Money is rarely a great indicator of quality. This is never more true than it is at the cinema. In a saturated market, achieving both critical and box office success is akin to catching lightning in a bottle. As the film-going landscape continues to change, genres and stars that were once sure things are no longer guarantees of financial success. Even action movies with stars like Angelina Jolie or directors like Michael Bay struggle alongside mid-budget comedies and arthouse offerings.

The climate surrounding theatrical release and marketing budgets results in a lot of excellent films falling through the cracks and failing at the box office. For the viewer and action-lover looking to step out of the franchise-laden mainstream, there is a wealth of incredible cinema waiting to be seen.

10 ‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ (2021)

Budget: $20 million – Box office: $19 million

Smokejumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) and teen boy Connor (Finn Little) form an unlikely alliance when they cross paths in the middle of the Montana wilderness. After a tragic accident in the line-of-duty, Hannah isolates herself and takes on the lonely task of monitoring a fire lookout station in the woods. Her choice lands her in the right place at the right time for Connor, who possesses evidence of a high-profile crime and has a pair of assassins nipping at his heels. Combining all the best parts of a spy-thriller and a natural disaster action blockbuster, Those Who Wish Me Dead deserved better than a box office return nearly at parity with its budget.

In the 1990s a film like Those Who Wish Me Dead would have reigned supreme. The decade saw similar films like Cliffhanger and Backdraft dominating at the box office and recouping their budgets easily. It’s sobering to consider how much an industry and its motivations can change in a generation. In today’s media landscape – where the franchise is king and original projects cost more to market than they do to make – it’s tragically no surprise that this throwback-feeling thriller wasn’t a bigger hit.

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9 ‘Dredd’ (2012)

Budget: $50 million – Box office: $41 million

In 2080 there are no cops and there are no courts. Instead, there are Judges, who serve the roles of judge, jury and executioner. Dredd (Karl Urban) is one of these judges, and he is sent with new recruit Cassandra (Olivia Thirlby) to get to the bottom of a large-scale drug lab operating out of a high-rise tower in Mega-City One. Running the lab is crime kingpin Ma-Ma (Lena Headey). To get to her, Dredd and Cassandra will have to get to the top of the 200-story high-rise. They’ll also have to get through the hundreds of gang members who stand in their way.

Dredd is considered somewhat of a cult classic. This is a status that a film can only achieve by way of some amount of failure. In Dredd‘s case, this failure was financial. With a beefy budget of $50 million, breaking even was always going to be a challenge for this comic book adaptation. However, the grimy charm of this film couldn’t be stifled by a less than stellar theatrical run. Thankfully, Dredd found its audience in its home video release. While it’s unlikely the film will ever get a sequel, it has undeniably captured the audience it initially missed in its theatrical release.

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8 ‘Grindhouse’ (2007)

Budget: $67 million – Box office: $25 million

In 2007, directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez took a chance on Grindhouse. The idea was original and vintage all at the same time. Keen to throw back to the days of exploitation films and double features, Grindhouse was designed as a pre-fab double feature with the intermission and trailers built in. Tarantino and Rodriguez each directed their own feature-length films. Tarantino helmed Death Proof, a mean and action-packed movie about a group of women who cross paths with a murderous stuntman. Rodriguez created Planet Terror, a grungy ode to B-movies and early horror which follows a small town as it is overcome by a zombie horde. Between the feature films were a series of trailers for fake films, including a trailer for the fictional horror film ‘Don’t’, directed by Edgar Wright.

While it was daring and varied, a mixed release strategy and confusion over the film’s structure didn’t help the box-office performance of Grindhouse. Outside the United States and Canada, Death Proof and Planet Terror were released as stand-alone films. The DVD release was also muddled and confusing. The two feature length portions of Grindhouse were separated for DVD release and sold as individual titles with either some or none of the fake trailers included. Despite the messy release and disappointing box office, Grindhouse has had an incredible legacy. Of the film’s five fake trailers, Machete, Hobo With a Shotgun and Thanksgiving would all go on to become feature-length films.

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7 ‘Brawl in Cell Block 99’ (2017)

Budget: $4 million – Box office: $65,000

Bradley (Vince Vaughn) is a former boxer who gets laid off from his job at an auto-repair shop. Struggling financially and trying to build a stable relationship with his wife, Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter), Bradley returns to the life of crime he had been trying to leave behind. This plan goes well for the pair, and Bradley moves up the ranks while working as a drug trafficker and enforcer for his boss. During a high-stakes job, things go wrong and Bradley is arrested. Unwilling to give the police information about his associates, he’s sentenced to seven years in prison.

It isn’t surprising that Brawl in Cell Block 99didn’t perform well at the box office. Its theatrical release was small, and the film’s content is grim, violent, cynical and stomach-turning. In that way, the film shares a lot of DNA with writer and director S. Craig Zahler‘s other work. Uncompromising and pessimistic, Brawl in Cell Block 99 gives viewers an exploitation experience that will be hard to forget – no matter how much they may want to.

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6 ‘War on Everyone’ (2016)

Budget: $9.5 million – Box office: $700,000

Terry (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bob (Michael Peña) are two very corrupt cops beating and blackmailing their way around Albuquerque, New Mexico. After numerous complaints and suspensions the pair are hanging on to their careers by the skin of their teeth. Determined to keep up their criminal ways, even under the threat of losing their jobs, Terry and Bob gather information about an upcoming heist and try to maneuver their way into it.

Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, War on Everyone didn’t quite find its groove upon release and has slipped under the radar as a result. Indulging in a strange mix of tones and genres, the film is a bit too strange and edgy to appeal to lovers of straight-up action films, and a bit too action-packed to service those looking for edgy oddness. Despite its staggering failure at the box office, War on Everyone is bolstered by a great cast and perfect for home viewing.

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5 ‘Mandy’ (2018)

Budget: $6 million – Box office: $1.6 million

Red (Nicolas Cage) and his girlfriend Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) live in peaceful isolation in the mountains of California. Their quiet existence is threatened when Mandy catches the eye and attention of a dangerous cult leader who recruits a cannibalistic biker gang to kidnap her on his behalf. Red’s life is turned upside down by Mandy’s kidnapping, and his once calm demeanor is shattered and replaced with a descent into madness and a thirst for revenge.

Mandy is a psychedelic, action-filled gore fest that takes notes from filmmakers like Alejandro Jodorowsky, Nicolas Winding Refn and Dario Argento to create a film unlike anything else. The film by co-writer and director Panos Cosmatos was unsurprisingly a festival darling after it premiered as a midnight movie at Sundance in 2018. Unfortunately, psychedelic settings, cannibal bikers and a blood-soaked Nicolas Cage aren’t a sure-fire way to guarantee box office success, and Mandy didn’t recoup its budget.

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4 ‘Ambulance’ (2022)

Budget: $40 million – Box office: $52 million

Despite their love for each other, adoptive brothers Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. Will is a veteran with a sick wife and a stack of medical bills he has no way to pay. Danny is a career criminal in the process of arranging a $32 million bank heist. Strapped for cash, Will ignores his better judgment and agrees to help with the heist.

Although Ambulance made slightly more at the box office than its budget, the film’s return was disappointing compared to most of director Michael Bay‘s previous releases. However, the budget was also much smaller than many of Bay’s previous films. $40 million is by no means a small budget, but it is staggeringly small compared to what Bay is able to achieve with it. Overflowing with style, stunts and nauseatingly thrilling camera work, Ambulance is one of Bay’s best.

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3 ‘The Guest’ (2014)

Budget: $5 million – Box office: $2.7 million

When David (Dan Stevens) arrives at the home of the Peterson family, they are thrilled to meet him. Although he’s a stranger, he tells the Petersons that he had served in the military with their son before he died in combat. Desperate for a window into the life of the son they lost, the family welcomes him with open arms and invites him to stay over while he’s in town. Everyone is smitten with the too-good-to-be-true David, except for Anna Peterson (Maika Monroe) who senses that something isn’t right.

The Guest is an action-thriller with a Midwest-gothic sensibility. While the combination is unconventional, it’s absolutely perfect for this Adam Wingard film. The talented but lesser known cast, small budget and slow burn paranoia vibes of The Guest made it a hard sell for audiences during its theatrical run. Despite the lack of financial success, The Guest is on the brink of cult classic status and more than worth a watch.

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2 ‘Free Fire’ (2016)

Budget: $7 million – Box office: $3.7 million

It’s the late 70s and a usually abandoned warehouse is bustling with activity. The warehouse is a meeting place for two vastly different groups of criminals with a mutual interst. South African arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) has several cases of illegal weapons he’s ready to sell to the IRA, led by Chris (Cillian Murphy). Personal rivalries and changes to the deal crank up the tension and the meeting devolves into an enormous shootout.

Free Fire is an incredible action-comedy that doesn’t waste any time getting to the good bits. Almost the entire film is dedicated to a no-holds-barred shootout, which is an incredible achievement considering the small budget. Add to that the jam-packed cast (Brie Larson, Jack Reynor and Armie Hammer star alongside Murphy and Copley) and it’s a tragedy that Free Fire wasn’t a box-office hit. That being said, financial failure isn’t enough to tarnish the impeccable storytelling and action set-pieces that Free Fire has to offer, and it remains a must-watch for any action lover.

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1 ‘Copshop’ (2021)

Budget: $6 million (estimated) – Box office: $6.8 million

Valerie (Alexis Louder) is a rookie cop stuck on the night shift at her small-town police station. The evening starts out poorly when two men are each taken into custody and locked up for a range of drunk and disorderly behavior. Valerie has her work cut out for her when she learns that the two men aren’t as drunk and hopeless as they seem. One is a con artist with a bounty on his head (Frank Grillo) and the other is a hitman looking to collect (Gerard Butler).

Copshop has it all. The action is thrilling, the tensions are high, and the chemistry between the small cast is off the charts. Despite having a limited number of characters and locations, Copshop never feels like it is stretching to achieve something out of its grasp. Instead, it feels charming, gritty and joyful in its exploration of what action can be achieved on a modest budget. Despite the killer concept and star power with Butler in the lead role, Copshop fell through the cracks and was barely able to recoup its budget at the box office. In this case, ticket sales are in no way indicative of quality, and Copshop will surely go on to be considered a hidden gem of action cinema.

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Next:The 10 Best Action Movies of 2023, Ranked