CHRIS GIANCAMILLI
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
It is a shame when good movies don’t find success with a wide audience. Though some films struggle in mainstream theaters, select few have the potential to become what are known as “cult classic” films. These cult classics are often successful in home media sales years after their initial release. It is difficult to narrow the field as there are so many forgotten classics, but here are my top four cult classic films to be enjoyed.
The Big Lebowski (1998, Universal)
No cult film list would be complete without a mention of comedy film, “The Big Lebowski.” The story revolves around Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a deadbeat bowling enthusiast who becomes involved in a kidnapping plot. The film also stars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, as The Dude’s best friends Walter and Donny. As he becomes further entangled in a web of deceit, The Dude encounters many absurd and strange characters who provide him conflicting sides of the same story.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984, 20th Century Fox)
Sometimes the premise for a movie is so farfetched, so absurd, and so outrageously unbelievable that the movie could actually be enjoyable. Meet Buckaroo Banzai, a scientist, pilot, neurosurgeon, and rock star whose style and charisma made him a legend. Buckaroo Banzai is played by Peter Weller who is most famous for his role as Robocop in the film of the same name and its sequel. The film begins with Buckaroo attempting to test drive a jet-powered car fitted with a device to allow the vehicle to pass through solid matter. Buckaroo successfully passes through a mountain, but the vehicle returns from the 8th dimension with a strange creature stuck to it. Buckaroo Banzai and his band, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, piece together the mystery of the organism as they foil an alien plot to take over the world.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1981, New Line Cinema)
The second zombie-horror film in the Evil Dead trilogy, “Evil Dead 2,” solidified director Sam Raimi’s legacy as a master of fun yet frightening cinema. This installment finds Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) taking a trip to a seemingly quaint cabin in the woods. There, Ash finds a tape recording of a man who dictates passages from an occult book called the Necronomicon. Upon playing the tape, evil demons are let loose upon the cabin. Ash fights for his life against the possessed cabin with his trusty shotgun and chainsaw. One hilariously weird scene involves a paranoid Ash being viciously mocked by the ornaments and fixtures in the cabin.
Blade Runner (1982, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Though Blade Runner did not fare well in the box office upon initial release, the film has since garnered a strong cult following within the sci-fi community. Based on the Phillip K. Dick novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” the film follows Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a Blade Runner assigned to track down and eliminate rogue androids. Deckard distinguishes human from android by administering a test which records the subject’s reactions to hypothetical situations in which empathy is questioned. Set in a futuristic Los Angeles, “Blade Runner’s” story unfolds much like the old film noir cinema of the 1940s and 1950s.