Don't forget this was crowdfunded by Indiegogo, which raised just over $80,000 - that's not a lot of money to make
any film! It's worth watching the extras, particularly the Director's commentary, in which he talks about the various scenes and the very short amount of time that it had to filmed in - I think it was something silly like 3 days!
He mentioned that the special effects took up much of the budget, and that if there had been more money available, it would've looked better and had some extra scenes in too. I think there were a few of the fans who had funded the film helped out on it for nothing, including the disjointed contortionist creature later in the film. For such a low budget, I commend them for trying. I've watched it 3 times now, and don't regret the tenner that the Bluray cost, as its content is just the sort of horror I like (H.P. Lovecraft/JohnCarpenter). I believe Carpenter's name was mentioned only once during the commentary! The two guys who made it said that they weren't out to copy any other films, it's just that when you're writing a story and improvising it for the screen, it just turns out that way sometimes. It's base story is certainly very Assault On Precinct 13
I agree that it could have been so much more, but it was just a cost issue apparently.