By Michael A. Dyer
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When one considers low budget horror movies, a few things come to mind. Of course, we have such offerings as THE TOXIC AVENGER ($500,000) from Troma Entertainment, and many of the straight to video features of the 80’s and 90’s utilized similar budgets (and far less), which are considered “shoestring” by the standards of Hollywood film-making.
The classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was produced for $114,000, while THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE had a budget of roughly $140,000. One of the more recent offerings is the film SKINAMARINK which was made for only $15,000 dollars.
While all of the above mentioned films are considered success stories, making millions at the box office and home video, there’s an underrated gem from 2012 entitled FOUND, which was independently produced for a mere $8000 bucks out of my home state of Indiana.
Written and directed by local filmmaker Scott Schirmer, FOUND has established a bit of a cult following over the past decade, particularly with streaming, yet still remains a relatively unknown horror offering made all the more impressive by the excellent utilization of its micro-budget.
FOUND tells the story of a 12-year-old boy named Marty who is bullied at school, obsessed with horror movies, and soon discovers that his older brother is a gas mask wearing serial killer, keeping decapitated heads inside a bowling ball bag in his closet (who doesn’t?).
The controversial film was banned in Australia for “prolonged and detailed depictions of sexualized violence”, and the United States is currently the only country where you can find the unedited version. While it received positive reviews from horror critics upon the time of its release, it has pretty much remained under the radar to all but the most devoted genre fans.
Often appearing in social media threads dedicated to the “most disturbing movies of all time”, there are definitely some uncomfortable scenes in FOUND, particularly towards the end climax which involves (off-screen) rape and incest. There is also ample usage of both racial slurs as well as homophobic language, depicted by underage actors, which surely didn’t help in finding a wider audience.
FOUND is a very off kilter “coming of age” horror story, with better acting, plot, and direction than it has any right to be on such a low budget. In that regard it should serve as an inspiring piece of cinema for any aspiring filmmakers on how much can be accomplished with so little. If anyone out there reading this today wants to send me $8000 dollars to make a cool movie, my Cashapp is $mad2679 !
The film generated enough underground buzz that, through Kickstarter, it managed to garner a sequel with the 2015 film HEADLESS which is, cleverly, a movie within the movie. HEADLESS is a fictional horror movie we are first introduced to in FOUND, and implied as being an inspiration for the serial killer’s methods and deranged mental state (on VHS).
Described as a “lost slasher film from 1978”, it manages to raise the bar on depravity with shocking scenes of murder, cannibalism, and necrophilia (not to mention the gnarly eating of several oozing eyeballs). Make no mistake, HEADLESS is a trashy and sleazy piece of exploitative cinema that is so over-the-top gross as to almost be a parody. I can’t help but to wonder if it served as a bit of thematic inspiration for the excessive gore and smut of TERRIFIER (2016).
FOUND and HEADLESS are definitely not suitable for family movie night, the faint of heart, or the easily offended. We’re dealing with some really sick serial killers and a few uncomfortable scenes. There are, unfortunately, no happy endings to be had here. However, if you’re in the mood for something a little bit shocking, disturbing and gross, then you’ll want to check out these low budget features from Bloomington, Indiana.
It’s in no way one of my favorite horror films, however it is criminally underrated, deserves another look, and extremely impressive in terms of budget. If y’all ever feel like making it a double feature, FOUND is currently available for free on TUBI, while HEADLESS can be watched on PLEX.
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Michael A. Dyer is the host of the HORROR TO CULTURE podcast and website.
