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A big budget is no guarantee of the quality and success of a film, and there are hundreds of proofs of that. Tens and hundreds of millions were spent on some pictures, and the output turned out to be such trash that there can be no talk of any profit or awards.
At the same time, history knows many cases when directors made films for ridiculous money, by the standards of the industry, but this brought huge profits and success.
Let’s remember the top ten cheap paintings that, without exaggeration, can be called cult, although a penny was spent on their production.
10 Halloween | 1978
John Carpenter decided to make a horror movie in 1978 with only $300, which was very little even in those days.
The lead actress, Jamie Lee Curtis, was paid just $8, while Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers himself, was getting a measly 000 bucks a day.
There was so little money that even decorative autumn leaves (filmed in the spring) after each episode had to be collected for the next take.
The result exceeded all expectations: the film grossed 70 million at the box office and “turned the game”, marking the beginning of a new era of the horror genre and becoming the progenitor of all slashers.
9. Clerks 1994
Kevin Smith had absolutely no money for the production of his debut picture, but there was more than enough desire. After selling his comic book collection and running into debt, he struggled to raise 27, which was barely enough.
Filming took place in a store where Smith was working as a salesman at the time, and many of the roles were played by his friends. Since he was allowed to shoot only after hours, most of the action takes place inside with the blinds closed, as it is deep night outside.
Three weeks of work and the film, cobbled together literally on the knee, was ready, and “long-term success” was waiting for him.
In the limited box office, “Clerks” earned about 3 million, and also marked the beginning of an entire universe of heroes Jay and Silent Bob.
Now this comedy, filmed on a black and white camera, is considered a cult and is familiar to almost every movie fan and fan of the genre.
8. Night of the Living Dead | 1968
George Romero, like Carpenter, had a tremendous impact on the horror film genre with his work. If it weren’t for “Night of the Living Dead”, filmed for $114, then there would simply be no “The Walking” and other dead people now (well, or they would be different).
The film was shot in black and white to save money, and local theatergoers were called in to play the lead roles. Romero entrusted the leading role to a black man, which was not yet the norm for that time.
Many studios abandoned the picture until it finally reached theaters, where it increased its budget by 200 times and went down in history forever.
7. Mad Max | 1979
The adventures of the charismatic Max Rockatansky in the near future, immersed in chaos and anarchy, cost director George Miller only 200, which is a penny for a dystopia with explosions and chases.
They saved on everything, but most of all on fees: for example, Mel Gibson received only 10 thousand for the main role, and bikers from the extras received payment almost in beer.
After the release, the picture collected 100 million, and Max himself is still one of the most popular movie characters.
6. Taxi Driver | 1976
The story of an unstable and insomniac Vietnam War veteran played by Robert De Niro, who, tired of the dirt on the streets, decides to clean up the city himself, cost Martin Scorsese $ 1 million 300 thousand, which is very, very little, given the characters .
De Niro, who at that time was already an Oscar winner, had a bunch of offers with fees with 6 zeros, but nevertheless accepted Scorsese’s offer and starred in Taxi Driver for 35 thousand.
Later, the film grossed 30 million at the box office and became a landmark film, also receiving 4 Oscar nominations.
5. Blair Witch | 1999
The handheld-camera-style horror film was the progenitor of an entire genre, and only $22 was spent on it.
Not the most brilliant plot and acting did not prevent him from blowing up the market and earning almost 250 million, becoming the highest grossing film in history in terms of budget to box office.
4. Rocky | 1976
Another picture of 1976, this time a cult sports drama starring Sylvester Stallone. The first part of the upcoming film series was filmed for $900, with Stallone only getting ~000.
Given the high-quality production of the final scene, which took a lot of money, the rest had to be severely saved.
True fans will surely remember the scene in which Rocky notices before the fight that he has the wrong color underpants on the poster above the ring. To this, the manager replies that it is not important, thus emphasizing his status as an outsider.
In fact, a different color was made by mistake, but there was no money and time to remake the poster, so we decided to shoot this scene. As a result, the film, from which no one really expected anything, brought the creators 225 million dollars.
3. Cards, money, two barrels | 1998
They tried to start shooting this film for 3 years, but they could not find the money for it. As a result, the wife of the musician Sting became interested in him, who was a producer and was able to secure £960 in funding.
The amount was so small to implement all the ideas that the director and many members of the film crew worked for free, and the actors were called for the main roles without any experience at all (this film was the debut for Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham).
2. Reservoir Dogs | 1991
Quentin Tarantino in 1991 was also a newcomer and was ready to shoot his first film Reservoir Dogs on black and white film for his own 50 thousand, but in the end Harvey Keitel became interested in his script, thanks to which the studio allocated $ 1.2 million.
However, this money was also not enough and many scenes were filmed in an abandoned morgue, and the personal transport of the actors was used in the frame.
1. Sergio Leone’s Dollar Trilogy
The Italian director made the classic spaghetti western in the 60s, setting new standards in the genre for years to come and starting his journey to greatness.
These are films A Fistful of Dollars (1964), A Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Particularly noteworthy is the first part, filmed for only 200. Subsequently, the amounts increased, but even the most expensive third part cost only 000 million.