I have to admit I'm brand new to Cult Classics, and after seeing this film, I want more.
Can anyone recommend their favorite bizarre movies like this? I'd love to make a rental list!
Thanks!
Freaks,Plan 9 from Outer Space(anything by Ed Wood),Them!,Bloodsucking Freaks,and for documentaries:Mondo Cane and The Miss Nude America Contest.That should get you started.ENJOY!
shareAnything by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Russ Meyer, Ted V. Mikels, and Ed Wood, as already mentioned. Mario Bava is one of my favorite directors. His movies aren't really campy or funny, but they're amazing. When I was a teenager I had a book called Incredibly Strange Films. It's put out by Re/Search. It's available on Amazon. It's a wealth of information and has alot of interesting interviews. The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film are great resources. Revenge is my Destiny is a website I found. Films are listed by genre and there are short reviews. http://www.revengeismydestiny.com/Genres.html
Here's another link to a website about 50's-60's horror movies. http://www.missinglinkclassichorror.co.uk/azmovies.htm
Something Weird Video is a great company that puts out movies. You can get alot of information from their website as well.
http://www.somethingweird.com/
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The exact definition of a "cult" film is a little hard to pin down. Many of them cross different genres (is "Rocky Horror" musical? Horror? Comedy?), making some hard to classify into anything BUT "cult." And besides the film itself, there's also the type of audience that attaches itself to the film. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of "Boondock Saints," but I know there are people who LOVE it... which I think gets to the heart of a cult film. Some people will "get" it, LOVE it, others might be a bit indifferent, or write them off as weird altogether.
Some interesting examples I might suggest you check out:
*Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai (I didn't really like it, but it's weird enough to only be called "cult")
*Battle Royale
*Beyond The Valley of the Dolls
*Big Lebowski (like "Fight Club" and "Scarface," this is an example of a film that kinda earned its cult not so much by its weirdness, but by not being embraced/understood by most of the mainstream)
*Dead Alive
*Death Race 2000
*Eating Raoul
*El Topo (there's a fair amount of crossover between "midnight movies" and cult films, and this 1970 film has been called one of the first true midnight movies)
*Evil Dead 2 / Army of Darkness (and to a lesser degree "Evil Dead," which is more straight horror)
*Fight Club
*Forbidden Zone
*Harold and Maude
*Ichi The Killer
*Killer Klowns From Outer Space
*Liquid Sky
*Monty Python & The Holy Grail
*Night Of The Comet
*Pink Flamingoes
*Reefer Madness (meant to be taken serious when released, laughable now)
*Repo Man
*Scarface
*Skidoo
*The Warriors
*This Is Spinal Tap
*Toxic Avenger, The
*They Live
The Wanderers
Shakes the clown
Blood Feast
Withnail and I
Let it Ride
Blood Simple
Inserts
These are cult classics for a variety of reasons, but I go with the definition as films that found a small audience of people that really find them to be classic or even cherish them, but that are far from the mainstream. Blood Feast is the only one that is a "so bad it is good" sort of film. Maybe Shakes as well. I think they are often "Love em or hate em films" with just a small middle ground. For instance, I hated "Eating Raoul"
Under my definition it would be hard to put Clockwork Orange in the list.(Heck I think it even won best picture) though a great and unmissable film it is. And 'Scarface" shouldn't really be in such a list,but I can see an argument for it as well. Lot of people paid to see the film though it really had a phenomenal post theatrical release revival.
Scream Of The Butterfly
The Shuttered Room
Mudhoney
I have that book Incredibly Strange Films - full of B-movie treats and drive-in classics.
I would suggest you check out the originals to alot of the remakes that have come out recently:
-The Fog,Precinct 13,Halloween(John Carpenter)
-The Hills Have Eyes 1 and 2(Wes Craven)
-Black Christmas(Bob Clark)
But then check out the lesser know films by these directors:
-Dark Star(John Carpenter)
-Last House On The Left(Wes Craven)
-Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things(Bob Clark)
I'd also throw in:
-Day of the Woman aka I Spit On Your Grave(Meir Zarchi)
-Haute tension aka High Tension(Alexandre Aja)
Happiness is a warm gun...Lennon/McCartney
We're all gonna be just dirt in the ground....Tom Waits
The greatest movie of all time: For Your Height Only. Imagine: a super agent kung-fu ninja...midget. In a leisure suit. In the Philippines. Dubbed by a bunch of hippies smoking weed. Trust the MooCow, very few films come even close.
ALTHOUGH.... Blood Freak, Jesus Christ Vampire Killer, Drunekn Wu Tang, and Rat Fink a Boo Boo come awfully close!
:=8D
Freaks (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Night Tide ( B/W 60's movie with Dennis Hopper)
Carnival of Souls
Dementia 13 (early Francis Ford Coppola)
THX 1138
Also Mystery Science Theater 3000 has shown a bunch of funny ones:
The Atomic Brain
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The Sinister Urge
The Wild World of Batwoman (stupid, but very funny)
Surprised to see only one other person mentioned the great stinker
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
how about THE HAUNTING (the original 60's black and white version with Julie Harris, not the lame remake with Owen Wilson...)
and how can anyone forget: (drumroll please....)
WICKERMAN (again NOT the lame remake, but the original...with another great horror actor...Christopher Lee...)
YES!!! I've got that one, too. The wooden box set edition.
Bring back Arrested Development
"Surprised to see only one other person mentioned the great stinker
CARNIVAL OF SOULS "
Personally I wouldn't call it a stinker, I think it's an excellent film.
Hey, this guy's not gonna leak all over my ice cream, is he?share