I like Buckaroo Bonzai. Instead of being a laugh-out-loud movie, it’s more like a smirk-to-yourself movie.
I would like to nominate a movie to challenge Eraserhead for Most Fucked-up movie: Videodrome. For those who aren’t familiar:
James Woods is in the TV biz and discovers that someone is transmitting a signal via a warped and extremely violent cable-access show called “Videodrome”. The signal triggers a special part of your brain and you can no longer tell reality from TV. (That’ll never happen!:)) Debbie “Blondie” Harry appears. Truly disgusting SFX, bad acting, and a really bad philosophy add up to a weird movie-watching experience. I actualy paid to see this. Me and that other guy (who was asleep).
I absolutely adore Brazil. But I absolutely adore Terry Gilliam, so I’m slightly biased… by the way, ANYthing by Terry Gilliam is weird. (12 monkeys, Baron Munchausen, etc.)
Does Clockwork Orange count as a cult classic?
And yes, RHPS is still massively popular, myself having been to a midnight showing.
What else was I going to say… oh, um, I think Fight Club is a new one. So not really a “classic” yet, but I have met a huge number of hardcord fans, the same type that goes to RHPS or any of those.
(I think I’m finished now)
Just bought it on DVD – one of my all time favorites and a real cult classic.
Watching it again I couldn’t help comparing its style (and mid-'70s lack of taste) with Westworld, Soylent Green, and the last couple of the Planet of the Apes movies all made around the same time.
Just checked the IMDB – there’s a Rollerball (2001) pre-production entry. They’re remaking Rollerball?!
Highlander could very well be my all time favourite movie, the sequels were bad beyond description. Highlander should never have been sequelled.
I would suggest the 10th anniversary edition of Highlander, it has scenes that were cut from the original movie that shed light on a few things the theatrical release doesn’t.
I have lost track of how many times I have seen this movie…
I checked the IMDB, and didn’t see anything other than Street Trash as a title, but you never can tell with these Grade-Z flicks. They do mention credits for “exploding bum” and “melting businessman.” Do those fine portrayals of art ring any bells?
Speaking of fine portrayals of art, I lovedRe-Animator. Now there’s a classic!
“West, Wessst! You Baaaastaard!”
“Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a side-show!”
Ok then here we go can we try to define “cult film” then? My definition would include the following features…low budget…new or avant garde director…relatively unknown cast (cameos accepted)…campy, odd, or controversial story line…foreign…any others?
Boy was I off on the directors! Thanks for the correction. Truth is I’ve never seen Evil Dead or any of the Evil Dead roman numerals. I had seen Night of the Living Dead. It’s what I’ve always considered a “drive in” classic. As a matter of fact I sneaked into the Bellwood Drive-In to see it in the trunk of a friend’s car back in 75 or something like that. Porky’s was another “drive-in” movie. Got a big old buzz on Mad Dog that night and fell out of my friend’s van laughing at the damned thing. Scratched the crap out of my elbow.
Last night I wracked my brain trying to remember the name of a foreign cult film I had seen in town at the “artsy fartsy” theater. It was French I believe, about a bunch of nuts in an asylum during the war. (subtitled I think) I can’t for the life of me remember the name. I do remember that it was preceeded by a Lenny Bruce short cartoon called “Thank You Masked Man”, hilarious. Anybody know which film I’m talking about here?
DePalma did Snake Eyes…I haven’t seen that one yet. It didn’t look appealing to me. I got very tired, very fast of the ganster/Tarentino/scuzzy people movies that have been so popular for awhile now.
Oh yeah and speaking of the Cohens…I can’t remember that movie they made before “Raising Arizona” the one with Emmet Walsh and Dan Heydaya. Took place out in the desert. There was a very creepy scene when our hero goes to bury Heydaya in the desert and he isn’t dead. He ends up crawling down the highway…What’s the name of that one. The last scene is the underneath of a bathroom sink.
Ok also…who directed that hilarious movie After Hours I think the name is? It has several “cameos”, stars Griffin Dunne. He loses his money on the way to see a girl, Rosanne Arquette, and it takes him all night and lots of mishaps to get back home.
If you want to talk obscure but good I thought of a couple of things that I’ve liked. I like Wolfgang Peterson films long before he ever did “Thelma and Louise”. The kids and I still have videos of “The Neverending Story” and “Enemy Mine” my daughter loved those when she was little.
Rawhead Rex- No-name actors, a stupid plot, a goony-looking monster. Now that’s a classic! Pumpkinhead- Lance Henriksen. And come on, is that a cool name for a monster or what?! Killer Klowns from Outer Space- Better than it sounds like it would be.
Oops almost forgot…someone mentioned Michael Ironside and Highlander…must be one of the remakes…because…so far the “original” villian in the first movie remains my all time favorite movie villian, the Kurgan. He’s played by the most excellent and largely unrecognized Clancy Brown. Who also by the way, is one of Buckaroo Banzai’s crew. He along with the midget were the only redeeming elements of that dismal falure of a remake “The Bride”. Although I do like Michael Ironside. Wasn’t he an original “Scanner”?
And although “Videodrome” is strange I’m not sure I would classify it as a “cult film”, James Woods was a pretty big star then and the budget was relatively high.
Oh the “Pumpkinhead” one of my all time favorites. I turned my daughter on to this one, she thought she knew a good horror movie. I had to set her straight with a few things.
Ok then who remembers…“Near Dark”, B vampire movie? Wasn’t Lance Henrickson in that one too along with what’s his name…you know…“We’re in some damned pretty shit now!”, Aliens, Twister, Weird Science. Brain fart again. What’s his freaking name?! Anyway, great scene in that where he grabs that guy slits his throat and holds the glass under the blood flow, tosses it down and slams the glass back on the table.
Not sure if this fits, but the ‘V’ series was a classic, I loved it. I loved Buckaroo Bonzai, that’s definitely up on my list of faves. Bad Taste, was a horrible movie, but done well for it’s intent i suppose. Logans Run, my ultimate fave, and has anyone mentioned Princess Bride? That’s a cult classic for sure. I met Wallace Shaun at a Kinko’s here in NYC and he was really cool. Liked smiling at all the young F.I.T. girls who were in awe at the “guy from the Princess Bride” being there.
Needs2know:Blood Simple is the name of the awesome Coen brother movie you are talking about. All of their movies are great!
Anyone ever seen the movie version of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - dark, dark - try watching it back to back with Barfly. And Trees Lounge with that Steve Buschemi fellow - there’s a good one too… Info on Trees Lounge here
Yes. I have to see that again before I decide if it is empty shock value or interesting, but I remember liking it.
Abso-posilutely. How the heck did we get this far without mentioning that one? I don’t think it’s as much the quintessential cult movie as RHPS, but it’s certainly up there.
Really?! Oh, I hope the don’t mess it up. They probably will of course. They’ll get so caught up in how they can use modern technological effects to better the movie that it’ll lose all that 70’s campiness. [knock wood]
Well, as long as they don’t try to remake Barbarella.
ohhh, good one, though I disagree. How can anyone resist a movie with a title like that?
Oh, I just thought of one - Reefer Madness Old, old movie warning about the dangers of pot.
Damn, someone else beat me to it! I love A Clockwork Orange, but my friends just don’t get it. I want to explain it to them while watching the movie, but at the same time, I want them to shut the hell up so I can enjoy it. My friend Tim and I watched it and after the movie he asked me, “So what’s any of that got to do with an orange?” I didn’t even bother trying to explain the rest of the movie to him, if you have to explain the title . . .
On the other hand, before I start to sound arrogant: I don’t get the attraction to 2001: A Space Odyssey. What’s with the 5 minutes of silence as a ship lands? Sure, great effects and all, but come on, do the establishing shot and get on with the story. And that scene where the guy is going to the moon and stops to chat with his daughter on a video screen, WTF was that all about? It did nothing to advance the story or anything, just ate up more time. You could shave a half hour off that film easily. (Not that I have a problem with long films, I loved Braveheart and Lawrence of Arabia) 2001 to me was just long, boring, and cryptic.
Not a cult film, but another classic that I don’t get is Citizen Cane. (or is it Kane?) What is so good about that movie? It’s just a character study of a rich egomaniac. Great performance by Orson Welles, but I wasn’t impressed with the film as a whole, could someone explain this to me?
How the hell did we foget Spinal Tap (or is it This is Spinal Tap). Classic movie…very funny.
How about these:
Trainspotting
and…
Welcome to the Doll House
Those movies may be too ‘big’ to be considered fringe classics. Still good however.
Whoever didn’t like Blade Runner needs to watch it again. Perhaps the only movie in existence that got Cyberpunk right (can anyone say Johnny Mnemonicblech)…good story too from Philip K. Dick’s story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Buckaroo Banzai is GREAT! Sorry I didn’t remember it first.
Finally…
Street Trash does have a scene where people play keep-away with a guys dick…complete with slo-mo of the dick twirling through the air and other shots of it landing in puddles and what-not. NOT a movie for the faint-of-heart although there is still ‘worse’ out there.
Well, you have to understand its place in movie history. This is known as the first movie to break away from the classical Hollywood cinema type movie. Before then, almost all movies had a clear beginning and an end, and time moved linearly throughout with a clear struggle between a protagonist and antagonist, ending with a resolution, and a happy ending. The Wizard of Oz is probably the clearest example of this.
But Citizen Kane told its story in a completely revolutionary way by presenting you with different segments which took place at different times throughout his life. It may not seem like anything great by todays standards, but at the time it was simply revolutionary.
Also, I find it a great movie regardless. The feeling I get when we learn what “rosebud” is, is very powerful and emotional and profound. Because this man, brilliant business man, made millions, involved in scandals, and all the other crap he went through, which in almost every case strongly related to money, realizes at the very end of his life what’s important, and longs for his childhood innocence.
You may be thinking of “King of Hearts” (Le Roi de Coeur).
And for my contribution, it may not qualify as a “cult classic” but I always thought a TV movie called “The Girl Most Likely To…” was a cut above the rest. (Admittedly not hard to do with TV movies). Stockard Channing plays the ugly duckling transformed into a raving beauty, who then wreaks revenge on her former tormentors. Funny as hell.
How the hell do they know what his last word is anyway? Didn’t he die alone? I may have missed something, since I’ve never stayed awake more than a minute into this movie–unfortunately, I can’t stand coffee. I suppose you could say I don’t get it–but then, why would I want to?
It’s been a while since I saw Citizen Kane, but wasn’t there one person with him when he died? And if not, who cares…suspend yer disbelief! Personally, I love the movie. Then again, I’m fascinated by William Randolph Hearst, who the movie is based on, so no real surprise.
As for cult classics…gotta agree with Spinal Tap. GREAT movie, and even better when you’re drunk. Yes, I have proven this. Repeatedly. And in answer to soul’s question on Highlander…I agree with everyone else. IGNORE the sequels, and you’re fine. They were in a parallel universe or something.
Personally, I love the movie. Then again, I’m fascinated by William Randolph Hearst, who the movie is based on, so no real surprise.