10 Low Budget Films That Reached Number One At The Box Office
4. Friday the 13th (1980)
To complete the legendary trio of 80s slasher flicks comes this classic from the shores of Camp Crystal Lake. An imitator of earlier smash hit Halloween, Friday the 13th nonetheless provided enough of a unique twist to stand on its own vengeful feet. Whilst the iconic villain Jason Voorhees wouldn’t dominate screens until the sequels, the formula of ‘deranged killer hunts horny teens’ clearly sat well with hungry audiences.
Made for the low low cost of $550,000, Friday the 13th gorged itself on runaway success as it claimed the top spot at the domestic box office for seven consecutive days between May 9th and May 15th 1980. Against this small cost, it also pulled in $5,816,321 during its opening weekend.
Interestingly, each of the 1980s sequels, with the exception of the sixth film, also grappled with the top box office spot for a time. These themselves also sported relatively low production costs, ranging from $1,125,000 to $4,000,000.