Best Cult Films Ever
- Thread starter BAYLOR
- Start date
Le Panda du Mal
Well-Known Member
It's a terrific film , disturbing and controversial . It ruined director James Whale's career .
Ive seen this one, it's a very hard film to forget once you've seen it.
Soldier of Orange (Survival Run in the UK) A movie about the Dutch resistance to the Nazis. Some torture and execution scenes have haunted me ever since. In places It is not an easy film to watch.
Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Stars Rutger Hauer
Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Stars Rutger Hauer
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2018
- Messages
- 1,504
If a cult movie becomes mainstream or for all intents and purposes it is watched as any other movie would be watched or for no particular reason except to watch another movie, is it still a cult movie? Does a cult movie need something out of the ordinary to be a cult movie in the first place. Perhaps something that makes it not so popular in the first place or maybe their are different kinds of cult movies. Like the best cult movies would be rated PG for everyone, so when it becomes very popular, it's like no one noticed it, but now its no longer a cult movie, its just a regular movie. Perhaps the movie went unnoticed because it was written off by the execs and was shown in only two theaters or it tried to go big and only took in pocket change.
Here are two science fiction cult movies I like for the expression of ideas, but are not for everyone. They are not the best of the best cult movies, but they are the best of some kind of cult movie.
Videodrome, or as I end up calling it Videodome because I never use the word drome. A Canadian film by David Croneberg, starring James Woods, probably his first horror role and Debbie Harry who only appeared in 4 movies. A true box office bomb. Some people think its outdated, using old VHS and UHF technology and vacuum tube picture tube tvs. The concept is not outdated, but the content probably means it will never be mainstream. I see it now and then and it still gives me the creeps thinking about people interacting with video signals.
Here are two science fiction cult movies I like for the expression of ideas, but are not for everyone. They are not the best of the best cult movies, but they are the best of some kind of cult movie.
Videodrome, or as I end up calling it Videodome because I never use the word drome. A Canadian film by David Croneberg, starring James Woods, probably his first horror role and Debbie Harry who only appeared in 4 movies. A true box office bomb. Some people think its outdated, using old VHS and UHF technology and vacuum tube picture tube tvs. The concept is not outdated, but the content probably means it will never be mainstream. I see it now and then and it still gives me the creeps thinking about people interacting with video signals.
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2018
- Messages
- 1,504
Naked Lunch, 1993, directed by David Cronenberg and starring Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, and Roy Scheider. It's very loosely based on the 1959 novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. Another piece of art that isn't for everyone, most likely because Cronenberg isn't trying to please anyone. People are still out to lunch as to whether Burroughs' work is literature or something else. A real box office bomb with no real chance of becoming mainstream. The movie is displayed in another, much more colorful dimension separate from the crazed human experience that Burroughs' books and life portrayed in the real world.
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
If you know, then you know...
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
Lynch's funniest film.
I don't know what makes a cult film a cult film either but here's one that I think is vastly underappreciated:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - heart breaking, and funny, and life affirming, and stuffed full of catchy songs. I love it to bits.
It's almost like a Phillip K. Dick Story .
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2018
- Messages
- 1,504
Here is an example of two extremes being at absolutely opposite ends of the cult spectrum. The first anime movie I saw was Akira on VHS, I have watched a lot of anime since then. Akira has done everything, been everywhere, credited with just about everything. You don't need 4K 10,000 colors super sharp video to get the full impact of the show because it is an all out assault on your senses. I haven't seen it in years though it is still incredibly popular. It comes across as manufactured reality. Maybe too wildly popular to be cult.
About the same time another anime movie came out, My Neighbor Totoro, takes place in post war Japan, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It is the softest movie I have ever seen. I remember Akira as a collection of disconnected events. I still see My Neighbor Totoro quit clearly as a story. Its become incredibly popular but has a far softer impact than Akira. The original animation was extremely soft, being an early accomplishment with fewer dollars to create it is simply hand painted using fewer frames that reduces fluidity of the images. But that doesn't matter, its a detailed surrealistic impressionist story about two little girls befriended by wood spirits which explores supernatural spirits existing in everything, everything is alive, environmentalism and the joys of rural living. Something you can believe in.
About the same time another anime movie came out, My Neighbor Totoro, takes place in post war Japan, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It is the softest movie I have ever seen. I remember Akira as a collection of disconnected events. I still see My Neighbor Totoro quit clearly as a story. Its become incredibly popular but has a far softer impact than Akira. The original animation was extremely soft, being an early accomplishment with fewer dollars to create it is simply hand painted using fewer frames that reduces fluidity of the images. But that doesn't matter, its a detailed surrealistic impressionist story about two little girls befriended by wood spirits which explores supernatural spirits existing in everything, everything is alive, environmentalism and the joys of rural living. Something you can believe in.
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
Cronenberg was obviously a Dick fan - he even has a fast food takeaway called Perky Pats in eXistenze.
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2008
- Messages
- 7,104
I never really understood what "Cult" is, or what elevates something to cult status. I'd like to nominate Martin Scorcesse's After Hours. I've only ever seen it once, but it really made an impact. The Prince Charles Cinema show it on occasion, but i've not been in a position to attend. I will one day. I've not yet met anyone else who has seen it.
I also think that David Lynch's version of Dune rates as a cult movie and it's certainly one of my favourites. I wold love to have seen a Directors cut of this.
I also think that David Lynch's version of Dune rates as a cult movie and it's certainly one of my favourites. I wold love to have seen a Directors cut of this.
pogopossum
Swamp Critter
What's a cult film?
For me it's a work that has a following that is not duplicated by general acclaim, perhaps due to obscurity, but with an intense following who appreciate it, or the fact that it is horrible (with possible redeeming virtues.) but again with appreciators. Thus Room qualifies even though it is a horrible film. The original Day the Earth Stood Still does not, as almost any film or SF fan appreciates the content. The point being that unknown or otherwise scorned films would seem to qualify. Quirkiness is another qualifier.
With that wordy preface, I would suggest Blow Dry, a British film starring Alan Rickman. It was well received, but when I mention it as the best combination of edge & warmth in my experience, nobody has heard of it. Perhaps this has to do with my being American. Looking it up, it does have a core with huge appreciation. Thus it qualifies on two counts.
For me it's a work that has a following that is not duplicated by general acclaim, perhaps due to obscurity, but with an intense following who appreciate it, or the fact that it is horrible (with possible redeeming virtues.) but again with appreciators. Thus Room qualifies even though it is a horrible film. The original Day the Earth Stood Still does not, as almost any film or SF fan appreciates the content. The point being that unknown or otherwise scorned films would seem to qualify. Quirkiness is another qualifier.
With that wordy preface, I would suggest Blow Dry, a British film starring Alan Rickman. It was well received, but when I mention it as the best combination of edge & warmth in my experience, nobody has heard of it. Perhaps this has to do with my being American. Looking it up, it does have a core with huge appreciation. Thus it qualifies on two counts.
Last edited:
The original Trancers was a good movie with some funny scenes, like an angry Santa in the mall, or the smelly homeless dude playing baseball with empty bottles, with other hobos cheering him on.
It was obviously kind of copying the plot to The Terminator, but Tim Thomerson was a hoot as the cop Jack Deth from the future, having fun with Helen Hunt's Lena character in his ancestor's body. Really, the scene is hilarious where he returns to 1985, just from being berated in the future by his superiors, to realize he never got laid.
The sequels were a mixed bag. They even had this Xenia like world for 4 and 5. The trancers acted like vampires, and it was pretty dumb. The 6th film had a girl in the lead role. But the budget was noticeably terrible, and Tim Thomerson did not return.
It was obviously kind of copying the plot to The Terminator, but Tim Thomerson was a hoot as the cop Jack Deth from the future, having fun with Helen Hunt's Lena character in his ancestor's body. Really, the scene is hilarious where he returns to 1985, just from being berated in the future by his superiors, to realize he never got laid.
The sequels were a mixed bag. They even had this Xenia like world for 4 and 5. The trancers acted like vampires, and it was pretty dumb. The 6th film had a girl in the lead role. But the budget was noticeably terrible, and Tim Thomerson did not return.
| Thread starter | Similar threads | Forum | Replies | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | Best Cult Novels and Stores Ever | Book Discussion | 13 | |
| B | Best Cult Tv Shows Ever part II | General TV Discussion | 13 | |
| S | Best ship name in the Culture series? | Iain M Banks | 26 | |
|
Best Iain M Banks Culture novels to start with? | Iain M Banks | 20 | |
| T | Best tv Cult Ever? | General TV Discussion | 13 |