We love cult films. We all have a favorite that we re-watch every time it’s on TV. We worship these movies. We own 25 different versions of the DVD. From classic cult favorites like A Clockwork Orange and The Rocky Horror Picture Show to more contemporary ones like Showgirls and The Room, we all have a soft side for a good cult film. It’s the film lover’s act of rebellion. “I will not only love the box office and Academy Award winners! I will also give attention to the underwhelming and odd movies too!” And so, anything that is a critical and commercial failure usually goes through a process, in which several key people, usually people with large families, watch the film anyway, are sometimes impressed by its ineptitude to connect to people on a large scale, and begin telling every member of their family about it, and quickly, it spreads like chicken pox. Before you know it, they’re having midnight screenings at the local multiplex.
Cult films have been around for many decades before most of us were even born. Today they are hailed as cultural monuments and come to define the era during which they were initially rejected in. Today, several films have the potential to be cult films of the future. Here is a rundown of movies that were released only in the last few years that are next in line to becoming the next Blade Runner or the next Eraserhead.
Southland Tales (2007)
Richard Kelly had already made a name for himself with his debut feature, Donnie Darko by the time he directed this film. Darko started out slow in theaters but gained an enormous following after the release of the DVD. Southland Tales is an entertaining sci-fi, fantasy, and musical satire. It’s also Kelly’s ballsiest effort to date.
Zodiac (2007)
A brilliant, and neurotic film that feels like a blast from the past is one of director David Fincher’s best movies. Its stars, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo have never given better performances. It’s not a film about a killer. It’s a stunning portrayal of obsession and paranoia. Something that we can all relate to.
Birdemic (2008)
Some might say this ultimately cheesy and ridiculous horror flick has already achieved minor-cult status. With director James Nguyen’s plans to make a sequel, shot in 3D, there is no looking back for the bizarro Birdemic.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Charlie Kaufman’s ultimate mind bender is Synechdoche, New York. Yes, it is even more confusing than Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Somehow Kaufman was able to slip this way-ahead-of-its-time film past the knuckleheads that run movies studios and into theaters so that another group of knuckleheads could turn it down. I loved it, even if I didn’t understand any of it.
The Box (2009)
The Box is the one film that I think deserves a cult following the most. It happens to be another Richard Kelly entry, his last one. It’s such an imaginative and wild trip that the filmmakers take you on in this film. Its failure is stupefying.
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
Nicolas Cage is a crazy animal. And his wild side has never been more noteworthy than in Werner Herzog’s quasi-remake of Abel Ferrara’s own cult 1992 film Bad Lieutenant (no subtitles here) starring another crazy animal, Harvey Keitel. Cage is absolutely beautiful in this movie.
Enter the Void (2010)
The first 30 minutes are brilliant. The next two hours feel like you’re watching the same Twilight Zone episode four times in a row. It has amazing visuals, and there’s just something about Paz de la Huerta that oozes sex, drugs and maximum use of strobe lights. It’s already headlining midnight shows at indie theaters around the city.
