Cult Films

SYNOPSIS: “The Empire is more than halfway through construction of a new Death Star – almost twice as big, but more than twice as powerful. When completed, it will spell certain doom for Luke Skywalker and the Rebels. Han Solo is a prisoner of crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and Princess Leia soon finds herself in the gangster’s hands. Luke …

SYNOPSIS: After losing her mother at an early age and being raised at a boarding school, Cristina Reiner is notified of her father’s death and summoned to Monserrat Mansion for the reading of his will. Other members of her strange, accursed family are found there awaiting the imminent demise of Cristina’s ailing stepmother, whom she has never met. When Death …

SYNOPSIS: “It is a distant galaxy in the far future year of 10191. Arrakis is a desert planet and the only source of Melange, a vital drug used by the Guild Navigators for space travel from star system to star system. Two rival families, the Atreides and the Harkonnens, fight for control of the mining operations of Melange on Arrakis. …

SYNOPSIS: An art auctioneer who has become mixed up with a group of criminals partners with a hypnotherapist in order to recover a lost painting. REVIEW: Another hypnotically engaging film by the maestro himself, Danny Boyle. “Trance“, I found to be of a slightly different slice than Boyle’s rather eclectic choice of film creations. Probably closer to the arena of …

SYNOPSIS: “An alien agent from the distant planet Davanna is sent to Earth via a high-tech matter transporter. There he terrorizes Southern California in an attempt to acquire blood for his dying race, the result of a devastating nuclear war.” (courtesy IMDB) REVIEW: For more than half a century, my old friend Roger Corman has been somewhat of a maverick …

SYNOPSIS: Deep in Florida’s darkest everglades, a brilliant scientist and a sexy government agent have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger and change civilization forever. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping the agent, the madman douses the scientist …

SYNOPSIS: A writer and director couple aspire to produce a play despite the world slowly coming to an end around them. REVIEW: Directed By: Eric Michael Kochmer Starring: Stephanie Sanditz, Justin Dray, Maria Olsen, Ashli Haynes Way Down in Chinatown is a rare film that isn’t easily categorized into one specific genre. Surreal, impressionistic, and irrevocably bizarre, Kochmer’s artistic approach …

SYNOPSIS: “A campy futuristic tale where people hunt one another for sport. In this film, Victim and Hunter run around Italy trying to score a kill in front of the movie crews they arranged so they could make commercials from the footage.” (courtesy IMDB) REVIEW: “What do they call The Hunger Games in France? Battle Royale with cheese!” When the …

SYNOPSIS: When a liquor store owner finds a case of “Viper” in his cellar, he decides to sell it to the local hobos at one dollar a bottle, unaware of its true properties. The drinks causes its consumers to melt, very messily. Two homeless lads find themselves up against the effects of the toxic brew, as well as going head …

SYNOPSIS: A quiet drifter leaves prison, finds home on the road. REVIEW: With a title sounding more like a western, you might expect to see Clint Eastwood leading the trail in this one. However wonderfully abstract things sometimes come in small packages. Rather, the film takes a direction that mirrors films like Martin Scorsese’s 1985 “After Hours” or “The Big …

SYNOPSIS: A record producer comes around after binging on drink and drugs. He finds himself in a section of the Los Angeles County Jail reserved for homosexuals, which is ruled by a transsexual named Mousey. REVIEW: The film “K-11“, was a bit of an odd surprise. To start things off, you should know that this is not a horror film. …

SYNOPSIS: “Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo’s supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the …

SYNOPSIS: “Health food store owner and wannabe jazz clarinetist Miles Monroe is involuntarily cryogenically frozen in 1973 after a mishap while in minor surgery. His still frozen body is found in 2173, and unfrozen by scientists Melik and Orva. In unfreezing Miles, the doctors have committed an illegal act in what is now a totalitarian police state, where records of …

SYNOPSIS: “Lemmy Caution, an American private-eye, arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet. His very American character is at odds with the city’s ruler, an evil scientist named Von Braun, who has outlawed love and self-expression.” (courtesy IMDB) REVIEW: One cannot speak of the European ‘New Wave’ movement of the sixties without mentioning French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, who …

SYNOPSIS: “Documents the sensational events surrounding the making of Apocalypse Now and Francis Ford Coppola’s struggle with nature, governments, actors and self-doubt. Includes footage and sound secretly recorded by Eleanor Coppola, wife of Francis.” (courtesy IMDB) REVIEW: Eleanor Coppola taped and filmed her husband, often without his knowledge, on the set of Apocalypse Now (1979) while everything fell apart around …