By Rob Bricken in
Daily Lists, Movies
Tuesday, Aug. 12 2008 @ 5:05AM
By Chris Cummins
Standing on the fringes of mainstream cinema, cult films transport viewers into terrains rarely explored by typical Hollywood efforts. Although the question of what exactly constitutes a cult film is open to debate, each of these movies connects with people on a visceral level. Sure, such excellent flicks as T\The Big Lebowski, Donnie Darko and The Rocky Horror Picture Show have rightfully earned their devoted followings, but there's still a plethora of would-be cult movies that are deserving of your extreme fanaticism. Misguided, hard-to-find or simply underrated, the films on this list are flowers in a hailstorm trying to bloom. Here's a breakdown of 10 neglected gems that are waiting for your love.
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10) Penn & Teller Get Killed
The bullshit-debunking magicians wrote and starred in this jet-black comedy that has Penn mentioning that it would be exciting if someone were trying to kill him. When that happens, the duo is thrust into an adventure involving psychic surgeons, hired assassins, a discourse on the meaning of Don McLean's "American Pie" and the most elaborate practical joke ever caught on film. Directed by Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde), the film had a small theatrical run before its VHS release and subsequent disappearance into not-on-DVD purgatory. With a little hunting, you can procure a copy online. If nothing else, it's worth checking out just to finally see Teller speak.
9) A Bucket of Blood
Filmed for $50,000 over the course of five days, this Roger Corman classic stars the great Dick Miller (best known as Mr. Futterman in Gremlins) as a coffeehouse busboy who dreams of being an artist. After accidentally killing a cat and covering it in clay, he becomes a sensation when he shows his "sculpture" to the pretentious poets and painters that he so admires. Desperate to keep the respect of his peers, he continues to create more works by killing people, including hip policeman Bert Convy. Eventually, Miller's secret is revealed and he is so consumed by madness that he hangs himself.
An effective skewering of modern art and the beatnik counterculture, this is a breezy comedy highlighted by Miller's performance as a hapless schlub antihero. (Miller would later reprise his role of Walter Paisley in Chopping Mall). When production on this film wrapped, Corman reused the sets to film another tale of a nebbish who gains fame through murder—The Little Shop of Horrors. Why there isn't yet an off-Broadway musical version of A Bucket of Blood is anyone's guess. Since its running time is a brief 66 minutes, this one makes a perfect warm up to a great movie night.
8) Miracle Mile
The first of two apocalyptical films on this list, the thriller Miracle Mile stars Anthony Edwards as a Los Angeles-based trombonist who meets diner waitress Mare Winningham and instantly falls for her. Shortly after securing a date for later in the evening, he receives a phone call warning him that nuclear war is imminent. As he tries to figure out if the call was real, he frantically searches for his would-be love while the city slowly becomes gripped with panic.
Packed with the type of quirky characters that only exist in films about L.A., Miracle Mile does a lot with its limited budget and running time. Suspense percolates until the end of the second act when a torrent of chaos is unleashed. Despite the bedlam, the film's heart is its portrayal of Edwards and Winningham as a couple who had the misfortune of falling in love during the end of the world.
7) Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century
The closest thing we'll ever get to a disco Bigfoot film, Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century is an astonishing cinematic achievement. Rumored to have been created to cash in on the anticipation for the 1976 King Kong remake, this Italian production (which, for no good reason, takes place in Toronto) examines what happens when a Yeti with a heart of gold is thrust into a world he doesn't understand.
Speaking of not understanding, I'm at a loss as to why this little gem isn't a staple of repertory film houses. There's magic in each frame, especially the ones in which Yeti mugs at the camera endlessly while his size changes from shot to shot. The semblance of a plot involves an industrialist who wants to exploit the Yeti. But the story hardly matters. The genius of the flick is watching a guy in a bad Abominable Snowman suit crushing stuff. It makes this list for the joy of seeing that alone. The fact that it also features a groovy theme song urging listeners to understand that "the man of snow" is friend to all humans is just icing on an already damn sweet cake.
6) Black Belt Jones
The film that gave us the phrase "I'm Batman motherfucker," Black Belt Jones is the most over-the-top martial arts film ever made. Right out of the gate the movie lets you know what you're in for during a jaw-dropping opening credits sequence. Check it:
If you're not sold by that, what are you even doing at a website like this? Go back to writing The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise fan-fiction. Black Belt Jones is a film whose excessive violence is matched only by its poor dialogue. (Both elements are combined into a climactic fight at a car-wash so that is so dizzying you'll be convinced that you have suffered some sort of head injury). This one gets bonus points for featuring Hong Kong Phooey himself, Scatman Crothers, as the toupeed owner of Belt's karate school. How meta!
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Tags: Cult Movies, George Lucas
37 comments
Comments
dacalicious said:
BREAKING GLASS, wow, forgot all about that film! Have suppressed quite a bit of the '80s ... a clever find, for sure! However, imagining BUCKET OF BLOOD is not already a much-revived & revered cult "B" classic is a tad naif, maywhat ..
David said:
I'm glad you have Miracle Mile on this list. Finding this movie used to be damn near impossible, but they thankfully re-released it. I saw this in a movie theatre by myself because no one wanted to go see it with me at age 13 (this is when theatres really didn't care if you old enough for a rated R film) and the ending shook me to the core. After seeing it again, I'm still shocked how effective it is even though the production values are more apparent the second go round. And to think Jack Nance was almost in this movie.
Joe said:
Toot is coke. I had a friend's mom accuse him of tooting coke. They were from Dallas, so who knows if thats right, but yeah...
Thiga said:
Thanks for giving Black Belt Jones its props
One of the funniest movies of all time and was a big part of my high school cliques' fav films.
brick said:
Go see BRICK
Jim said:
"Inside Moves"... John Savage, David Morse... greatest cult film ever.
Jim McDish said:
Dude, anything Bruce Lee totally ROCKS!
JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
drunko said:
Maybe "Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century" is set in Taranto, Italy?
mxyzplk said:
Miracle Mile is definitely a great piece of cinema. When I saw it I was shocked I hadn't heard of it before.
Tippy Hedren said:
Breaking Glass -- according to the credits, executive producer Dodi Fayed. Surely not the same one. Surely. Is there some way to find out?
Tippy Hedren said:
Okay. Surely worth mention.
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=240977
Dodi Fayed, of "Princess Diana" fame, was the executive producer of Breaking Glass.
DJ Maniak said:
I own both Penn and Teller Get Killed and Howard the Duck. Surprised no mention of Avenging Disco Godfather though, check IMDB for that one. ;-)
Tom Buckner said:
Oh boy! Great call on both Last Night and Miracle Mile! I've seen both at least a couple of times, and both really are great.
I can think of a few others that deserve a cult following. Waking Life (people seem to love or hate it). Linklater's philosophical funhouse.
Twelve Monkeys (Bruce Willis CAN act, IMHO; and this is the one that showed the world that Brad Pitt could act; Terry Gilliam faces the apocalypse).
Another very great Gilliam movie: The Fisher King. Very moving.
I'm sure I'll think of some more later.
Tom Buckner said:
BTW, Penn & Teller was indeed a gas... and here's another:
Three Kings. The only really good movie about the 1991 Gulf war. Basic Kelly's Heroes plot used as a framework for a lot of truth-telling. If more people had watched this, maybe we wouldn't have allowed the 2003 Iraq war and subsequent corrupt occupation.
cat said:
Major props for BREAKING GLASS!!! I love MIRACLE MILE!!! I'm rabid for HOWARD THE DUCK (I've got the LP!) Nice picks indeed!!
Josh said:
Southland Tales is a great example of a terrible terrible movie that I could totally see a lot of people rallying around it's crapulence. Seriously, a movie that terrible should never see the light of day but somehow it did and that makes it great.
-Josh
James Hudnall said:
I haven't seen Howard the Duck or Miracle Mile since they came out. Steve Gerber was a friend of mine, and I remember seeing the cafe set in Sonoma County, Ca where I lived at the time it was filmed, on my way to work. They used an abandoned gas station for set.
Two films you should add or check out if you haven't seen them is Eating Raoul (starring Robert Beltran from Voyager in his first role) and Pizza Man, starring Bill Mahrer before he became famous. Both are entertaining 80s oddities.
Loved Miracle Mile when I saw it. Another good one that was similar was Night of the Comet.
l.. aTWA said:
I din't know what you're talking about that "Howard the Duck" wasn't a good movie. I've seen that movie probably a hundred times since I was a kid. I couldn't get enough of it.
Me and my brother watched that movie till my mom was sick of it.
jimbo said:
My friend used owned a video store WAY back in the day, and we used to get together to laugh over Cannibal Girls (one of Ivan Reitman's first films). Watching Eugine Levi and Andrea Martin ad-lib all of their lines while covered in cow blood is cinema gold...
Hartz said:
Awesome list, man. I wholeheartedly second "Bucket of Blood" and humbly mention "Exorcist II" and "The Velvet Vampire" as entries if we could make the list a top cult 12.
Salty said:
Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys and The Fisher King were mentioned in an earlier post, but I would have to ad to that Brazil. Love that movie.
Tarantino's Death Proof has gotten a lot of play on Starz lately, and every time it's on I find myself watching it again. To quote Stuntman Mike(Kurt Russell),"It's Okay in my book".
MEATHOOK said:
Three things...
1. Great list!!! The ones I haven't seen, I will be sure to give them a go.
2. Brad Pitt is NOT a good actor.
3. I thought you liked checkers?
leftjonno said:
i LOVE kicking and screaming - great flick!
Puck247 said:
Also on this list : Sam Raimi's "CRIMEWAVE" and "THE BLUE IGUANA" Hardcore cult films that need to be watched !!!!
Liza said:
The Last Dragon (Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon) is a good one to add to the list!
and i loved Kicking and Screaming, i just saw it this year, or maybe last. i love this line from Max: I'm nostalgic for conversations I had yesterday. I've begun reminiscing events before they even occur. I'm reminiscing this right now. I can't go to the bar because I've already looked back on it in my memory... and I didn't have a good time."
and my sisters and i watched Howard the Duck all the time in the 80's!
Toast Girl said:
"Fear, Anxiety and Depression: The Triple Threat of Love" and odd little move from Todd Solondz, who also did cult hits Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, Storytelling and Palindromes.
"Fear, Anxiety and Depression: The Triple Threat of Love" is nothing like any of his later work, and is more of a quirky dark comedy, featuring a few suicide attempts interspersed with musical numbers. Strangely funny, undoubtedly bad, and worth seeing.
Petah said:
Toot=coke. (hint: why movie sucked.)
Tyler Jones said:
What about LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS? Or is that officially a Cult film?
Tyler Jones said:
What about LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS? Or is that officially a Cult film?
Leo Ruby said:
First to have Miracle Mile on this list is enough to make it worth while, but then Last Night?
Two fantastic films that are *must* sees!
The Lithumbian said:
"It's 1984, the robots are taking over!" Your eternally welcome CC and thanks for Morrisey. I submit "24 Hour Party People", for your consideration.
We miss you Tony.
wednesday said:
Dude, don't know where you've been living, but the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX has done its duty giving Black Belt Jones a cult following here. I even own a pair of underwear that they made and gave away to the first dozen ladies in the door that has "My Cookie Would Kill You" written on them.
cKHAVIKk said:
[quote]The Lithumbian said:
"It's 1984, the robots are taking over!" Your eternally welcome CC and thanks for Morrisey. I submit "24 Hour Party People", for your consideration.
We miss you Tony.[/quote]
Good call on 24HPP, dude. That film was kickass!!! The parts were so perfectly casted, like that dude who played Shaun Ryder... priceless!!!
It's just a great testimonial to the greatness of underappreciated bands like Joy Division and Durutti Column....
SR said:
Last Night is airing on a couple of the HBO channels (not the main one) Monday morning (8/18).
Alli said:
What about Nothing But Trouble? Demi Moore (pre surgery of course),Dan Akroyd, playing not one but 2 parts, one of them with a penis for a nose...
lucullusxerxes said:
aye guy,
can't say i've even seen this flick in the last decade, but this is how i remember it....
so these assholes are breakin' into the dojo to fuck blackbelt jones up, and blackbelts like aye, we need to scheme up a diversion on the rill , and the rest of the school is like word, then blackbelt like OK so what were gonna do is every 4 seconds we're gonna flick the light on n ima hit em like a four-matic that crack your whole cabbage
n then flip the lights back off and the rest of em are like ya blackbelt, thats a good idea.
the lights go out.
darkness
confused badguys start to talk.
lights flip on.
beatdowns ensue
lights go out
badguys try to figure out whats going on
lights on
WHAP
lights off
somebody yells "who hit me?"
and a brassy barritone voice yells
"BATMAN MUTHAFUCKA"
greghousesgf said:
actually, most of these movies have cult followings, they're just not as huge as the cults for Rocky Horror, etc.
