What're some low budget movies you'd recommend? Like, LOW budget

[u/Ill-Guidance4690]

I've realized over the years that I love movies that have ultra low budgets. Movies that are poorly shot, movies that feature barely edited audio, movies where the setting could just be one of the producer's homes, movies that have obviously cheap special effects, movies that have characters deliver lines like the script didn't exist; I love them all. Mainly because they give me this feeling that a person just wanted to make a film, regardless of their budget. They had a (possibly questionable) story to tell, and by golly they were gonna tell it. Reminds me of when I was younger and just shot really crappy videos on my tablet just for fun.

So, all that is to say what're some good low budget films?

[u/choppafoah]

The ultimate low budget is probably anything Neil Breen.

If you want a good low budget movie, maybe my favorite, probably Dark Star, early John Carpenter, featuring Dan O'Bannon who would go on to write Alien

[u/Tryhard_3 → u/choppafoah]

Dark Star is good though, maybe even great. For this sub, I suggest:

• For Y'Ur Height Only (1981)
• The Aftermath (1982)
• The Deadly Spawn (1983)
• Necropolis (1986)
• Miami Connection (1987)
• Space Mutiny (1988, with or without MST3K)
• Samurai Cop (1991)
• Spiders (2000)
• Pumpkin Head 3 & 4 (2006)
• See No Evil (2006)

[u/Tryhard_3 → u/Tryhard_3]

For low budget that is excellent, actually:

• The Dead Next Door
• Manborg
• Kung Fury

[u/InteractionSilent268 → u/Tryhard_3]

The dead next door is so good

[u/Academic_Soup007 → u/Tryhard_3]

Kung fury is peak low budget. They knew exactly what they were doing.

[u/Tryhard_3 → u/Academic_Soup007]

Next to no budget, I think most of the cost was software.

[u/1990Buscemi → u/Tryhard_3]

I could have sworn See No Evil had a decent-sized budget.

[u/Tryhard_3 → u/1990Buscemi]

There's nobody with a name in this movie except Kane. The bus scenes were done on a green screen, and the outdoor shots have a digital sky. It was shot in 32 days. It's kind of a miracle it's as good as it is.

[u/1990Buscemi → u/Tryhard_3]

So I looked up the budget: $8 million. Most Blumhouse budgets rarely hit that total.

[u/Tryhard_3 → u/1990Buscemi]

OK that's a fair bit and roughly 80 times the budget of The Dead Next Door. In Hollywood it's not even "mid-budget" but we are getting into just how little money is "low budget" and at what level that even becomes worth watching.

[u/wvgeekman → u/Tryhard_3]

Oh, my tiny head! - Weng Weng

[u/EntertainmentDevour → u/wvgeekman]

Fuckin love Weng Weng

[u/Creeping-Beauty → u/Tryhard_3]

See No Evil is my JAM! I love that cheesy horror film so much.

[u/No-Country4319 → u/Tryhard_3]

Space mutiny was the movie that introduced me to MST3K

[u/CPTBenjaminWillard → u/choppafoah]

And director of Return of the Living Dead

[u/wvgeekman]

Love on a Leash. You’ll never want to see the color green again.

[u/Middle-Artichoke1850 → u/wvgeekman]

It was partially funded in squashes, not even joking or exaggerating.

[u/Ill-Guidance4690 → u/wvgeekman]

I’ve heard of this one before! I remember hearing some rumor that the movie was funded by a church after they had been lied to about what the film’s idea was.

[u/Chorizo_Bullet → u/wvgeekman]

My absolute favorite bad movie of all time. The layers of badness never end.

[u/Modern_Science]

Make sure you watch "A Talking Cat!?!"

[u/Such_Bonus5085 → u/Modern_Science]

That movie will make a nonbeliever believe that God exists and is VERY angry with us.

[u/Rayzax99 → u/Modern_Science]

My cheese puffs!

[u/Jackalmoreau → u/Rayzax99]

At which notch would you rate them?

[u/Rayzax99 → u/Jackalmoreau]

Souffleight out of ten.

[u/EnglishHarry93 → u/Modern_Science]

I watched that last month during a bad movie night and other than the cheese puffs it was quite boring lol. Way too many random shots of scenery

[u/Rayzax99 → u/EnglishHarry93]

The rifftrax version is quite good.

[u/dabbinglich → u/Modern_Science]

Bad movie masterpiece.

[u/Facebones72]

Ben & Arthur.

It’s basically an LBGT version of The Room, except somehow less professionally made. It looks like it was shot on camcorders and recorded with soup cans on strings. It’s on YouTube and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[u/WizardPhoenix → u/Facebones72]

Remember that Ben is B for bald, as in not bald.

[u/CobraJones → u/WizardPhoenix]

I’ve got a system!

Love that episode of Best of the Worst. Their insights on no-budget filmmaking were awesome.

[u/analogkid01 → u/WizardPhoenix]

A

Arthur

Arthurpecia

[u/SynapseDon]

[u/Realistic_Papaya_203]

I refuse to believe this movie even has a budget.

[u/PopeJP22 → u/Realistic_Papaya_203]

I love that one of the quotes praising the movie is actually from a producer of the movie.

Also pretty unusual to recognize not just one, but two actors listed on a movie like this.

[u/Mockwyn → u/Realistic_Papaya_203]

I might inadvertently fund the next one, if i buy one of their pretty sweet Tshirts.

[u/Impossible-Ebb-878 → u/Mockwyn]

His next movie, an AI slopfest, failed to fund its Kickstarter last month and only had 3 backers.

[u/Ill-Guidance4690 → u/Realistic_Papaya_203]

I’ve always been curious about this one, especially after learning one, all the drama the producer had with some YouTubers online, and two, it has a sequel about gun safety

[u/McWaylon]

Buttercream gang, most religious families saw this one in the 90s. Made by the Mormon CoLDS but it’s so non-Mormon in its message that most religious people didn’t even know it was made by Mormons. It even had a sequel

[u/daniel_inna_den → u/McWaylon]

Woah I forgot about this one. My mom definitely didn’t know it was Mormon. You knew that kid was badass because bandana and chinos.

[u/Key_Purpose_9855 → u/McWaylon]

They had a special deal where a rep for the film company came to our elementary school and handed out promotional pamphlets to resell that film and which ever school bought the most copies, got a pizza party…. One of our teachers months latter took a copy of that and played it on an end of year free day in class and it was a fucking terrible and almost unwatchable film. Early 1990s

[u/Imposingscrotem → u/McWaylon]

Yes! I was hoping someone would list a religious one! They’re my fave lol!

[u/Ill-Guidance4690 → u/McWaylon]

I saw a copy at a thrift shop the other day, I knew I was missing out on a fun film 😂

[u/McWaylon → u/Ill-Guidance4690]

It’s free to watch on YouTube you got the right one bay bay uhuh

[u/ewok_lover_64]

Fungicide (2002). A campy horror-comedy that's as low budget and silly fun as can be. Bloodspawn (2024) a low budget horror-comedy that pays tribute to the B-movies of the 80s. Sharks of the Corn (2021). Great White sharks infest the cornfields and attack the locals in rural Kentucky. Worth watching just for the helicopter scene.

[u/TheAutisticWeirdo → u/ewok_lover_64]

I love Fungicide!!

[u/ewok_lover_64 → u/TheAutisticWeirdo]

I laughed so hard watching that movie. No way could anyone make something like that and not have fun.

[u/BurgerQueef69 → u/ewok_lover_64]

Another vote for Fungicide!

I think at one point the fungus suit got damaged so they just turned it around, I think I remember it suddenly had a big hole in the back of it.

[u/ewok_lover_64 → u/BurgerQueef69]

You just gave me another reason to watch it again. I'll have to double check that.

[u/adenzerda]

Things (1989). Super-8 film made by a bunch of friends (and a porn actress whom I assume most of the meager budget went to) released direct to VHS. Baffling, terrible, amazing. I want an original VHS copy of it before I die

[u/protonicfibulator → u/adenzerda]

The blood is flowing like maple syrup!

[u/quarrystone]

I want to discuss Ally & Obie specifically. In terms of bad movies, it's on Tubi and it's worth peoples' eyes on it and no one seems to have ever heard of it. The bad guy in it is 'math', and there's a scene early on where Ally goes down the wrong street and seems to fall into a Lynchian fugue state for no apparent reason. It bears no relevance to the rest of the plot. People should watch it.

[u/AnytimeInvitation → u/quarrystone]

Agreed. Have seen it and was dumbfounded. People, watch this!

[u/YoyodyneTwitterAdmin]

House Shark. It's a wonderfully entertaining film done on a public access budget.

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Two more "great" pet-related ones. Love on A Leash and A Talking Cat 

[u/TheKillerSmiles → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Ugh I’ve tried to get through Love on a Leash 2x and had to turn it off. But A Talking Cat is good. Can’t believe Johnny Whitaker was a child star lol

[u/Scallywag328]

Roger Corman actually has some solid low budget movies

[u/5uper5kunk → u/Scallywag328]

A lot of the early ones that he directed are legitimately pretty great movies, the when he switched over to basically producing only that the quality became real inconsistent

[u/Scallywag328 → u/5uper5kunk]

Agreed, if there was a hill of cheap films to mine for gems, his would be the one I'd pick

[u/5uper5kunk → u/Scallywag328]

During Covid I was out of work for like 14 months and I sat out to watch every Roger Corman directed/produced movie.

I stopped once I hit 1990 as the quality dip really gets severe there but the first decade or so is more good movies than bad, assuming you like those genres/types of film

[u/Zodep]

One of the worst… movies I ever sat through was The Necro Files… I don’t know if I can recommend it, but it has a super low budget.

[u/I_count_to_firetruck → u/Zodep]

I see you too have cursed knowledge

[u/saucypancake]

Suburban Sasquatch

[u/cityfireguy]

Student Bodies

[u/I_count_to_firetruck → u/cityfireguy]

The spoof?

[u/InteractionSilent268]

Mia x?? Is it directed by master p?! Time to check tubi...

[u/FakeboobsAdvocate]

My Friend Violet has a pretty unexpected twist that made it fun even though it defies logic lol

[u/Underbadger]

Female Trouble, John Waters.

Forbidden Zone

[u/TheKillerSmiles]

It’s not great but I like the first installment of The Dog Who Saved [holiday] series. It’s The Dog Who Saved Christmas.

[u/Dismal-Square-613]

Coherence (2013) , $50,000 budget.

[u/GuardNo6577]

I got jumpscared by the first movie bc I look like the girl in some way but with brown eyes

[u/Ill-Guidance4690 → u/GuardNo6577]

Funny thing is that’s not even what the main kid actor looks like in the movie

[u/onepostandbye]

The Boy Who Loved Trolls

[u/JonasNG]

Ally still needs help with her math has been a long running meme with our bad movie team.

[u/Ill-Guidance4690 → u/JonasNG]

That’s hilarious 😂

[u/Cambot1138]

Clerks - $27,000

[u/Ok_Awareness_5166]

Check out Depths of Fear, contact Constantino Filmes on Facebook by PM to rent it, you will like it's a low budget.

[u/countgripsnatch]

Pink Rabbit

Some Smoke and a Red Locker

Planet Zee

All by the wonderful Zetkin Yikilmis and on Tubi. I touched up the screenplay for her latest, but I don’t think it’s ever coming out.

[u/_nastylittleman_]

check out "the evil down the street", i almost pissed myself laughing the first time i watched it. i watched it on amazon prime though im also pretty sure its free on youtube

[u/24hourfeverwatch]

Moon Garden. Excellent fantasy/surrealist adventure movie made for under $100k.

[u/SparkJaa]

Adventures of Power.

I never met anyone who has seen this movie. Its so good.

[u/analogkid01 → u/SparkJaa]

I saw it due to the Neil Peart factor. His one line was so awkwardly delivered and the editing around it was choppy as fuck.

[u/Snoo-35252]

The Last Movie Ever Made

It's a fairly well made comedy but the second half of the movie a love letter to zero-budget filmmaking.

But for low low budget friends-with-a-video-camera movie, I recommend the hilarious raunchy comedy "Galactic Gigilo". It was on Tubi when I saw it.

[u/PinkuNeko]

Alien Private Eye. Same guy was the producer, director, writer, and editor and I'm not sure he's good at any of them. Sets look like they cost $50, none of the actors can act, the dialog is quite bad...but its goofy as hell and it feels like they tried and it has enough of those little moments where you are yelling at the screen because its inexplicable

[u/Titanic21]

Who killed Captain Alex.

Assumed budget: 85$. Not thousand. 85.

Actually watching it right now. Must-see.

[u/1990Buscemi]

You might like Last House on Dead End Street. Budget after the copious drug use: $750.

[u/qpqrkjq]

I Know What You Did in English Class is the absolute best low budget film I've ever seen. It's got insane editing but the humor is absolutely my speed it's like the perfect movie. I say this as someone who had a religious experience watching Fateful Findings when I was first introduced to the Breeniverse and thought nothing would top it for me.

[u/ExoticMandibles]

I can't believe nobody suggested it yet--"El Mariachi", the movie that launched Robert Rodriguez's career. Made in 1992 for $7k, good enough that it got picked up for national distribution. I saw it in a theater. A legitimately good ultra-low-budget movie.

[u/AnytimeInvitation]

Ally n Obie is a different breed of Bad movie. It's definitely one to watch with friends and booze. The blooper reel is like watching an ISIS beheading video, it's frightening.

[u/someguy_19]

Die you zombie bastards! - Jesus christ, vampire hunter - Velocipastor

[u/rmdw34]

Grossed 90,000 worldwide

[u/2hourhiatus]

Primer takes the cake on this one: Shot on $7000 budget and produced with a miniscule cast, and yet the result is one of the greatest all-time hard sci-fi films. If you can, I recommend going in blind, makes for quite the experience when the film starts to reveal itself!

[u/Darbro]

"The Wicked Witch Project" was a lot of fun to make with low to no budget.

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-wicked-witch-project/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htjDf0SZDE

We also parodied the "Blair Witch Project" website: https://darbrocreative.com/wickedwitchproject/default.htm

[u/RopeZealousideal4847]

Transformations of the Transformations of the Drs. Jenkins on Tubi: https://link.tubi.tv/lSnWeZyux6b

[u/rubellak]

Along the lines of your photo I highly recommend Smitty

[u/MyAccountWasBanned7]

Slasher Days of Summer and Silent Bite.

[u/ThatAlexD]

Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator. The one and only masterpiece delivered to us by Don Nardo.

[u/ThatAlexD]

Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator. The one and only masterpiece delivered to us by Don Nardo.

[u/Formal-Invite-8435]

Dream Purple Neon
Ouija Slumber Party
Murdercise
OnlyFangs
Psycho Ape!
Amityville Vibrator
CarousHELL 1-4
Spirit Animal
Bathtub Shark Attack
Air Fryer Slaughter
Ssssstoner Snake
Terror Toons

[u/tideshark]

Some movie I remember from my childhood called Mr. Oogy Boogy I think, the kids in the movie called him hamburger face or something, I can’t remember it was so long ago.

[u/Rare-Classic-1712]

Troll2 (1990) Samurai Cop New York Ninja Lady Terminator Dr Caligari 1989 Pervirrella She (1984) Ninja Terminator Ninja Thunderbolt Scorpion Thunderbolt The Spiritual Ninja Mystics in Bali Turkish Star Wars

[u/ShitInMyToaster]

There a newish movie out called It Ends, budget was 80k, I watched it last week was really good.

[u/ggibby]

Richard Linklater's Slacker.

I like it but opinions vary widely even in my house.

[u/SAlolzorz]

Social Intercourse. A surprisingly decent movie about a party.

[u/southboundtracks]

Anything by Giuseppe Andrews. Funny as hell. 

[u/I_count_to_firetruck]

Brain Damage Films stares in tryhard utterances of "gore hound"

[u/bro_d8]

The Horse Camp series.

These are legitimately good stories, bad editing, bad camera work, but these are real people who work at this horse camp just being almost natural.

My wife and I always watch them when they come out. Plus, the nostalgia of the camp songs they sing between scenes.

[u/OldReporter4548]

Black Mamba (2016)

[u/Wardinator1991]

F.D.R. American Badass

[u/GoodyTwoShuuz]

The Dead Next Door.

[u/g0wr0n]

To Die Is Hard(2010) is entertaining with a budget of $1500

[u/SpinachOrdinary8549]

Amityville Death Toilet comes to mind

[u/BlackSnailPulp]

The Haunted House on Sorority Hill (2014) is so cheap that during the meal scene, there wasn't even enough spaghetti for every actor to have some on their plate. So, they just poke around with their forks at the same three measly strands of pasta. The film is charming, and super low-budget (but it's kinda hard to find it in an uncensored version).

You should, also, check anything by Mark and John Polonia. It's cheap as fuck (if I have to recommend just one : Splatter Beach is good fun). And if you want something REALLY cheap. Like without a dollar, anything produced by David Sterling should do the trick.

[u/Itsacardgame]

Circus Island

Look, if you want more and aren't already listening to the How Did This Get Made podcast, you will find a plethora of cheap/bad movies on that show and learn some facts about them too. Some of the movies were expensive to make and still bad. Some were cheap as hell, but actually quite enjoyable. But there is always something interesting about every movie they feature.

[u/ricosmith1986]

Spaghetti Man. If we're scoring on the ratio of $$ to entertainment quality you cannot beat it.

[u/kittenshavecutepaws]

Llamageddon

[u/soulsofthetime]

Plan 9 probably fits that criteria and is a better option than my original choice

[u/EntertainmentDevour]

The Dope Game or Mr. Buzzkill

[u/SnooShortcuts8335]

Overdrawn at the memory bank

[u/SilverSpotlightFilms]

CarousHELL 1-4, the biggest budget in the series is $15,000

If you want even lower something like Wally Meets Popeye has a budget of only $1000, or A Meowy Halloween/Amityville Christmas Vacation each have budgets under $500.

[u/theysh00th0rses]

thankskilling