10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Dominated The Box Office

In 1993, film students, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, began forming the plot of what would eventually become The Blair Witch Project. With little money, the duo decided to make the movie as cheap as possible by filming it in a found-footage style. Even though they estimated the budget to be $20,000, Myrick and Sanchez were horrified when the the cost shot up to $60,000.

After the first cut was done and dusted, the directors presented it at several small festivals. After receiving some feedback, the filmmakers spent over half a million dollars on reshoots and marketing before sending it to Sundance.

Myrick and Sanchez believed the best-case scenario was The Blair Witch would cause enough buzz to earn it a slot on cable television. But it created such a furore at the festivals, Artisan Entertainment picked up the distribution rights for it, giving the film a worldwide release.

Even though it originally opened in 27 theatres, it made $1.5 million in its first weekend. Because the response was so overwhelming, The Blair Witch Project went on to screen in over 2,000 theatres in the US alone. By the end of its cinematic run, it grossed an incredible $248,639,099.