The Ultimate Guide to Cult Films

There are certain elements to really highlight what categorizes a film as a 'cult' classic. Even though the word originates from religious aspects, to have a film be regarded as cult involves a few of the following ingrediants. I don't believe that film makers go out of their way to make a cult film, I do believe however, that the films

Must have a strange or different storyline.

Must think outside the box.

Must have catchphrases and references that have gone down in film folklore history.

Must have over the top cinematic qualities, these include strange cinematography, an atmosphere not seen in other films, dialogue that crackles and stays in the memory, strange and surreal moments that stay in the memory, plenty of colour and anything that involves random detail not seen in mainstream Hollywood cinema.

There is also the box office success factor. Cult films generally flop in the box office, and they become popular through word of mouth and video/DVD sales.

The following hub is some of the best of the best in this cult phenomenon that has gathered speed since the rise of the internet era. Some are as obvious as the nose on your face, whilst others are so cult they fall into the cult category of having a small yet dedicated group of devoted fans. 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', 'Barbarella', 'The Room'...Any film in 'the so bad it's good' category is not going into this list, because they are terrible films. This hub highlights the best in cult cinema...

You're really full of shit, the toilet is over there.

Some people say that John Woo lost the boil when he went to America to begin directing Hollywood blockbusters, I would go so far as saying he's the opposite of Fritz Lang, who got better when he went to Hollywood. It seems that Woo lost the plot completly when his feet touched american soil, whatever the case may be, 'Hard Boiled' is like 'Die Hard' x 100, One of Woo's last films in Hong Kong. It has some of the best action scenes and editing ever to be seen on screen, even the trailer is jaw dropping. Chow Yun Fat epitimises coolness as the leading man Tequila, a tough as nails cop. The action scenes are completly over the top but a lot of fun, the hospital scene just takes the cake. It's an awesome film, it even has the cool atmosphere that was seen in action films in the eighties, with the macho one liners and keyboard soundtrack. The plot is simple, Tequila gangs up with an undercover agent played by Tony Leun, to take down a sinister mob boss. It's almost like Tequila is Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon with his 'sense of humour' and the agent is John Mclane from 'Die Hard', because of his ability to take a beating. The man even gets shot in the back...with a shotgun... Even if you're not a fan of action, sit down and watch this and you'll find yourself saying to yourself 'Now that was an awesome film!'...by the way did I mention that it's an awesome film?

Warriors! Come out and play!

'The Warriors' has more colour than a comic book and more attitude than a 15 year old teenager. The storyline takes elements from the greek work 'Anabasis' about a group of soldiers who are surrounded by the enemy. The Warriors must send 9 of their men unarmed to a large meeting of gangs to listen to Cyrus, the leader of the biggest gang in New York known as The Riffs, Cyrus proposes a truce for the gangs to take over the city, but he gets shot, The Warriors are framed and they have to make it back to Coney Island, 27 miles away from the where they are situated, The Bronx, with every gang in the city after them.

What makes 'The Warriors' so great? It's not the acting, or the fight sequences, or the editing, or any single element...it's all of these elements put together. It has a cult reputation for the jackets that the gangs wear, and any fan can name off every gang mentioned or seen in the film. Plus it's got the dude from 'Dexter' in it, He plays Ajax in the film, and he's not a very nice guy...and it spawned a pretty decent video game a few years back...

I'm making my lunch!

David Lynch is cult, everything the man ever seems to direct is cult, with some of the most strangest oddball scenes ever witnessed in cinema. The story is a simple road movie tale of Sailor (Nicholas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), who decide to make a break for it across America to start a new life. Secrets are afoot, and crazy people want to follow them and make their lives a misery, including Lula's mother, who is the ringleader and 'The Wicked Witch'

There are so many moments in this film that stay with you long after watching them, some of the most vivid (and strangest) are when Willem Dafoe accidently blows his own head off with a shotgun after being shot by police, and Crispin Glover making sandwiches in the middle of the night. Never has there been a character who has been on the screen less than 5 minutes, who is as memorable as Crispin Glover's character Jingle Dell. The film has real Lynch-esque moments in it, such as the man who quacks, the mother covering her face in lipstick, and the crazy Amazonion looking bitch, who screams at the top of her voice, plus there's Nicholas Cage in a snakeskin jacket. Out of all of Lynch's work, 'Wild At Heart' is by no means as popular is 'Blue Velvet' or his TV show 'Twin Peaks', but it's still just as weird...weird in a good way that is...

So you got your choice. You can be crazy or dead.

It can be said that 'Blowout' is De Palma's greatest film. It certainly has all of his signature creativity and shots. It was made when Travolta was losing popularity, following the years after 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Grease' and it was a whole decade before 'Pulp Fiction'. It's certainly not a film that is mentioned by anyone if they have to list some great movies from the eighties...

Travolta plays Jack, a Foley artist in the movie industry, innocently recording some atmosphere one night when he hears a gunshot, and watches a car fly into the river. He saves a prostitute named Sally from the car, who is played by Nancy Allen of 'Robocop' fame. The more Jack investigates the more he has John Lithgow on his ass, who plays a hit man after him and Sally.

It's one of those movies that flawlessly make audio and picture part of the storyline with clever tricks and techniques to unfold the story, that include the opening scene, shot in first person, of a killer looking for a female victim, the twist being it's from a movie that they work on in the movie. It's a mash of visuals and sounds that gives off a natural high in the brain. Lithgow is as a menacing as he is in 'Dexter', and Travolta plays his character believably and brilliantly. Tarantino said it's one of his favourite films, and even used the Sally and Jack theme from the film in is exploitation flick 'Deathproof', you really don't see the ending coming either...

Can ya Spare some cutter me brothers!

Adapted from the incredible novel of the same name, it is arguably one of Stanley Kubrick's finest films. Malcolm McDowell plays Alex Delarge, a young juvenile delinquent who loves, milk, Beethoven and ultra violence. After performing some of his shenanigans he is eventually imprisoned for what he calls, 'The accidental death of a person.' He enters a program to change him so he can be put back into the outside world, but it causes more harm than good, Andy narrates the story, and there is so much colour and craziness that it is one of the most cult iconic movies in history.

There's the scene where he is strapped to a chair with his eyelids peeled back, so he is forced to watch acts of violence while he is given the drug that will change him, there's the epic scene when he's walking along the river and beats the holy hell out of his friend, there's the scene with the two girls, with the sequence sped up to the music of Beethoven, there's the scene where he is forced to lick the heel of a mans shoe, there's the scene where he passes out head first into a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, there's the scene...

That rug really tied the room together.

Out of all the Coen brothers catalogue of films, none has captured the imagination quite like 'The Big Lebowski', the story of a pacifist called 'The Dude' played by Jeff Bridges, who ends up tied in a cat and mouse chase of a supposed kidnapping, after a china man pees on his rug, a rug that he claims 'really tied the room together.' He approaches his namesake, whom he calls 'The Big Lebowski', a rich man who says his wife was kidnapped for ransom. Enter into the plot his friends, Donny and gun friendly psychopath Walter, played by Steve Buscemi and John Goodman, a woman who paints nude, played by Julian Moore, a German nu wave music group that features Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a porn producer.

It flopped in the box office, and took off thanks to the revelation of the Internet. Now it is regarded as one of the top cult films ever made, a film that is awash with one liners, scenes of pure randomness only the Coen brothers could dream up, and trippy sequences any time the protagonist gets knocked unconscious. It's hard to put a finger on why the film is so entertaining, and then you realise that it's Jeff Bridges playing the lead role, a man who can say the word dude like no one else. It's narrated by a cowboy, it has Walter going crazy and pulling a gun on his friend smoky over a debate regarding a simple rule in their game of bowling, it has The Dude's car go to hell and back, it has an awesome soundtrack, this film has it all in terms of scenes not standard in the art of film making, and everything you need in watching a film of cult status...The Dude abides...

My mother told me to never do this.

Director Robert Harmon's first feature length film, that was unfairly panned by critics upon release is still going strong over 25 years later. Harmon, a then cinematographer at the time, had a short film under his belt called 'China Lake', that incorporates many of the cinematic techniques used in 'The Hitcher', with plenty of skyline, long dolly shoots and sweeping landscape shots of a desert highway. The Screenwriter Eric Red, came up with the concept when he was transporting a car from one state to another, listening to 'Riders of the Storm' by The Doors. His story was a lot more gruesome than that of the final cut, with C. Thomas Howell playing Jim Halsey, a kid who is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego. When he almost falls asleep at the wheel, he picks up a hitcher for company, the tall stranger John Ryder played by Rutger Hauer, who tries to kill Jim unless he can stop him. Jim does and is ultimately haunted by Ryder for the rest of the film. Jim is framed for murder, victims killed by Ryder, and goes on the run with the help of Nash, played by Jennifer Jason leigh, a young woman he meets in a burger bar. Cue a petrol station blowing up, and strange little occurances such as Jim finding a severed finger in his plate of burger and chips.

'The Hitcher' is one of those little cult gems that should be in your collection. It oozes atmosphere throughout the entire piece and is one of those films that is difficult to give a certain genre title, but one would have to say it's a Horror/Action/Thriller/Road movie. It's not strong enough in evidence to support any of the genre titles, instead it blends all the genres together into one cool movie, plus it stars Rutger Hauer, one of the coolest men around. The violence is often not seen on camera, in one scene you don't see the the contents inside the station wagon, but watching C. Thomas Howell horrified at the sight of it is enough to leave you unsettled. it unsettles you with hints of what has happened on the screen all the way through. You won't be picking up any hitchers after you watch this..oh and don't watch the 2007 remake, it's terrible...

When do we live? that's what I want to know.

The second film on the list starring Malcolm McDowell, and the film that catapulted him to fame, a performance that caught the eye of Stanley Kubrick that ultimately led him to be cast as Alex Delarge in 'A Clockwork Orange'.

McDowell stars as Mick Travis, a young rebellious teenager in boarding school in the 1960's, the kind of boarding school that followed 19th century British practices, with students in the highest class using younger pupils as unpaid slaves and generating beatings as a form of punishment. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, one of the greatest British directors of his time, If... is a strange and unsettling piece that delves into the mind of Travis's imagination where reality and imagination become a blur, long before gun violence in schools was the common news flash around the world. The film builds up to a finale involving an act of rebellion by Travis and his schoolmates against the school system, when they find an arsenal of weapons deep in the grounds of the school and open fire on the teachers and students. If...is a trilogy of films starring McDowell as Travis and directed by Anderson, with Travis being everyday characters that share the same name and personality traits, and where the films blur the lines of reality.

The film was shot in a mixture of black and white, which was a technical issue rather than a creative one, thanks to the lighting of where the location was filmed and has surreal scenes that include Travis wrestling naked with a girl on a coffee shop floor tied in with glaringly brutal scenes, that include Travis being caned by his classmates for having an attitude. It is a film that McDowell's extremely fond of, and he was quoted as saying that Travis's character added inspiration to that of Alex Delarge's character, with some direction from Anderson on how to play him:

"Anyway, he said 'Malcolm, this is how you play the part: there is a scene of you, a close-up in if...., where you open the doors to the gymnasium, to be beaten. You get a close-up.' I said 'that's right.' He said 'do you remember...' I said 'yes. I smiled.' He said 'that's right. You gave them that smile. That sort of ironic smile,' he said 'and that's how you play Alex.' And I went 'my god, that's brilliant. That's brilliant.' That's all I needed and that was enough, and that is a brilliant piece of direction for an actor."

Salvation is a last-minute business, boy.

Robert Mitchum's best film. 'The Night of the Hunter' incorporates German expressionism to cast a shadowy harsh picture, with it's structure and cinematography inspiring the likes of the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese, and David Lynch. Mitchum plays the Reverend Harry Powell, who woos a widowed woman by the name of Willa Harper, played by Shelly Winters, who is the mother to 2 young children, John and Pearl. It comes to light that Powell shared a prison cell with their father, before he was hanged for his part in a robbery, and Powell wants the money, which he believes is hidden by the children. So he kills the mother and dumps her body in the river, and interrogates the kids, but they escape down the river, to be taken in Rachel Cooper, played by Lillian Gish, a minder of stray kids. A showdown soon occurs between the preacher and the old lady.

For any fans of film, this must be one to have in the collection, it was Charles Laughton only time as a director and was hated on its release, gaining a cult following years after thanks to the performance of Mitchum and the iconic shots of him on his horse, riding by moonlight and The Old lady sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun on her lap, silhouetted by shadows. Scorsese has said 'Night of the Hunter' was used as a constructive base for his version of 'Cape Fear,' the original 'Cape fear' also starred Robert Mitchum.

My head's gone numb!

'Withnail and I' is about two unemployed actors living in London, one is the absolute lunatic drunk Withail, played by Richard E. grant, the other is his unnamed flatmate played by Paul McGann, a long suffering friend who goes along with his schemes. It is set in 1969 London, and follows them on their antics, which were inspired by the exploits of the writer and director Bruce Robinson, who had a flatmate similar to Withnail. It is a farce of a film, quite tragic in its contents but hilarious at the same time.

They decide to holiday in Withnail's uncles cottage in the countryside when they realise just how miserable their lives have gotten, chasing coins for the electric meters in their flat and drinking in the pub just to stay warm. The Holiday doesn't go according to plan, they have little food or drink, and the locals don't take to them. When Monty, the uncle, does arrive, he lavishes them with food and drink but hits on McGann's character, making the man extremely uncomfortable.

There are a lot of hilarious moments in the film that include Withnail drinking a bottle of lighter fluid, Their ways and dealings of getting drink, their exploits in a tea shop in the country, and Withnail driving while intoxicated which ends up with him being arrested. 'Withnail and I' is the top cult film ever to come out of Britain.

• Angel Heart (1987) - Starring Mickey Rourke as a P.I. and Robert De Niro as the Devil. This film is one sick twisted little puppy.
• Office Space (1999) - From the creator of Beavis and Butthead Mike Judge, comes a film about the angst of working in an office. Very funny.
• They Live (1988) -Rowdy Roddy Piper goes to kick ass and chew bubblegum in this John Carpenter film about aliens who live among people, and guess what? He's just finished his bubblegum.
• Brazil (1985) - The unofficial adaption of George Orwell's novel 1984, directed by Terry Gilliam
• Eraserhead (1977) - David Lynch's first film about a man with spiky hair that includes a woman who sings in a radiator.
• Freaks (1932) - The freakiest movie ever, about a circus full of altered humans that include a man with no arms and legs, who rolls a cigarette with his mouth and lights it.
• Band of Outsiders (1964) - Jean Luc Godards finest film that includes a dance scene that inspired the dance scene for 'Pulp Fiction'
• Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) - Sam Peckinpah directs this tale about a bartender and his girlfriend who travel through underworld Mexico to collect the $1 million dollar bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
• Deathrace 2000 (1975) - Roger Corman's wackiest film that stars a young Sylvester Stallone who is a racing driver in this strange futuristic race where you earn points by knocking people over.
• Down by Law (1986) - A Jim Jaramusch film starring Tom Waits who shares a prison cell with two wacky inmates, very cool black and white film.
• Heathers (1989) - A film starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater who kill of their classmates in school, a chick flick that's so cult even guys will watch it, even if it's just to hear the line '"I love my dead, gay son!"
• Harold and Maude (1971) - About a young man who falls in love with an old woman, (A very old woman), a very quirky and wacky film
• The Man who Fell to Earth (1976) - David Bowie plays a timid alien stuck on earth, and yes it is a film, not his life.
• Repo Man (1984) - A young Emilio Estevez in a tale of a punk rocker who joins the repossession business and meets strange characters like a U.F.O conspiracy theorist and gets entangled into a plot that involves a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic scientist.
• The Thing (1982) - A big monster thing and snow, and a dog being chased by a helicopter, can't beat it, watch this before you watch the prequel.
• Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) - About a young girl who gets bullied at school and ignored by her family, the bullying is really extreme in this movie, it is a drama, with a look to it like 'Napoleon Dynamite.'
• Dr Strangelove (1964) - Peter Sellars plays a variety of different roles in Kubrick's tale about doomsday and the end of the world...'Hey, no fighting in the war room!"
• Evil Dead 2 (1987) - Flesh possessed spirits, only sicker and cooler than the first one, Sam Raimi is the ultimate cult horror director.
• Carnival of Souls (1962) - A girl moves to a new town after an accident involving a drag race on the bridge, but she can't shake off the terrifying sight of this bald white man that follows her like a ghoul, plus time seems to freeze around her every so often.
• Touch of Evil (1958) - Orson Welles's B- Movie that has one of the greatest openings in movie history, as the camera follows a car across the Mexico/America border, with the girl saying at one point 'I hear a ticking noise?'...eh...it's a bomb....too late...