There are low-budget action movies, comedies, science fiction films, and so on, but no genre makes the most out of a five or six-digit production cost like horror. Some directors have what it takes to prove that even though capturing fear on screen is hard, the barrier is not a financial one.
Some of the best-known horror franchises of all time started with a low-budget entry, the first Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chain Saw Massacre were made for under $1 million. With creative filmmaking, a director can bring a massive variety of scares to screen regardless of the budget.
Paranormal Activity
Now that the 2007 original is buried underneath seven sequels and countless copycats, it can be hard to remember what a massive event this film was upon release. Produced for $15,000 with a $200,000 ending added after the film was acquired by Paramount, Paranormal Activity is the most profitable film ever made.
This straightforward found-footage haunted house film absolutely dominated the cultural consciousness, changing the horror landscape for decades to come. By filming with simple consumer-grade cameras, writer/director/cinematographer/editor Oren Peli imbued the film with a level of immediacy that transcended traditional film. Of course, with tremendous success came sequels blessed with tremendously inflated budgets. Paranormal Activity 2 cost $3 million, almost fifteen times its predecessor. The sixth cost $10 million. The franchise never recaptured the iconic simplicity of this groundbreaking first entry.
May
Lucky McKee's 2002 magnum opus cost just over $600,000 to create a positively haunting psychological horror masterpiece. The titular May, portrayed by Angela Bettis, is a fragile and lonely woman who tries and fails to forge friendships and relationships with the people around her. Her mental state starts low and only slides ever downward, every rejection or missed connection wears away at the threads of her identity. Her illness emerges into bizarre behavior and unsettling violence as she finds it impossible to interact with strangers and friends alike.
This is a character study which approaches its protagonist with sincere empathy and wholistic kindness. The film is funny, miserable, horrific and deeply emotionally moving. May sticks with the viewer, and stays fresh in the mind years after the first watch.
The Unkindness of Ravens
This Scottish horror film comes from indie director Lawrie Brewster, known for his 2013 film Lord of Tears and its bizarre viral marketing campaign. Off the strength of that film, Brewster held a Kickstarter campaign for The Unkindness of Ravens which raised a record-breaking $40,000. The film centers around Jamie Scott Gordon as a veteran racked with post-traumatic stress disorder and struggling with homelessness. His vivid hallucinations drive him to the Scottish Highlands in a desperate attempt to process his trauma.
The film takes bizarre turns, but Gordon's central performance keeps the audience firmly grounded in his experience. The film is inspired, though not directly an adaptation of, a variety of ancient Norse myths. From the dark folk soundtrack, to the haunting imagery, to the absolutely gripping main performance, The Unkindness of Ravens is a challenging watch that is worth every moment.
Under the Shadow
First-time writer and director Babak Anvari crafted this supernatural horror film set in the heart of the Iran-Iraq War for just $126,642. Blending the esoteric fear of a malevolent spirit with the very grounded fear of collateral damage during a inner-city conflict lends this film a degree of grim immediacy. The film is wholly in Persian and centers largely on specific aspects of its home culture, but still lands with incisive social critique anywhere in the world.
The main character, Shideh, is a young mother trying to care for her daughter in the midst of a warzone, while also struggling with the psychological strain of the trauma. Feminist Iranian anti-war supernatural horror is a pretty narrow genre, but its presentation keeps this film feeling very classic. The performances are solid across the board, but Narges Rashidi as Shideh completely drives the film. Her slow descent into paranoia and desperate struggle against her surroundings and her own mind are brought to life with chilling effectiveness. There isn't much like Under the Shadow, fans of politically tinged horror will find something incredible in this intensely emotional film.
The Pizzagate Massacre
IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes do not classify this as a horror film, but the small handful of dedicated fans would respectfully disagree. Writer/Director John Valley crafted this darkly satirical dive into the world of Texas militia and conspiracy theorist culture. Made on an unspecified budget "somewhere in the low five digits," Valley's social horror lens interrogates the grifters and true believers who surround these very real movements.
This is a bizarre, alienating and shockingly raw film. Its core is a bracing wave of empathy that forces its audience to see the humanity in those most laugh at or live in fear of. This is not for the faint of heart, and those with extremely limited awareness of American culture might have to look up a couple things, but this is a gripping horror film. Ignore the awful title, prepare for reality dressed up as absurdity and contend with the true nightmare of the human condition in The Pizzagate Massacre.