Best Cult Classics

[Leah]

Leonard, Part 6
Godzilla vs. Megalon
The Beast of Yuccla Flats
Hercules Against the moon men
Gremilns (and no, not the AMC )
Night of the Lepus?
Evil Dead II
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

[venomx]

Godzilla vs. Megalon

One of my favorites Godzilla movies.
---

Gamera vs. Guiron (1969) aka Attack of the Monsters.

[AndyC]

Quite a few have already been listed. I'll add what I happen to be watching right now - Heavy Metal (1981)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agva8AGx6rI
Felt like watching it again after American Idol this week. Been a few years, but it's still as good as I remember.

[crackers]

Aswell as a lot of others mentioned:

A Bucket Of Blood
Female Troble
Sleepaway Camp
Evil Dead

I could go on...

[ChocolateChipCharlie]

Leonard, Part 6
Godzilla vs. Megalon
The Beast of Yuccla Flats
Hercules Against the moon men
Gremilns (and no, not the AMC )
Night of the Lupus?

That's Night of the Lepus - I don't know if it qualifies as a cult classic but I freaking LOVE that movie.  Aside from the fact that it features the Man Who's Always Standing and Walking himself, this picture pretty much boils down why this movie is so awesomely bad:



Speaking of Rory Calhoun, he's in another of my favorite cult classics, Motel Hell:

[Flick James]

Hmmm. Cult classics, ay? I've always been confused over what qualifies as a cult classic. On some levels it would seem that a cult classic is a self-aware parody, such as Repo Man or Tremors. Yet, some are unwitting cult classics like Reefer Madness. Is it an either/or thing?

[AndyC]

Hmmm. Cult classics, ay? I've always been confused over what qualifies as a cult classic. On some levels it would seem that a cult classic is a self-aware parody, such as Repo Man or Tremors. Yet, some are unwitting cult classics like Reefer Madness. Is it an either/or thing?

I think being a cult classic has more to do with the movie's fanbase. It was never popular enough, or hasn't maintained a broad enough popularity over the years to be an unqualified classic, yet it maintains some modest reputation, and is appreciated by enough people to be considered more than just an old movie. I'd also probably add that the fans hold what some might consider a disproportionately high opinion of the movie's brilliance.

The question is how much of a fanbase does it need to qualify? There's not really a right answer to that, as far as I'm concerned. People are going to define it differently. I suppose in the strictest sense, a cult classic should have an extremely loyal following, who have ritualized their enjoyment of the movie. Rocky Horror, for example, has a cult following in that sense.

[Rev. Powell]

Andy's definition is good.  I believe it was Danny Peary who first advanced the notion of "cult movies" with his book entitled (appropriately enough) "Cult Movies."  (This is an excellent read, and highly recommended to anyone on this board).

The Wikipedia article on the book uses this text to define a cult movie: 

"Cult movies are defined by Peary as 'special films which for one reason or another have been taken to heart by segments of the movie audience, cherished, protected, and most of all, enthusiastically championed.' He explains that 'the typical Hollywood product' never attains cult status since all viewers perceive these average films in more or less the same way, with no real disagreement as to the film's quality. But cult films 'are born in controversy, in arguments over quality, theme, talent and other matters. Cultists believe they are among the blessed few who have discovered something in particular that the average moviegoer and critic have missed – the something that makes the pictures extraordinary.'"

[Rev. Powell]

Adding to the above: under that definition, all the "bad" movies we enjoy for their badness are cult movies.  But, not all cult movies are bad movies.

[Flick James]

@ Andy and Rev:

Thanks for that. Makes sense. I've always found the term "cult classic" a dubious one. It has always struck me as a term used to justify the appreciation of a bad movie. Thanks to sites like this I find it largely unnecessary. Bring on the bad.

[Raffine]

A few favorites I guess qualify as 'cult' films:

THE ALIEN FACTOR (1976)
BASKET CASE (1981)
CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
CHAINED FOR LIFE (1951)
CRIMINALLY INSANE aka CRAZY FAT ETHEL (1975)
DEMENTIA (1955)
DERANGED (1974)
DODESKADEN (1970)
FREAKS (1932)
THE GHASTLY ONES (1968)
THE HEART OF THE WORLD (2000)
THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1970)
MOTHER NIGHT (1996)
THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO (1964)
SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937)
SISTERS (1973)
SPIDER BABY (1964)
TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL (1989)
TARGETS (1968)
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JmeXXRmZg

[bob]

Most listed already...except ROCKY HORROR. A gay musical. Not so much the gay part-it's the MUSICAL part. Broadway tunes? Wheres Liza,sweethearts?
.HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND-seems to be universal hatred for this film. Only a small following of the enlighted like it.
.MANOS-the HANDS OF FATE. Most can't watch this without those idiotic robots from MSTK3000 f**king it up. I LIKE it!
.MONSTER A GO GO. I like the rural feel to it.
.the DEVIL's REJECTS-I think it's a modern classic. I don't understand the hatered for this film. Folks will watch junk like HOSTEL,SAW,the LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT-hell-all sorts of unimagitive junk-but no love for this. I think because it mixes extreme sadism with hilarous dialouge ("He called me a chicken f**ker!") the cast is awesome! And the whole feel takes me back to 1973.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riTEnfjXOVI&playnext=1&list=PLFAFF10CDD55F75BB

Here you go, free to watch Monster A Go-Go and Manos robot free.

http://www.archive.org/search.php?sort=title&query=%28collection%3Afeature_films%20OR%20mediatype%3Afeature_films%29%20AND%20-mediatype%3Acollection AND firstTitle:M

[Rev. Powell]

A few favorites I guess qualify as 'cult' films:


THE HEART OF THE WORLD (2000)

TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL (1989)

The Guy Maddin cult isn't nearly as large as it deserves to be.  Maddin is a true genius!

[Psycho Circus]

Glad to see Spider Baby getting a few mentions 

[ChocolateChipCharlie]

A few favorites I guess qualify as 'cult' films:

THE ALIEN FACTOR (1976)
BASKET CASE (1981)
CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
CHAINED FOR LIFE (1951)
CRIMINALLY INSANE aka CRAZY FAT ETHEL (1975)
DEMENTIA (1955)
DERANGED (1974)
DODESKADEN (1970)
FREAKS (1932)
THE GHASTLY ONES (1968)
THE HEART OF THE WORLD (2000)
THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1970)
MOTHER NIGHT (1996)
THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO (1964)
SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937)
SISTERS (1973)
SPIDER BABY (1964)
TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL (1989)
TARGETS (1968)
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JmeXXRmZg

Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, we accept you, we accept you.....