Top 10 Low Budget Blockbuster Ripoffs That Were Actually Good

The successful release of “Jaws” in 1975 opened the floodgates to countless rip-off films based on the “when animals attack” concept. While some of them were just phony attempts at cashing in on “Jaws’” success, others, like Joe Dante’s “Piranha” seem to have aged pretty well. Hailed by Steven Spielberg as “the best of the Jaws ripoffs,” the film’s tongue-in-cheek, smart-alecky humor balances out its bloody violence quite perfectly. And while the special effects aren’t the best in the biz, for a movie that’s well aware of its parody status, it just seems to work. “Piranha” is economical filmmaking, sure, but it was successful enough to not only spawn a sequel in 1982, but a series of remakes that continued through the 2010s.

The Italian film industry was somewhat notorious for taking the premises of big, blockbuster movies from America, and delivering their own amplified versions at home. “1990: The Bronx Warriors,” was certainly no exception. Directed by notable Italian director Enzo G. Castellari, the film combined the plot of John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” with a cast of colorful street gangs, a la Walter Hill’s “The Warriors.” The end result is a film that captures your attention, with an impressive list of American character actors, including Christopher Connelly, Vic Morrow and Fred Williamson. Sure, the lead actor, Mark Gregory, is almost comically stiff, but when the explosions are this big, and the costumes so over-the-top, who really cares?

1989 was a little late for yet another addition to the slasher boom that was already petering out. Yet, it’s this tardiness that, in a way, makes “Intruder” stand out from other horror films released that year. Of course, it helps that director Scott Spiegel was a close associate of horror icon Sam Raimi, having co-written the screenplay for ”Evil Dead II”. Still, “Intruder” is a “Halloween” derivative that manages to be quite original in its own right. The grocery store setting is eerie, for one, and the acting is universally better than many of the film’s contemporaries at the time. Top that off with a cinematography that is able to drum up palpable tension and you have an all-around solid slasher.

Hey, have you ever wondered what a movie like “Rambo: First Blood Part II” or “Missing in Action” might sound like with a LOT more yelling? Well, then wonder no more, because we’re about to drop the bomb that is 1987’s “Strike Commando.” The film stars Reb Brown in a performance that is hyper-masculine to a ridiculous degree, and features the actor in full-rage mode for most of its runtime. “Strike Commando” fires off rounds, blows up jungle huts and sets up some mother-truckin’ explosions, all the while keeping plot points as threadbare as possible. Meanwhile, Brown yells, shouts, screams and basically stays on overkill from first frame to last. Frankly, it’s a thing of excessive beauty.

There’s probably a running tally somewhere as to which film has seen more low-budgeted rip offs: “Jaws” or “Alien.” We’re honestly not sure of the answer, but we have the latter to thank for this Italian spawn. Director Luigi Cozzi basically has one trick in his back pocket throughout the entire film: some unfortunate soul gets splattered to smithereens by giant alien eggs. It’s a hell of a trick, and he uses it over and over and over again, sometimes to not-so-bad effect. The clean-up crew on “Alien Contamination” certainly deserved some serious overtime, because this is one messy film. Further bolstered by a great, prog rock score, “Alien Contamination” proudly wears its creative influences on its slimy sleeves.

You know you’re doing something right when that little “King Kong” rip-off you produced ends up becoming a favorite of none other than Quentin Tarantino. Originally released in 1977, “The Mighty Peking Man” was re-released on DVD in 1999 by Tarantino’s “Rolling Thunder Pictures”. The film is a monstrously entertaining riff, not so much on the original “Kong,” but rather Dino De Laurentiis’ macro-budgeted remake from 1976. This Shaw Brothers Studio production thankfully doesn’t skimp on some impressive tricks of its own, with their own giant ape containing tons of personality and a great monkey suit. “The Mighty Peking Man” is definitely an admirable pick for movie night, while you’re waiting for that next Monsterverse flick to drop.

Beginning from the late ‘70s, there certainly was no shortage of outer space epics seeking to capitalize on the worldwide success of “Star Wars”. At the same time, the ‘80s also brought with them a new 3-D craze, and right in the middle of that Venn diagram sits “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”. The flick absolutely delivers a charming space opera with a solid cast, including a young Molly Ringwald and a devilish Michael Ironside as the villain. The make-up and practical effects are well-handled, and Elmer Bernstein delivers a rousing score. These, plus the pretty great action scenes, all add up to give one of the most underrated video-rental hits of the decade.

The Blaxploitation genre, to its credit, has probably seen more films utilize its stylistic tropes than the other way around. But for some of the directors within the genre, there was still a lot of inspiration elsewhere. Enter “Abby”. The 1974 horror flick is sometimes subtitled, “The Black Exorcist,” and if that’s not a clear indicator as to the film’s intentions, then we don’t know what is. However, this doesn’t mean that “Abby” is shoddily made. It takes the premise of “The Exorcist” and plays around with it, replacing the possessing demon with a Yoruba deity named Eshu. With William Girdler at the helm and Carol Speed giving her all as the titular character, “Abby” is definitely far from shabby.

“Piranha” vs. “Orca:” who ya got? Well, if the criteria is bloody, horrific violence, then 1977’s “Orca” might have the market cornered because it certainly pulls no punches. The film, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, is an unapologetic riff on “Jaws,” complete with an outstanding cast, including Bo Derek, Charlotte Rampling and Richard Harris. The humor used in “Piranha” is clearly missing here, but that’s in part what makes “Orca” work. The movie takes itself seriously, seeking to deliver a compelling horror tale, with frightening animal attack sequences. And you know what? They all come together pretty nicely. Through it all, Ennio Morricone’s classy score keeps “Orca” from veering too hard into exploitation territory. This one’s surely a keeper.

It doesn’t matter if you call it “Zombie,” “Zombi 2” or “Zombie Flesh Eaters”. Regardless, it would never have been possible without the works of pioneering filmmaker George A. Romero. Thankfully, this Italian horror gem takes the boundary-pushing template of Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead'' and amplifies the violence even further, to an almost uncomfortable degree. There’s a reason why “Zombi 2” was one of the U.K.'s original “video nasties,” and it's thanks, in part, to director Lucio Fulci’s hall-of-fame level gore. The splinter sequence alone gained infamy during the film’s original theatrical and VHS runs. For that and more, it’s become something of a rite-of-passage film for any young movie buff seeking the early extremities of horror.