Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/26/50-great-cult-films.html
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Good movies (mostly), but it’s an awfully mainstream cult movie list.
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Not a single John Waters film on there…
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it’s a bit mainstream, and missing Liquid Sky
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No Plague Dogs, either.
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No B.J. Lang Presents:
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It seems that way now, by assimilation, but most of those movies were far from mainstream when they were released.
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Yeah, but I still would have appreciated seeing more obscurities. The list is supposedly the best cult films, not the most popular.
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Sure but a) you know anytime someone puts up a ‘best’ list it is an invitation to an argument, and b) ‘cult’ doesn’t necessarily mean obscure.
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I was only missing Stranger Than Paradise, Paid In Full, MacGruber, and Showgirls - now all queued. Still passing on the Twin Peaks movie, tho, as I feel it’d necessitate seeing the series first and I’ve never had the inclination.
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Oh yeah, I’ve got Peary’s book Cult Films which includes Casablanca because it had a cult following. (Not certain it would qualify now.) But cult does at least imply obscure, and to make a 50 film long list without any obscurities (hell, I suspect Slap Shot’s probably the most unknown title these days) makes me question their commitment to Sparklemotion.
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Obscurity doesn’t mean quite the same thing now as it did when you either had to go out of your way to the art/repetory film theater or hunt the bargain bin at the videostore.
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When I saw Fire Walk With Me, I had only seen the first season of Twin Peaks and had mostly forgotten it. Still enjoyed it immensely. It’s a prequel, so while it does reference events in the original series, you don’t actually have to have seen the series to get it.
Although, it does spoil the original series, so if you still don’t know who killed Laura Palmer and want to maintain your innocence, then I guess you should continue to hold off.
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I would add Phantom of the Paradise, as it seems to fit with the kind of movies (excuse me, films) on the list. Somewhat popular, but extremely strange.
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I think there are good picks on the list, but seriously “Event Horizon”, really? That was a bargain bin Walmart DVD movie. I don’t see how it’s a cult classic since I’ve never heard of people actually liking that movie.
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Bogus, most of those movies weren’t even made by cults!
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It’s a staple in our family stories - the day he went to the video store and rented “a silly space movie” that turned out to be a horror movie in sci-fi weird wrapping. The daughters tapped out no more than 15 minutes in; we stayed to the end. Horrifying. Terrifying. Visually kinda stunning, heavy on the “stun”.
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I always thought of it as being a lot like “Hellraiser”, but instead of opening pandora’s box, they fold space and end up in hell. I admit though that do have an immunity to scary movies as I’ve gotten older.
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No argument there.
Good to see “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on the list, that movie is brilliant.
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