Full name: Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful

Author: Danny Peary Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Amazon Goodreads ISBNs: 9780517201855 0517201852

A lot of writing about film is like disquisitions on the follies of sixteenth-century trinitarianism written by irritable monks. So the five stars are for the fun I had with this book when I first read it – it was published in 1981 and I think I came across it around 1990 which is – help! 23 years ago…let’s not think about that. (Shudders). He has some great choices – Aguirre Wrath of God, Badlands, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (RIP Roger Ebert, co-screenwriter believe it or not), Eraserhead, 42nd Street, Pretty Poison, Targets - I could go on – but he also includes pictures he hates (because they’ve got a cult following) such as La Cage aux Folles, King of Hearts and Plan 9 from Outer Space. What makes a cult film cultish is a matter of opinion – in this book we have total obscurities (Up in Smoke, Where’s Poppa?, The Tall T), famous shockers (Behind the Green Door, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Freaks) but also big-shot Hollywood material (All About Eve, Singin’ in the Rain, Wizard of Oz). But people do seem to like to call films cult films – and authors and bands too. Captain Beefheart? Cult band (I am in that cult). Bukowski? Cult author. Well, I don’t quite understand the rules, maybe because there aren’t any. I think it's a case of I know a cult movie when I see it.In which case, here are some of my favourite cult movies in strict alphabetical order..The Aviator's WifeBabe – Pig in the CityBeing John MalkovichBreaking the WavesBundyCalvaireCity of Lost ChildrenCluelessThe DescentFunny BonesGhost WorldIn AmericaJapanese StoryKissing Jessica SteinLife in a DayLove ExposureMargaretMy Life as a DogParadise NowPerformanceRun Lola RunYou Can Count on Me Similar books: Mondo Macabro by Peter Tombs Understanding Movies by Louis Giannetti The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film by Michael Weldon Midnight Movies by J. Hoberman Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes by John Pierson Sleazoid Express by Bill Landis The Psychotronic Video Guide by Michael Weldon 5001 Nights at the Movies by Pauline Kael Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind The American Cinema: Directors And Directions 1929-1968 by Andrew Sarris How to Read a Film by James Monaco 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider The MGM Story by John Douglas Eames Incredibly Strange Films by V. Vale I Lost it at the Movies by Pauline Kael