10 Awesome Movies That Cost Nothing To Make

4. Eraserhead (1977)

Budget: $10,000-100,000

David Lynch’s creepy body horror is a must-see for any fan of Lynch’s work, or horror fans in general. The film is dark, erratic, bizarre, a nightmare come to life. A film is filled with disturbing, surreal imagery. Yet despite it being so instinctively repulsive, it is oddly enthralling at the same time and you can’t help but keep watching.

Lynch made the film with funding from the American Film Institute, which he acquired while he was studying there. However the production was laboured, and after three years he ran out of money. He resorted to begging for donations from his friends and family, and even taking up a paper route in order to get enough money to finish it. It took a further two years, five in total, to complete. There is no official budget for the film, with some estimates as low as $10,000 and others as high as $100,000.

Although little interest was shown on release, his investment paid off as it became a cult hit at midnight movie showings, grossing over $7,000,000 in total.