10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Dominated The Box Office

Since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's budget was only $60,000, director, Tobe Hooper, did all he could to keep costs down. Instead of using fake blood for gory shots, sometimes he just cut the actors with a razor. Instead of constructing fakes cattle carcasses for the slaughterhouse scenes, he uses real animal corpses because it was cheaper. (Unsurprisingly, the smell on set was terrible.)

Unfortunately, the editing process proved to be more expensive than the original budget, compelling Hooper to pool an additional $80,000. Hooper struggled so much to get the money, he had no choice but to sell off a portion of the film's royalties.

Luckily, it all paid off since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre went on to gross $30.9 million - over 200 times its budget. Interestingly, it would've made more money but the British Board of Film Censors had the film banned before it completed its cinematic run.

Despite the censor board doing everything in its power to bury Hooper's work, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre managed to become one of the most successful films of the year.