10 Awesome Movies That Cost Nothing To Make

3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Budget: $60,000

The film which revived an entire subgenre of horror and is credited with popularising the found-footage technique. The Blair Witch Project tells the story of three film students who decide to make a documentary on a local legend, the Blair Witch. The three are never seen again, but their footage is discovered a year later. The story is simple, three people go missing in the woods, yet the terrifying way in which the film is presented means it is perhaps the most influential horror film of the modern era.

The most famous moment in the film is the close up of Heather crying, an image that became the poster and has since been much parodied. However the most haunting image is at the climax, when Mike is stood facing the corner as Heather screams. This head scratching yet bone chilling final image left audiences terrified. In fact, during a focus group for the film it was noted that everyone was confused by the ending, but 19 out of 20 said they were scared. Just goes to show that sometimes the unknown is scarier than the known.

This blend of horror and mystery became one of the key factors in the films runaway success at the box office. As mentioned with Paranormal Activity, it is the presentation of this as real that makes it so scary. The marketing behind the film tied into this, releasing missing posters for the three characters as if they had really disappeared. It created intense word of mouth and the film became a pop culture phenomenon.