Category Archives: Cult Films

A cult film (also known as a cult movie/picture or a cult classic) is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences. Many cult movies have gone on to transcend their original cult status and have become recognized as classics; others are of the “so bad it’s good” variety and are destined to remain in obscurity. Cult films often become the source of a thriving, obsessive, and elaborate subculture of fandom, hence the analogy to cults. However, not every film with a devoted fanbase is necessarily a cult film. Usually, cult films have limited but very special, noted appeal. Cult films are often known to be eccentric, often do not follow traditional standards of mainstream cinema and usually explore topics not considered in any way mainstream—yet there are examples that are relatively normal. Many are often considered controversial because they step outside standard narrative and technical conventions.

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Film Review: Society (1989)

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SYNOPSIS:

Bill is worried that he is ‘different’ to his sister and parents. They mix with other ‘upper class’ people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing. Not for the weak of stomach

REVIEW:

If you read my review of “30 Minutes or Less” where I mentioned the “trip to Peru” I can… More

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Film Review: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

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SYNOPSIS

A New York City doctor, who is married to an art curator, pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

REVIEW:

I have long been a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s work. His film releases have inspired me in other arenas as a source of creative inspiration. While not every film is a complete masterpieces….many are. “EyesMore

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Film Review: Dolemite (1975)

SYNOPSIS:

Dolemite is a pimp who was set up by Willie Greene and the cops, who have planted drugs, stolen furs, and guns in his trunk and got him sentenced to 20 years in jail. One day, Queen B and a warden planned to get him out of Jail and get Willie Green and Mitchell busted for what they did to him. However, Dolemite is no stupid man and has a lot of warriorsMore

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Film Review: God Bless America (2011)

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SYNOPSIS:

On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy.

REVIEW:

“A Dream To Some…–A NIGHTMARE TO OTHERS!”
Merlin from John Boorman’s “Excalibur”

The television was too loud. It had to be it was competing with the screaming infant in his mother’s arms. The entertainment report was going on about how even more allegations of Michael Jackson being a child… More

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Film Review: Re-Animator (1985)

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SYNOPSIS:

A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.

REVIEW:

It’s pretty safe to say that any real horror fan from the 80′s remembers the release of the “Re-Animator“. A film that also bases itself on the horrific novels of H. P. Lovecraft (Herbert West: Reanimator), is a horror-meets-science fiction gore-fest full of… More

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Film Review: Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

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SYNOPSIS:

In a fantastical 40′s where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.

REVIEW:

Does anyone remember this film? If you are a big H. P. Lovecraft fan, then this one has been on the radar for quite some time. Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) is one of those legacy films left over from the VHS era that has yet to make the move to… More

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Film Review: The Toxic Avenger (1984)

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SYNOPSIS:

Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when mop boy Melvin Junko falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.

REVIEW:

“He’ll go from cleaning nerd to cleaning crime-fighter”
“Criminals, beware of the Toxic Avenger. He will kick your butt HARD!!”

“The Toxic Avenger” is an underdog cult classic for alot of reasons. The era of the 80′s was taking hold… More

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Film Review: Altered States (1980)

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SYNOPSIS:

A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.

REVIEW:


“Altered States”

“He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”
-Dr. Johnson.

This film is a juggernaut of intellectual and stylistic eye candy, it is apocalyptic in imagery and in its nature this film is a tiny milestone marking… More

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Film Review: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)

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SYNOPSIS:

Corrine Burns retreats far into plans for her band, The Fabulous Stains, after her mother’s death. So far that she gets them (she and two cousins) on a tour with a washed-out glam-rock group and a rising British punk band, radically changes her appearance, attracts a cult following and national media attention. With luck like this, what could go wrong?

REVIEW:

Another one of those lost gems that took a bit “too long”… More

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Film Review: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

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SYNOPSIS:

A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of the beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.

REVIEW:

While the film itself was created in 1978, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” appears to… More

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Vampire Movie Favourites

Vampire Movie Favourites

When I asked Horror News readers and Facebook friends to tell me their favourite vampire films, I received a terrific response. The suggestions poured in, and all kinds of weird, wonderful and outlandish films fronted up for selection. So while I can’t deny the quality or appeal of films like Planet Of The Vampires (1965), Count Yorga Vampire (1970), Vampyres (1974) or Shadow Of The Vampire (2000), I can only count it down to thirty.… More

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Film Review: KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)

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SYNOPSIS:

The tale of rock band KISS and their efforts to thwart a diabolical plan by mad scientist Abner Devereaux. Devereaux has found a way to clone humans into robots in his laboratory at an amusement park. It just so happens that he plans to uses the KISS concert as a platform to unleash his plan on the world. KISS must use their special powers to stop him.

REVIEW:

By the time… More

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Film Review: The Warriors (1979)

SYNOPSIS:

A prominent New York City gang leader named Cyrus (Roger Hill) wants to wage an all-out battle against the police, and as part of his strategy he calls upon Gotham’s gangs to set aside their turf wars and come together at a summit. At the meeting, a rival leader kills Cyrus, but a Coney Island gang called the Warriors is wrongly blamed for Cyrus’ death. Before you know it, the cops and everyMore

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Film Review: The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)

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SYNOPSIS:

“Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. He starts a high technology company to get the billions of dollars he needs to build a return spacecraft, and meets Mary-Lou, a girl who falls in love with him. He does not count on the greed and ruthlessness of business here on Earth, however.” (courtesy IMDB)

REVIEW:

By 1975 it had become apparent… More

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Film Review: Fando Y Lis (1968)

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SYNOPSIS:

Fando and his partially paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar. Based on Jodorowsky’s memories of a play by surrealist Fernando Arrabal.

REVIEW:

Alejandro Jodorowsky has created some fantastic visually engaging films over the years. Each of which I’ve seen is rich in ideology and surrealities. “Fando y Lis”, one of Jodorowsky’s early releases is no exception in idea but if a bit more alluding in translation. This Spanish… More

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Film Review: eXistenz (1999)

SYNOPSIS:

Allegra Geller, the foremost game designer in the world, is testing her new virtual reality game named eXistenZ with a special test group. EXistenZ comes with an organic chasse and cord that resembles an umbilical cord that taps into the human mind. The game designer who created this virtual-reality game is also on hand to pre-test with the group. She is attacked by a fanatic assassin disrupting the game test. She flees withMore

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Film Review: Hookers In Revolt (2006)

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SYNOPSIS:

A group of hookers revolt against their greedy pimps.

REVIEW:

OK…I fully believe that my boss hates me now. Why? I haven’t a clue (Although I suppose I could be quicker with my submissions), but I don’t think I’m a bad employee. I think I get the job done pretty well if I do say so myself and I work cheap. But he definitely hates me and I have proof of it now.… More

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Film Review: Death Bed -The Bed That Eats (1977)

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SYNOPSIS:

A truly unusual shocker about a killer bed that devours its users

REVIEW:

Every now and then you come across an odd movie or 2. Some films take all kinds of directions to fill the viewers time with abstract visions and fantastical scenery. “Death Bed: The Bed That Eats” is not that kind of movie. I was at the half way point in this one when I began to wonder why director George… More

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Film Review: Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

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SYNOPSIS::

“The world is astounded when Willy Wonka, for years a recluse in his factory, announces that five lucky people will be given a tour of the factory, shown all the secrets of his amazing candy, and one will win a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. Nobody wants the prize more than young Charlie, but as his family is so poor that buying even one bar of chocolate is a treat, buying enough barsMore

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Film Review: Tetsuo, the Iron Man (1989)

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SYNOPSIS:

A strange man known only as the “metal fetishist”, who seems to have an insane compulsion to stick scrap metal into his body, is hit and possibly killed by a Japanese “salaryman”, out for a drive with his girlfriend. The salaryman then notices that he is being slowly overtaken by some kind of disease that is turning his body into scrap metal, and that his nemesis is not in fact dead but isMore

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Film Review: Naked Lunch (1991)

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SYNOPSIS:

After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally murders his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in an Islamic port town in Africa.

REVIEW:

Naked Lunch” is so bizarre that it instantly falls into a cult film category without even trying. Director writer David Cronenberg brings to the screen a William S. Burroughs influence that was deemed un-filmable.… More

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Film Review: Dust Devil (1992)

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SYNOPSIS:

A woman on the run from her abusive husband encounters a mysterious hitch-hiker.

REVIEW:

As with most isolated places, there are typically local spirits and superstitions that abound throughout the locals, having been either witnessed themselves or passed down over generations. Many of these types of spirit tales, at least according to the western folklore, are usually good beings that bring things like rain or a good harvest. However, although the film Dust DevilMore

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Film Review: The Brown Bunny (2003)

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SYNOPSIS:

Professional motorcycle racer Bud Clay heads from New Hampshire to California to race again. Along the way he meets various needy women who provide him with the cure to his own loneliness, but only a certain woman from his past will truly satisfy him.

REVIEW:

Technically and narratively “The Brown Bunny” is somewhat of an extremely poor film. Though like many films that produce controversial material, “The Brown Bunny”has gone onto a… More

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Film Review: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

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SYNOPSIS:
“A story of creation, love, hate, adventure and, most of all, sex. The story begins in Denton, Ohio as Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, after getting engaged, travel to see ‘the man who began it’ but wind up at the castle of Doctor Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite alien from the planet of Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. And they meet Riff Raff, Magenta, and Columbia which leads to ‘doing the Time WarpMore

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Film Review: Time Bandits (1981)

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SYNOPSIS:
“A young boy’s wardrobe contains a time hole. Through this hole an assortment of short people (i.e. dwarfs) come while escaping from their master, the supreme being. They take Kevin with them on their adventures through time from Napoleonic times to the Middle Ages to the early 1900s, to the time of Legends and the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness where they confront Evil.” (courtesy IMDB)

REVIEW:
British television comedy received a good shot in… More

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Film Review: Lair of the White Worm (1988)

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SYNOPSIS:

In a remote corner of England’s lavish Peak district, a young archaeologist, Angus Flint, unearths a mysterious skull. When Angus escorts Eve and Mary to “holiday” festivities at Lord James’ castle, the sensuous and snakelike Lady Sylvia Marsh seizes the moment – and the skull. Lady Sylvia brings the skull down into the dank recesses of her gothic mansion where she engages in the erotic worship of her pagan god, the White Worm.More

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Film Review: Doctor No (1962)

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SYNOPSIS:

“James Bond 007, seductive British secret agent, has been sent to the West Indies to investigate the disappearance of British agent John Strangway and his secretary. Once arriving, 007 becomes suspicious of scientist Professor Dent, who was the last person to have seen Strangway before he disappeared. After learning Professor Dent is working for a terrorist with metal hands, Doctor Julius No, and Strangway is dead, 007 meets CIA agent Felix Leiter andMore

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Film Review: Seconds (1966)

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SYNOPSIS:
“Middle-aged banker Arthur Hamilton is given the opportunity to start a completely new life when he receives calls from his old friend Charlie. The only problem is that Charlie is supposed to be dead. Hamilton is eventually introduced to a firm that will fake his death and create an entirely new look and life for him. After undergoing physical reconstruction surgery and months of training and psychotherapy, Hamilton returns to the world in theMore

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Film Review: The Devils (1971)

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SYNOPSIS:

This film focuses on an outspoken priest and a group of sexually repressed nuns in 17th-century France.

REVIEW:

I have this immense feeling of wanting to write about his film yet simultaneously I am at a loss for words merely because the landscape and the grandiose nature of what could be said about such an incredible cinematic achievement is simply so vast in its nature that the only upside to writing on such a… More

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Film Review: 30 Minutes or Less (2011)

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SYNOPSIS:

Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else…

REVIEW:

Oh boy where to start…

I guess I need to start with Kevin Smith… He has NOTHING TO DO with this film –that I know of… But Kevin Smith is the place to start, more specifically the influence of his film “Clerks” on a legion… More

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