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Cult Films / After Dark

Cult Films generally have limited but very special appeal. They are usually strange, quirky, offbeat, eccentric, oddball, or surreal. They may have outrageous, weird, cartoony characters or plots, and garish sets. They are often considered controversial because they step outside standard narrative and technical conventions. Cult films cut across many film genres (science fiction, horror, melodrama, etc.), and though they can be very stylized, they are often flawed or unusual in some striking way. To make a little sense of this unique genre, scroll the motherlode below, or take a side road by clicking a blue sub-heading to yer left... Visiting "Television Shows" and the "Cult Television" sub-feature may be worth checking out, also the "Animation" feature and the "Cult Animation" or "JapAnime" sub-feature will help with the bigger picture.. Right: Henry (Jack Nance) is "Eraserhead".

Clerks (1993)

7.8/10
Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Jason Mewes, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Kevin Smith, Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran

Kevin Smith's engagingly foul-mouthed and funny independent comedy tracks a 'typical' day at a New Jersey convenience store. Follow philosophical coun... Read more

Naked Lunch (1991)

7.1/10
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Roy Scheider

William S. Burroughs' 1959 free-form, underground classic is brought to the screen weaving elements of the author's life with the fictional material.... Read more

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

8.3/10
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Miriam Karlin, Patrick Magee, Malcolm McDowell, Adrienne Corri

Stanley Kubrick's dark, dazzling, ironic tale of an ultra-violent future filled with marauding gangs, decaying cities and bizarre technologies. Follow... Read more

Barton Fink (1991)

7.7/10
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Jon Polito

The 44th winner of Best Film at Cannes was this dark comedy/thriller in which a renowned playwright (John Turturro) comes to 1941 L.A. to write a scre... Read more

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

7.7/10
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey, Johnn...

Helmsman Terry Gilliam, with a script co-written by Alex Cox, conjures up this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 cult novel, which defined the c... Read more

Labyrinth (1986)

7.4/10
Director: Jim Henson
Starring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson

Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) wished her baby brother would be taken away by goblins, and now her wish has come true. Jareth (David Bowie), the Goblin Kin... Read more

The Wild Bunch (1969)

8/10
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: William Holden, Warren Oates, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson

Peckinpah at his violent best. In the Southwest of 1913, Pike Bishop (William Holden) is leader of 'The Wild Bunch', a gang of outlaws coerced by a Me... Read more

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

7.2/10
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan, Madchen Amick, Moira Kelly, Harry Dean St...

Prequel to the surreal TV series dealing with the last seven days of Laura Palmer's life; the homecoming queen with the plethora of secrets in her clo... Read more

M (Fritz Lang) (1931)

8.4/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Peter Lorre, Inge Landgut, Ellen Widmann

Uncut for the first time. Harrowing images, shadows and symbolism permeate Fritz Lang's first sound film, an internationally heralded German cinematic... Read more

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (2001)

8.1/10
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Katharine Ross, Mary McDonnell, No...

During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) sleepwalks out of his house one night, and sees a giant, dem... Read more