ron Bozman and head of Texas Film Commission Warren Skaaren received $225,000 and 35% of profits in exchange for helping secure this deal. At this point, all 20 cast and crew members were left with only $8,100 to divide amongst themselves. In 1983, the distribution rights were acquired by New Line Cinema and the producers were given a larger share. Despite these issues, as well as the film being banned in several countries due to the graphic violence, the film ended up grossing $30.9 million. The low budget ended up being a blessing in disguise, as the lack of special effects added to the realism. (Stream on Peacock, AMC+, Prime Video, Tubi, Pluto TV, and PLEX)
HALLOWEEN (1978)
Independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad were very impressed when they saw John Carpenter’s film Assault on Precinct 13 at the Milan Film Festival. In fact, they were so impressed that they asked him to write and direct a movie that they wanted to make about a psychotic killer who stalked babysitters. Carpenter agreed on the condition that he would have full creative control over the project, and the result was one of the most influential horror movies of all time. Akkad agreed to put up $300,000 for the film, which limited the film’s options in terms of cast. Jamie Lee Curtis, an unknown actress at the time, was only paid $8,000 for her starring role. Nick Castle, who played masked Michael Meyers, was paid $25 a day. The film’s art director, Tommy Lee Wallace, fashioned the iconic mask out of a Captain Kirk mask he bought for $1.98 at a costume shop. Most of the actors wore their own clothes, and Curtis’s wardrobe was purchased for $100 at J.C. Penny's. Akkad was reportedly worried about the four-week shooting schedule, low budget, and Carpenter’s limited experience, but was ultimately convinced by Carpenter’s unadulterated passion for the project. His intuition was right, as the film ended up grossing over $70 million in the box office. (Stream on AMC+ and PLEX)
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
As film students at University of Central Florida, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez realized that they found documentaries on paranormal phenomena scarier than traditional horror movies. Inspired to combine both styles into a feature, they developed a 35-page screenplay where the majority of the dialogue was intended to be improvised. Principal photography began on October 23, 1997, in Maryland and lasted for 8 days. The actors were given clues to their next location through messages hidden in 35mm film canisters as well as individual instructions used to help improvise the action each day. Producer Gregg Hale cited his memories of military training as the primary influence on the way the directors moved the actors – chasing them through the woods, harassing them at night, and depriving them of food. The post-production process took over 8 months as they cut down 20 hours of footage to a more marketable 81 minutes. In June 1998, an official website was launched. The page displayed faux police reports and interviews with actors posing as investigators about the "missing" students. At screenings, the filmmakers distributed flyers and asked viewers to come forward with any information. By August 1999, the website had reached 160 million hits. Audiences were convinced that the film was real, and many consider the film to be the first to go viral. By the end of its theatrical run, The Blair Witch Project had grossed $248.6 million, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time.
