“The biggest and best movies are always backed by a substantial budget” is a sentiment that you will never hear from the horror crowd. Even though a finely polished horror experience with big-name actors and expensive effects can be nice, there is a lot of quality content to be found by looking at b-movies, or even z-grade cinema. These movies have often pushed the genre forward in fascinating ways compared to their big-budget counterparts; you can argue The Evil Dead with its budget of $375k is just as influential as The Shining with its 19 million dollar budget.
Out of all the eras of low-budget horror, the ’80s perhaps had the biggest hits and were the most beloved and influential time period for horror movies. Of course, the availability of VHS during the 1980s helped a lot of these productions find footing in the home video market, but many filmmakers still pushed for excellence, wanting to reach new audiences outside the theater system. These 10 movies exemplify some of the best low-budget horror from the ’80s.
10 Slime City (1988)
$50,000 Budget
Looking to impress his girlfriend by proving his independence, struggling art student Alex rents a small rundown apartment in New York City. As Alex begins to meet his neighbors, he notices many bizarre things about them, including their desire to have him try this concoction which they just refer to as ‘wine.’ Eventually persuaded into drinking the substance, Alex finds that his body is now coated with a toxic slime and that he now has violent desires. It becomes up to his girlfriend Lori to stop him and end his misery.
The Slimiest Horror Movie from the ’80s
Slime City is certainly rough around the edges, with a budget of around 100k, which mostly comes across in the quality of film and audio. Where did the bulk of the budget go? Practical effects.
If you ever wanted to see a man melt in all the potential gloopy glory, then Slime City is your must-watch low-budget masterpiece. The movie also has a great comedic edge to it with its kills, including one scene where someone punches through a melting man only to come out with a bloody stub. The ending is also wonderfully chaotic and extra goo-filled.
Stream Slime City on Tubi or Plex.
9 Evil Dead (1981)
$375,000 Budget
Five college students who embark on a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods of Tennessee, only to have their getaway quickly interrupted when they find previous records of the past owners. Playing an audio diary that reads passages from the Necronomicon, the group awakens an ancient evil that terrorizes them throughout the night. As they fall one by one and turn into demonic creatures, deadites, one survivor, Ash Williams, has to fight for his sanity and life.
Synonymous with Low Budget Ingenuity in the Horror Genre
It is pretty amazing to consider what Sam Raimi was able to create with The Evil Dead on a budget of $375k, and we are not just talking about the subsequent franchise that spawned out of the movie. The perfect horror comedy, packed with practical effects that were revolutionary and ahead of their time, punctuated by Raimi’s wholly original cinematography, makes The Evil Dead synonymous with low-budget ingenuity.
You have a horror legend born in Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, the standard set for chaotic evil, and the list goes on as to what makes the movie such a remarkable stand-out. Sam Raimi also outdid himself with Evil Dead II, which is also a must-watch for horror fans.
You can stream The Evil Dead on AMC+.
8 Re-Animator (1981)
$900,000 Budget
Herbert West arrives at a New England medical school after a disastrous stint in Switzerland, where he was outed due to unethical experimentation on the dead. Here he meets fellow student Dan, who he rents a room off of. Dan ends up becoming involved in the experiments when he learns that West may have figured out how to raise the dead. Unfortunately, West’s creations are violent when resurrected, causing the scientist to always seek fresh subjects for his experiments.
Ghastly Experiments with the Dead
Stuart Gordon certainly made his mark on horror with his Lovecraft-inspired horror movies, and Re-Animator stands out as his most accomplished work. With a career-defining performance by Jeffrey Combs, who would go on to become a genre staple.
The dark comedic beats of Re-Animator blending gore and gags were infectious to the fandom. The low budget allowed director Stuart Gordon a lot of freedom to take the movie into some weight places, including the infamous ‘head giving head’ scene. The effects are spectacular as well, and impressive for what was managed on a limited budget. One of the best horror comedies of the 1980s.
You can stream Re-Animator on Fandor, Plex, or Midnight Pulp.
7 Mystics in Bali (1981)
Budget Unknown
An American anthropologist, Cathy, has traveled to Bali with her partner to learn about black magic, specifically the myth of a vampire-like creature known as the Leák. This leads her to a mystic who ends up placing a curse on Cathy, who then becomes a vampiric creature at night, feeding on others. It is up to her boyfriend to try to reverse the curse.
A Great Place to Start
Mystics in Bali, whose budget is unknown but likely shoe-string, is one of the best horror films to come out of Indonesia at the time. For Westerners, there is a degree of novelty in seeing a Leák (Leyak), a vampire that disconnects itself from the body of its host to hunt; seeing the head floating, using its guts as a makeshift helicopter, will certainly appeal to many horror fans looking for novelty.
The movie is over-the-top and unintentionally camp in a way that makes it oddly endearing. There are a lot of gems to discover from Indonesia during this era beyond this vampire stand-out, but Mystics in Bali is a great place to start.
6 Blood Diner
$300,000 Budget
While one could go so far as to call Blood Dinerso-bad-its-good, with its absurd mix of elements and performances, this is doing the movie a slight disservice. Instead, you have a horror movie able to do whatever it wants under the freedom that comes with a low-budget. Sci-fi, rock n roll, wrestling, ancient curses, a deep-fried head, Blood Diner throws a lot against the wall hoping something will stick. It is utterly charming for the amount of tangents it goes on. Director Jackie Kong is also an underappreciated talent of ’80s horror, making her mark as one of the few women working in the male-dominated era.
You can stream Blood Diner on The Roku Channel.
5 Evil Dead Trap (1988)
$500,000 Budget
Nami Tsuchiya, a late-night TV show host desperate for ratings, decides to head to an abandoned factory to investigate a supposed snuff video sent to her from the location. With a crew in tow, the members start getting picked off one by one, as a masked killer targets each. However, the killer seems to have a special connection with Nami, and lures her to learn the true reason she was contacted through the cryptic video.
A Japanese Horror Movie That Mashes Up Many Styles
It can be fascinating to see how horror gets re-interpreted and remodeled when it heads overseas, and Evil Dead Trap is a bizarre amalgamation of b-movie madness, giallo thrills, exploitation, Japanese culture, and body horror. This concoction could have been a mess, but Toshiharu Ikeda manages to make the best of all genres to craft an engaging tale of terror and mystery. The Japanese horror movie has style in abundance. Its cinematography and its creative kills are really impressive for its limited budget. The ending will entirely catch audiences off guard.
You can stream Evil Dead Trap on Prime Video, AMC+, Shudder, Screambox, or Plex.
4 Basket Case (1982)
$35,000 Budget
Duane Bradley, a young awkward man, arrives in New York City carrying only with him a wad of cash and a wicker basket. Inside the basket is a deformed creature who urges Duane to get revenge for events in the past. As he aids in a series of murders, Duane begins to have second thoughts when he falls in love, and weighs the option of abandoning the monstrosity he is psychically to.
What’s in the Basket?
If you want to take a walk on the more gritty side of ’80s horror, Basket Case captures the atmosphere of New York’s infamous hub for deviant activity, 42nd Street, like no other. The low budget gives Basket Case a grimy charm to it, but it is the dark comedy and ghastly creature design of Belial that has helped cement the movie’s cult status. Director Frank Hennenlotter would make a handful of great movies in the era, including the critically maligned Frankenhooker, and all of his films are worth your time.
You can stream Basket Case on AMC+, Shudder, Fandor, Tubi, or Fandor.
3 TerrorVision (1986)
$1 Million Budget
The Putterman family, looking to enter into the modern era of technology, install a new satellite television system. However, their new system picks up a signal from an alien planet called Pluton, transporting a creature known as the “Hungry Beast” into their home. The alien creature starts chowing down on the neighbors, but the Putterman kids learn to satiate it with TV and junk food, and start charging people to see the monster.
Campy Horror Comedy Soaked in ’80s Style
From the opening track from the oddball new wave band The Fibonaccis, accompanied by a ‘totally tubular’ opening sequence, TerrorVisioninstantly makes its mark as perhaps the most ’80s horror movie ever to embrace all the clichés of the era.
Terror Vision embraces and exaggerates the fashion and lifestyle of the era in a way that will tickle that pseudo-nostalgia many fans have for the ’80s. Throw in some great creature effects, and a bizarre twisting plot that incorporates sci-fi elements, and this low-budget gem is one of the best to capture the absurdness of the era.
2 Class of Nuke ‘Em High
$400,000 Budget
Tromaville High School sees an uprising among its students when a nearby nuclear power plant leaks into the school and is consumed by some of the kids. Notably, the honor society transforms into violent, deviant punks hellbent on causing as much chaos as possible. The school then becomes a battleground as those unchanged face a new threat.
A Punk-Fueled Horror-Comedy From the House of Troma
One would be amiss not to mention the best low-budget horror movies without evoking the name of Troma, who produced and distributed a massive library of b-movie absurdity.
Appealing to punk and outsider culture, indie filmmaking at its most rebellious, the production company made many absurd gems. It is difficult to pick just one. While there is a lot of love for The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High is so high energy and outrageous that it perfectly encapsulates a lot of the passion of b-movies of the era. The effects here are great, the cast hilarious, and the humor is wonderfully dark.
You can stream Class of Nuke Em High on AMC+, Shudder, Troma Now, Peacock Tubi, or Plex.
1 Hellraiser (1987)
$1 Million Budget
Larry, Julia, and Kristy move into an old family home previously owned by Larry’s estranged brother Frank, who was a globe-trotting thrill seeker who, unbeknownst to the family, was killed by an ancient artifact he found. As the family settles in, a blood spill brings Frank back from the dead, and he begins to rely on Julia, to find his victims to rebuild his body. The creatures that took him, Cenobites, end up returning when Julia solves their puzzle, but she bargains her temporary freedom by offering to bring them the escaped Frank.
Heaven for Some, Hell for Others
Written and directed by author Clive Barker, Hellraiser was certainly a surprise hit, sparking a franchise. While it seems contradictory, the horror movie can be seen as a flawed masterpiece, having all the shortcomings of a relatively fresh director (Barker had made the sloppy Rawhead Rex previously), Hellraiser was still innovative in both effects and the blending of eroticism and horror.
Practical effects wizard Bill Keen was able to do a lot on a budget of less than $1 million. This included crafting the now iconic Cenobites, the ghastly resurrection of Frank, and the large puppet known as “The Engineer.” As a result, Hellraiser offered a very particular brand of horror that has yet to really be duplicated, though some of its sequels have seen moderate success in capturing the low-budget ingenuity and mix of pain and pleasure of the first movie.
Stream Hellraiser on Prime, AMC+, Shudder or Arrow.
