10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Dominated The Box Office

Director Oren Peli's house creaked and rattled so regularly, he set up a camera at night to see if it was haunted. Over time, this experience inspired Peli to make an independent horror flick about a supernatural force invading a house, using his own home as the set. With a shoestring budget of $15,000, no script, and ten days to shoot, Peli made his first movie, Paranormal Activity.

And the rest is history, right? Not exactly. Even though the feature was completed in 2006, it didn't premier for a year. Upon its initial release, it wasn't met with much fanfare as many believe.

However, that all changed when a plucky young director called Steven Spielberg saw the movie. The renowned filmmaker was certain Paranormal Activity had the potential to become a mega hit and so, got the ball rolling to have it released internationally.

After reshooting the ending and redoing the sound, (which brought the budget up to $215,000), Paramount agreed to buy the rights for Peli's work for $350,000. After being released worldwide in 2009, Paranormal Activity ended up making a monumental $193,355,800.