New horror film with $15,000 budget is being called 'scariest film ever'

A new horror movie made on a budget of just $15,000 has taken the internet by storm and has been hailed ‘a living nightmare’ and a 'masterpiece'.

Skinamarink was made on a tiny budget compared to most movies, but that certainly hasn’t watered down the fear-factor. Check out the trailer here:

Created by Kyle Edward Ball, the atmospheric horror centres on two children who wake up during the night to discover that they cannot find their father, and that the windows, doors, and all other objects in their house have disappeared. Creepy, eh?

Discussing how he came up with the idea for the movie, Ball told Variety: “I have a YouTube channel where people comment with nightmares they’ve had and I would recreate them.

“The most commonly shared one was basically the same concept: ‘I’m between the ages of 6 to 10. I’m in my house. My parents are either dead or missing, and there’s a threat I have to deal with.’

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"I was interested in that because I have a vivid nightmare from that time, too. I thought it was amazing that almost everyone seems to have this dream, so I wanted to explore this thing. I just ran with it and turned it into a movie.”

Without the sort of budget or backing that would lead to a cinema release, Skinamarink grabbed itself a few slots on various film festivals but attention for the movie grew after a pirated version was shared online.

Since then it’s been popping up regularly on TikTok, where a post claiming the movie was ‘traumatising’ has more than 23,000 likes; as well as Reddit and YouTube.

While on Twitter one fan said: “Skinamarink is easily THE scariest movie I have ever seen. When I wasn’t covering my eyes I was almost in tears out of complete fear."

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Someone else wrote: “Watched Skinamarink alone in the dark last night (which is the best/only way to watch it) and it’s definitely best horror movie of the year. This movie has the most insidious, cursed, and foul energy Ive ever seen.”

Skinamarink has now been picked up by horror streaming platform Shudder and will arrive next year.

Samuel Zimmerman, Shudder’s vice president of programming, told Variety: “‘Skinamarink’ is a distinct gem, a living nightmare that’s some of the most exciting, unsettling new work in the genre.

“Really, it’s the best kind of horror movie, one unlike any other, that announces the arrival of a special new filmmaker.”

Skinamarink will arrive in US cinemas in January and land on Shudder slightly later in 2023.