- 3 months ago
Big scares and bigger profits don't always need Hollywood budgets! Join us as we explore sequels that delivered thrills while keeping costs incredibly low. From blood-soaked horror to indie darlings, these follow-ups proved creativity trumps cash every time. Prepare to be shocked by how little money was spent on films that dominated the box office!
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00:00All right, look, there's only one return, okay?
00:03And it ain't of the king, it's of the Jedi.
00:05Oh, Star Wars geek.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the English language movie sequels
00:13that were reportedly made on an unbelievably low budget.
00:24Number 10, Clerks 2.
00:26One ring to rule them all.
00:30One ring to find them.
00:32Oh, Jesus.
00:33Who would have guessed that a scrappy $27,000 black and white indie flick shot in a convenience store would spark a franchise?
00:41Yet, in 1994, Clerks did the unthinkable.
00:44A sequel to the cult classic hit the big screen in almost all full color in 2006.
00:50Kevin Smith brought back fan-favorite slackers Randall Graves and Dante Hicks for Clerks 2,
00:54with a game-changing $5 million budget.
00:57My name is Anakin.
00:59My shitty acting is ruining saga.
01:02Yeah, you're crazy, Jar Jar.
01:05The film leans into themes of friendship, adulthood, and emotional growth more gracefully and mostly delivered.
01:11But its cruder humor, including the donkey scene and others, was a clear misfire, splitting critics.
01:17Fans, however, didn't hesitate, pushing the global box office to almost $27 million.
01:22Despite a bigger budget and better production, Clerks 2 couldn't match the strong cost-to-profit ratio of Clerks.
01:29When you say misery, love's company.
01:419. Saw 2
01:42A year after Jigsaw's mayhem in 2004, Saw 2 took the claustrophobic terror of the first and cranked up the brutality.
01:59With the lean $4 million budget, far from the $1.2 million of the first, the sequel proved you don't need blockbuster money to make a box office hit.
02:07John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, was back with more elaborate and deranged traps as ever, forcing people to play twisted games that often resulted in deadly outcomes.
02:29Saw 2 was brutally bloodied, much like its predecessor, cementing its place in the splatter horror sub-genre.
02:34But despite this, it didn't win over critics. Fans, though, they couldn't get enough.
02:39And the more than $150 million box office number says it all.
02:44Fast forward two decades, and the Saw films are a $1 billion franchise.
02:48Game over.
02:508. Evil Dead 2
02:52Directed by Sam Raimi, 1987's Evil Dead 2 is a perfect mix of horror, slapstick comedy, and action.
03:06It transformed the franchise with humor, tension, and a smarter story, all on a modest $3.5 million budget.
03:12Bruce Campbell reprised his iconic role as Ash, and the Necronomicon chaos returns in this remake's last sequel.
03:19Once again, Ash finds himself in an abandoned cabin.
03:22But this time, it's what happens to his girlfriend, Linda, that kick-starts the film's story.
03:27The first two movies were truly low-budget hits, powered by Raimi's vision and skill.
03:42After that, the Evil Dead universe blew wide open.
03:45The third entry, Army of Darkness, came in bigger with an $11 million budget,
03:50earning cult status along with the previous two flicks,
03:53and opening the door for other projects in the franchise.
03:55I'll swallow your soul!
03:59Come get some.
04:03Number 7. Paranormal Activity 2
04:06Eight years after The Blair Witch Project,
04:12Paranormal Activity made found footage scary or at least popular again,
04:16and the sequel kept the nightmare alive to some extent.
04:19The original was a raw, fear-inducing indie shot by Oren Peli for just $15,000,
04:24with Paramount later adding $200,000 for post-production.
04:32The 2010 prequel shifted the terror to Katie's sister, Christy's house,
04:36with Mika and Katie from the first film reprising their roles.
04:39The budget? A jump to $3 million.
04:42Despite the upgrade, Paranormal Activity 2 earned slightly less at the box office,
04:47making $177 million in comparison to the first $194 million.
04:53Still, its disturbing realism and eerie atmosphere
04:55made enough of an impact that four more installments of the franchise
04:59will be released between 2011 and 2021.
05:11Number 6. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2
05:13Freddy's Revenge
05:14Freddy's Revenge continued the Nightmare on Elm Street saga,
05:32diving into Freddy's terror through possession and twisted nightmare.
05:35The original helped New Line Cinema avoid financial ruin,
05:38making more than $57 million on a less than $2 million budget.
05:43While Freddy's Revenge kept costs low at just $3 million,
05:56it cranked up the gore.
05:57The sequel's box office receipts may not have been as high as the first with $30 million,
06:02but Robert Englund's iconic Freddy Krueger
06:04still cemented himself as a horror icon.
06:06Despite the relatively low budget and mixed critical reviews,
06:10Freddy's Revenge later became a cult classic,
06:12and even better,
06:13led to a franchise full of Krueger's iconic slashes.
06:27Number 5. Hatchet 2
06:29Director Adam Green's unrated Hatchet 2 brought back notorious slasher Victor Crowley.
06:44He was bloodier, meaner, and dead set on turning the swamp into a slaughterhouse.
06:49The sequel picked up right where the original left off.
06:51With a minimal storyline and practical effects-driven carnage,
06:54Hatchet 2 had a modest budget estimated anywhere between $800,000 and $3 million.
06:59Genre fans loved it, but outside the slasher horror bubble,
07:03it bombed hard and failed to break even.
07:05Believe it or not, Hatchet 2 was reported to have made only $156,000 at the box office.
07:12That didn't stop writer-director Adam Green nor actor Kane Hodder
07:15from returning for the third and fourth films, though.
07:25Number 4. Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior
07:27Directed by George Miller,
07:39Mad Max 2 continues the story of Max Rokotansky
07:42dropping him back into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
07:45This time, he has to face the ruthless biker gang leader Lord Humongous.
07:49Made on a tight budget of around $2-3 million,
07:52the film became a landmark for action cinema,
07:54especially when it came to post-apocalyptic fiction.
07:57I'm all right!
08:04With intense vehicular chases and brutal fight scenes,
08:08The Road Warrior solidified Mel Gibson's Max
08:10and his devil-made-care black leather jacket as a cult icon.
08:14Though it didn't match the record-breaking success of his predecessor,
08:17which earned the Guinness World Record for most profitable film ever,
08:20Mad Max 2 still raked in over $23 million
08:23and is also considered one of the greatest sequels of all time.
08:27And the Road Warrior
08:30That was the last we ever saw of him.
08:36Number 3. Before Sunset
08:37Do you want to...
08:38Maybe you get a cup of coffee?
08:40Didn't you just say you have a plane to catch?
08:42Uh...
08:43Yeah.
08:45But, um...
08:45But, um...
08:45I mean, I have a little time.
08:47Okay.
08:47Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by lead actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphi,
08:53Before Sunset was a romantic but wiser extension of the indie flick Before Sunrise.
08:58And then after an hour or so of just, uh, staring at each other,
09:04they're married.
09:07That's beautiful. I like that.
09:09Nine years after Jesse and Selene's first encounter on a train in Europe,
09:13the duo reunited in Paris.
09:15While the plot appears simple,
09:16what unfolds after this truly hits every emotion.
09:19Falling in the ballpark of $2 to $2.7 million
09:22Before Sunset was a low-budget film that traded spectacle for depth,
09:27so in higher stakes.
09:28Its box office roared to a solid $15.8 million.
09:32Critics raved and an even brighter future awaited a few years later
09:36with the 2013 third entry Before Midnight.
09:38Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's actually, it's been a real issue, you know?
09:43I mean, I don't, uh, close, just they don't travel well
09:45through the whole space-time continuum.
09:51Wow.
09:52He's so smart.
09:55Number two, Bride of Rheanimate.
09:57Where are her feet?
09:59Her feet?
10:01Why, uh, they're missing.
10:05A lot of stuff's been missing from around here lately, Holmes.
10:07What happens when you double down on both the budget
10:11and the madness of an indie horror comedy?
10:13You get Bride of Rheanimate, a sequel to the 1985 cult classic.
10:17Brian Neusner's direct-to-video film
10:19delved deeper into Herbert West's twisted obsession,
10:22first explored and filmed by Stuart Gordon and company in Rheanimate.
10:25West wasn't just reanimating the dead, he was stitching together life from the ground
10:36up in the second entry.
10:37With two to $2.5 million to work with, up from the original's estimated $900,000 to $1.3 million
10:44budget, Yuzna amped up blood-splatter chaos.
10:47However, anything beyond the gore like character development or plot cohesion
10:51was tossed out of frame, according to critics.
10:54Though, that didn't stop a Spanish-American installment of the franchise from popping up
10:58in 2003.
10:59Fascinating.
11:01I was just a piece of ass for you.
11:03No, never.
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11:24Number 1.
11:25Terrifier 2
11:26Hey, did you hear what I said?
11:29Despite delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming for Terrifier 2 managed to wrap in
11:392021, resulting in an indie horror flick that's often considered better than the first film.
11:44Through the twisted vision of Damien Leone, we once again follow a story featuring sadistic
11:49killer Art the Clown.
11:59Picking up where the 2016 movie left off, only bloodier and bolder, Terrifier 2 had a budget
12:04that jumped from a measly $35,000 to $250,000 with help from a Leone-launch Indiegogo campaign.
12:12This time, the gore also jumped in such intensity that there were fans who reportedly puked in
12:17theaters.
12:18Though we wish we could unsee that infamous scene with Allie and her mom, it also helped
12:22make the film unforgettable.
12:24The film truly checked every box.
12:26Low-budget horror done right, with mostly positive critical reviews and a strong $15.7 million
12:32made at the box office, it's no surprise we saw a Terrifier 3 in 2024.
12:44What sequel did you not expect to be made on such a low budget?
12:48Let us know in the comments down below.
12:49A burnt-out, desolate man.
12:53A man haunted by the demons of his past.
12:58A man who wandered out into the wasteland.
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