10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Are Scarier Than The Mainstream Stuff – Screen Rant

Horror movies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are released through the studios and have decent-sized budgets (granted, even a decently-budgeted horror movie is still very cheap). Others are more passion projects that were independently financed and distributed. Some of these indie horror movies become big hits. Some fall by the wayside and are completely forgotten.

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Either way, low budget horror movies are often made with a lot of care and passion, and as such, they are often very, very good. These are just a handful of them.These are ten low budget horror movies that are even scarier than the mainstream stuff.

Maybe you've heard of Creep. It made quite a wave after premiering at SXSW in March of 2014 thanks mainly to the brilliant performance of Mark Duplass. He stars as "Josef," the titular creep who hires a videographer and proceeds to torture him through psychological and manipulative methods.

While the exact budget isn't known, it is undoubtedly small owing to its handheld, found footage style and lack of mega movie stars. It's a passion project, and it is brilliant.

Cult movies are nothing new. But while everyone talks about movies like The Wicker Man and Midsommar, no one ever mentions 2017's surprisingly brilliant The Endless.

The Endless comes primarily from creative partners Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the movie. Made on a budget of $960,000, The Endless captures Lovecraftian horror better than any large-budgeted horror film has managed to do.

Like Creep, Hush premiered at SXSW. And, like Creep, it was subsequently picked up by Netflix. It is thanks entirely to Netflix that this movie has been seen by as many people as it has because it likely would have gotten nowhere without it.

Made on a budget of just $1 million, Hush tells the story of a deaf woman who is stalked by an intruder in her isolated forest house. It's creative, it's exciting, and it can be horribly scary when it wants to be.

Backcountry is one of the most viscerally impacting movies you may ever see. It's certainly not for the faint of heart.

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This is a very low-budget Canadian movie about a couple who are stalked through the woods by a vicious and bloodthirsty black bear. It's loosely based on a true Canadian story, and it makes for incredibly tense and viciously brutal viewing. Not everything that comes out of Canada is nice and welcoming.

Speaking of great Canadian horror movies - Pontypool! Pontypool is a very low budget and takes place entirely within a radio station.

The story revolves around the station's shock jockey and various other employees as they slowly learn about a zombie-like virus infecting the outside world. Holed up in the station, all they can do is hear about the destruction outside. It's really good stuff.

The Ritual is another Netflix movie that was picked up after making rounds on the festival market - in this case, The Ritual premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It plays out a lot like The Blair Witch Project, as it concerns a group of middle-aged men who reconnect via a trek through the Swedish mountainside.

Along the way, they get lost in the woods and all Hell breaks loose. It's a spooky story and is commendably led by the always great Rafe Spall.

The Eyes of My Motheris the directorial debut of Nicolas Pesce, the same man behind the 2020 reboot ofThe Grudge. This is much better.

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Premiering at Sundance in 2016,The Eyes of My Mothertells the horrifying story of a woman who keeps her mother's killer locked up in a barn. The black and white photography is chilling and hauntingly beautiful, but the story itself can be incredibly difficult and disturbing to sit through. But isn't that why you watch horror movies?

Lake Mungo is another fantastic, and fantastically scary, horror movie that was made for pennies. This movie takes the form of a mockumentary, as it details a family who is supposedly haunted by the ghost of their young daughter.

However, things aren't quite what they seem, and the story goes in many bizarre and legitimately unexpected directions. It's a masterclass in writing and subverting expectations, but above all, it is incredibly scary.

Found tells the story of a young, shy, and bullied boy who finds asevered head in his brother's bowling bag. Upon further similar discoveries, he deduces that his older brother is a serial killer.

It's part outlandish coming-of-age story and part depraved horror movie, but regardless of how you classify it, it is unbelievably disturbing. Very few people have heard of this movie, and even fewer have actually watched it. Be sure to be one of those few.

If you want another disturbing movie about serial killers, be sure to check out the seminal 1986 film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. This movie was made for just $100,000 and stars Michael Rooker as Henry, a serial killer loosely based on the real Henry Lee Lucas.

This movie was infamous and incredibly controversial in its day, and it remains a raw and stomach-churning viewing experience. Humans are the scariest monsters of all.

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10 Low Budget Horror Movies That Are Scarier Than The Mainstream Stuff - Screen Rant