Low-budget movies that became successful (or at least well-known)?

[drumwolf]

I recently saw a list of "Movies With Lowest Budgets to Earn $1 Million at US Box Office," and I thought it was really interesting. The top nine on the list were all made under $100,000:

El Mariachi
Slacker
Deep Throat
The Brothers McMullen
Clerks
Blair Witch Project
Gabriela
Super Size Me
Last House on the Left

What other fairly well-known movies -- not necessarily huge blockbuster hits, but at least receiving widespread exposure and some national distribution -- were made with such a low budget?

For example, I read that "In the Company of Men" was made for $25,000, and "Pink Flamingos" was also made on a budget in that same ballpark. What other movies should be on this list?

[elperromagico]

1. Easy Rider. n/t

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

2. Roger and me?

Just a guess

[elperromagico]

6. Fahrenheit 9/11 would probably be another good choice.

Documentaries are usually pretty cheap, and never make the kind of dough Fahrenheit 9/11 has.

[Spiffarino]

3. Rocky

It was made for about $150,000, so I guess it doesn't necessarily count. But it made millions at the box office and is still making money in video. Probably the biggest bang for the buck movie ever...until F-9/11 that is.

[Zomby Woof]

4. Hollywood Shuffle

Robert Townsend's satirical take about the ongoing lame-ass typecasting of blacks in Hollywood. He financed it himself on credit cards, running up a $100,000 tab. It's quite good! Came out in the late 80's.

[Spiffarino]

8. Saw it.

Great flick. Townsend did a great job with barely enough money to put film in his camera.

[Semi_subversive]

10. This is one of the funniest videos

I have ever seen. My faves were "The Bold, the Black and the Beautiful" and "Sneak-In Theater".

[Zomby Woof]

11. and we give this movie...

THE FINGER! :-)

[mitchtv]

5. night of the Living Dead=

.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. Aranofsky's "Pi"

[No2W2004]

9. The only way Monty Python and the Holy Grail got made

was from money donated by friends and some rock groups like Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd. The coconuts weren't just a gag, that's really all they could afford!

[elperromagico]

12. It was pretty much the same situation with "Life of Brian."

That film probably wouldn't have been made if George Harrison hadn't stepped in and created Handmade Films specifically to produce it.

A lot of the film was shot on the same locations used for the Franco Zefferelli miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, which had been shot a couple of years before.

The only Python film that really had a big budget was Meaning of Life.