# Obscure cult movies you were unimpressed with **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980 "2013-03-04T05:55:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/1 "2013-03-04T05:55:18Z")
Q AKA The Winged Serpent Meh it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t much of anything special either, generic monster movie. The special effects weren’t so great either, in fact they are pretty poor and poorly integrated into the film. The one interesting thing is making a petty criminal almost a main character, supposedly the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs is a homage to this film. Kzn Dza Dza Russian satirical sci fi, now to be fair and all the special effects here and the world building of the planet Pluk is VERY impressive, visually everything is carefully put together and nothing stands out as out of place. But the plot itself and the social commentary is just way too obvious and smug, as when the Pluk natives are explaining their differing social status is due to the different colors that show up when a meter is pointed at them “we’re different colors can’t you see?”:smack: This is just middle school level social satire, and there is never a larger plot behind it. So while visually everything is impressive, the plot is very obvious social commentary with nothing behind it and eventually the movie just becomes boring. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/2 "2013-03-04T15:16:22Z")
**Q** definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, but I kind of liked it. Two cult movies I’ve been unimpressed by: **Eraserhead** : About 15 minutes of interesting content stretched out into a 90 minute movie. **Les yeux sans visage** (Eyes Without A Face): The only time in my life when I’ve fallen asleep in a movie theatre was while watching this movie. Another example of five minutes of creepiness stretched out into a full-length movie. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/3 "2013-03-04T15:20:58Z")
My boss recommended to me that I watch **Rubber** ; the next day I came in and told him I was mad at him for wasting 2 hours of my time. That movie is just boring and bizarre. I have no idea how it got a cult following. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/4 "2013-03-04T15:24:59Z")
i had a number of people recommend “Don’t Look Now” to me, but I found it excruciatingly tedious, even with the infamous sex scene. SF cultists are shocked, shocked I tell you when I say that “Five Million Years to Earth” (aka, I believe, “Quatermass and the Pit”) also bored me silly. (Film critic Bill Warren broke off a correspondence when I said that in a public forum.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/5 "2013-03-04T15:26:52Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > My boss recommended to me that I watch **Rubber** ; the next day I came in and told him I was mad at him for wasting 2 hours of my time. That movie is just boring and bizarre. I have no idea how it got a cult following. I wanted to like this movie so much, both for its audacity and because it was shot entirely with Canon 5Ds. Had it stayed with the general premise, as the trailers showed, it might have been great. Wandering off into the meta-viewing sideshow was exasperatingly stupid. As I was typing in the spoiler tags, it occurs to me we need a variant [stupid] tag, too. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/6 "2013-03-04T15:27:45Z")
Of course cult films won’t impress everybody. That’s why they are called “cult” films. (I’m not so much into the extra-arty stuff, but I loved _Five Million Years to Earth_.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/7 "2013-03-04T15:28:15Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I had a number of people recommend “Don’t Look Now” to me, but I found it excruciatingly tedious, even with the infamous sex scene. Good one! I felt the same way, and even the sex scene was pretty boring. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/8 "2013-03-04T15:29:07Z")
Put me down for eraserhead too. Thing is, by definiton most will find “cult movies” unimpressive. That’s why they are not popular movies, most people don’t like them. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/9 "2013-03-04T15:29:12Z")
_Eraserhead_ was unimpressive, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/10 "2013-03-04T15:31:08Z")
“Q” looked better in pre-CGI days. I saw it as a kid in the 80s and was quite impressed. (Ok, being 13 at the time probably I wasn’t viewing it quite as critically as I would now either.) Not really obscure, but I thought **Barbarella** really doesn’t merit it’s “cult” status. One or two interesting scenes stand out, but it really is a sloppy mess of a movie. The kitschy parts aren’t kitschy enough, and there are too many dull stretches in it. Same goes for **Valley of the Dolls**. A supposed “camp masterpiece”, it’s just a drab, dull nothing movie. ( **Beyond the Valley of the Dolls** however is a true lunatic camp gem.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/11 "2013-03-04T15:40:27Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > (I’m not so much into the extra-arty stuff, but I loved _Five Million Years to Earth_.) Maybe I need to re-watch it. I am REALLY out of step with other folks on this one and it may have just been a bad viewing that did it to me. OTOH, nothing and nobody (including several attempts at a “fresh” viewing) has ever made me stop loathing “E.T.” ETA: I find myself endlessly fascinated with “Eraserhead,” but I’d be hard-pressed to say why. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/12 "2013-03-04T15:44:13Z")
I liked Rubber but I’m a fan of absurd, ridiculous movies. I don’t know if it’s really all that obscure but I didn’t really think too much of Ju-on, the Japanese movie The Grudge was based on. Q was really bad. I could never understand all the hoopla surrounding The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I can think of a dozen B-Movies that are better. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/13 "2013-03-04T16:22:55Z")
I didn’t realize anyone thought **Q** was particularly good. Same with **Rocky Horror** : its popularity was due to people getting together to mock it in public. I didn’t care for **Office Space** other than Stephen Root. It’s not particularly funny, and the hypnosis angle was a terrible cliche. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/14 "2013-03-04T16:28:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I didn’t care for **Office Space** other than Stephen Root. It’s not particularly funny, and the hypnosis angle was a terrible cliche. The dividing line for Office Space seems to be whether or not the viewer has ever worked in a cubicle farm, or for a tech company that was wandering in circles. For those of us that have, OS is somewhere between the painful parts of a high-speed roller coaster ride and gutbustingly hilarious. (Besides years elsewhere, I spent six month in a company I can only sum up as, “Dilbert would have run, screaming.”) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/15 "2013-03-04T16:44:40Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > \Not really obscure, but I thought **Barbarella** really doesn’t merit it’s “cult” status. One or two interesting scenes stand out, but it really is a sloppy mess of a movie. The kitschy parts aren’t kitschy enough, and there are too many dull stretches in it\ I agree it didn’t age very well, even when it came out the reviews were quite mixed. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/16 "2013-03-04T17:16:17Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > The dividing line for Office Space seems to be whether or not the viewer has ever worked in a cubicle farm, or for a tech company that was wandering in circles. For those of us that have, OS is somewhere between the painful parts of a high-speed roller coaster ride and gutbustingly hilarious. > > (Besides years elsewhere, I spent six month in a company I can only sum up as, “Dilbert would have run, screaming.”) Hey, I worked at GE. I still don’t care for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/17 "2013-03-04T17:39:52Z")
**Rocky Horror Picture Show** , as just a movie by itself, kind of sucks. While it has moments where it transcends its origins, those are mainly only moments. The soundtrack is amazing, and the audience participation stuff is great. The film itself, however…_shakes head_ ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/18 "2013-03-04T18:14:38Z")
**The Big Lebowski**. I’ve watched it 3 times trying to find anything interesting or funny but couldn’t stand it. This dude does not abide. If you wanted to branch to TV I would have to go with **Twin Peaks**. If I was drunk, strung out from lack of sleep and then smacked in the head with a ball peen hammer I might have been able to make heads or tails of it but seriously I never saw the appeal. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/19 "2013-03-04T18:15:40Z")
“Office Space” is a cult movie? I think it’s far too well known (and popular) to warrant that label. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980/20 "2013-03-04T18:33:28Z")
Rocky Horror is more about the audience participation than the film. That said, I was part of a Rocky cast up in Rochester NY [255 performances over several years as Janet] when mrAru and I went to see it here in Groton CT after about a 5 year break the audience participation sucked, nothing was really ‘organized’ and it was more college age frat guys out to make a mess and be disruptive. I do like the music, the movie is only OK if you are partly drunk/stoned and in the right group of people with audience participation. [Now I am only interested in watching it at home with friends who know the call and responses, we no longer do the dancing or throwing stuff] 5 Million Years - for the time it was a very scary movie, the pace is slow compared to todays horror movies, and not every moment ends in blood and gore. I liked it quite a lot. First time I saw it was back in about 1970 or so, as a 9 year old it was actually terrifying =) Eraserhead … um, wha?! I really don’t get this movie at all. Same with Fire Dance With Me - I never got into Twin Peaks when it was on TV so much of it is lost to me. Big Lebowski, Office Space - Meh. Dude makes me want to hit him upside the head with a brick. I found the whole red stapler dude getting shuffled around until he is in a hole in the basement hysterical, the rest of it annoying because I worked extensively in cube farms for better than a decade. Barbarella - sort of funky, fun to watch if you are slightly trashed. Plot was strange, though I would be willing to bet that someone could actually do a decent remake of it. I would have to read the book they took it from to really decide what to put in and what to leave out. It did have some interesting bits that could work in the right framework. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-cult-movies-you-were-unimpressed-with/651980.md?page=2)