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Cheap Thrills

A million or less. What can that buy on screen? We want your top 10 low- and micro-budget films (with budgets at or below US$1m according to IMDb). Under-funded films with lasting legacies, whether they captured a zeitgeist, were so-bad-they’re-good, or introduced the world to incredible new talent. Maybe they grossed a hundred times their budget. Maybe they spawned a franchise. Maybe the city I thought would bring me luck brought only a curse. Maybe nothing really happened at all (Blair Witch, we’re looking at you). A limited budget won’t always put a limit on creativity, so we’re here to celebrate the filmmakers that studios ignored and investors just didn’t understand, and all the cast and crews they convinced to help bring their crazy ideas to life.

  • Primer
  • El Mariachi
  • Head
  • The Breakfast Club
  • The Evil Dead
  • Clerks
  • Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
  • Swingers
  • Brick
  • Easy Rider