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If you’re at all familiar with underground cinema, than you’ve probably heard tales about this flick for years. But actually seeing the damned thing is a different matter entirely. Crass, sick and hilarious, this no-budget b&w feature is filled with the essence of pure, undiluted cinematic derangement. Like the earliest works of John Waters, it revels in taboo-shattering shocks and an undying love for Hollywood kitsch. Glorious overwritten by George Kuchar, and directed by the late Curt McDowell (who was one of Kuchar’s first students), it’s a torrent of comically-lit cliches, heated to the point of lurid parody. The time: A dark and stormy night. The setting: An old, secluded mansion–the home of the terrifically obscene Mrs. Gert Hammond (Marion Eaton), who staggers about the place with heavy, mismatched eyebrows and a vomit-caked wig.Read More »
Cult
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Curt McDowell – Thundercrack! (1975)
USA1971-1980CultCurt McDowellErotica -
Nicolas Roeg – The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
1971-1980CultNicolas RoegSci-FiUnited KingdomQuote:
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s visual tour de force, a formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie completely embodies the title role, while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances. The film’s hallucinatory vision was obscured in the American theatrical release, which deleted nearly twenty minutes of crucial scenes and details.Read More » -
John Frankenheimer – Seconds (1966)
1961-1970CultJohn FrankenheimerQueer Cinema(s)USAQuote:
Have you ever suffered from a bout of insomnia, and ended up channel hopping into the small hours of the morning as a result? And having done so, have you ever came across a film that you’ve never heard of, yet it exerts a near hypnotic pull over you, digging itself under your skin ensuring that you’ll be thinking about it for days afterwards? If so, then you’ll recognise the kind of film that Seconds is.The opening credits are stark black and white close-ups of various facial parts, pulled into weird and twisted shapes by the camera focus, while Jerry Goldsmith’s harsh and brooding score booms out over the top. Even from the credits, it is clear that Seconds is going to be a hallucinatory and powerful experience.Read More »
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Nathan Schiff – Weasels Rip My Flesh (1979)
1971-1980CultHorrorNathan SchiffUSAAn IMDB hater wrote:
This movie is a total piece of junk. It was shot on what looks like 8 millimeter film(not sure though). It looks like it was somebody’s student film. I think that this is the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty bad movies. I can’t believe that this movie is out on DVD, it’s so bad. The plot has something to do with a giant rabbit or something, I don’t know. I pretty much fast forwarded through the movie because it was so unbelievably bad. This movie has to be one of the worst ever made. I believe that the sound quality is bad and messed up too. The movie also had bad edits, I believe and poor special effects. I guess that the movie would be decent for a student film. They say that Ed Wood’s movies are bad. This movie makes Wood’s movies look like “Casablanca”. It’s a no-budget movie. I would recommend this movie to people only for them to see the world’s worst film. It should have remained buried. Take care.Read More » -
Miguel Gomes – Cántico das criaturas AKA Canticle of all Creatures (2006)
2001-2010ArthouseCultMiguel GomesPortugalSynopsis
Assis 2005: a troubadour walks the streets of St. Francis of Assisi hometown, singing and playing the Song of Brother Sun or Song of the Creatures, written by St. Francis back in the winter of 1224. Woods of Umbria, 1212: during one preaching to the birds, St. Francis suddenly faints. Reanimated by St. Clare, the saint looks strange and absent and he doesn’t remember anything. When the night falls, the animals in the forest sing and praise Francis. But this love sung by the animals leads to a feeling of possession, a desire of exclusivity usually known as jealousy.Read More » -
Richard Elfman – Forbidden Zone (1980)
1971-1980CultMusicalRichard ElfmanUSAQuote:
Oingo Boingo fans and midnight movie mavens will love this bizarre black-and-white feature packed with music, madness, and members of the Elfman clan. The story revolves around the Hercules family, who live in a house that just happens to hide a secret entrance to the Sixth Dimension in the basement. When daughter Frenchy (Marie-Pascale Elfman) skips school one afternoon, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the forbidden door, and winds up a prisoner in this alternate world. King Fausto (Herve Villechaize), the diminutive leader of the Sixth Dimension, is enamored with the beautiful young Frenchy and keeps her in the same cell as his favorite concubines, despite the disapproval of Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell).Read More » -
Jean Rollin & Julian de Laserna – Le lac des morts vivants AKA Zombie Lake (1981)
1981-1990CultFranceHorrorJean RollinIn a small lakeside town in the French countryside, young women are disappearing without a trace. The superstitious locals blame “The Lake of Ghosts,” but the town’s mayor (Howard Vernon) seems reluctant, or powerless, to take any action. When another girl is found with her throat ripped out, a Paris reporter begins to uncover the deadly secrets of the lake and the dead, green-faced Nazis who are aroused to action!
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Dennis Hopper – Easy Rider (1969)
1961-1970CultDennis HopperDramaUSAQuote:
Nobody went to see Easy Rider (1969) only once. It became one of the rallying-points of the late ’60s, a road picture and a buddy picture, celebrating sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and the freedom of the open road. It did a lot of repeat business while the sweet smell of pot drifted through theaters. Seeing the movie years later is like opening a time capsule. It provides little shocks of recognition, as when you realize they aren’t playing “Don’t Bogart That Joint” for laughs.Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play Captain America and Billy, journeying cross-country on their motorcycles, using a drug deal in Los Angeles to finance a trip to Mardi Gras. The drug is cocaine (sold to a dealer played by rock producer Phil Spector), but their drug of choice is marijuana. Billy gets the giggles around the campfire at night. Captain America, who could handle it better, is cool, quiet, remote, a Christ figure who flies the American flag on his gas tank, his helmet and the back of his leather jacket.”Read More »
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Henri Xhonneux – Marquis (1989)
1981-1990ArthouseCultFranceHenri XhonneuxFrom IMDB:
‘Marquis’ is the only film I’ve ever seen by the oddly-named Henri Xhonneux, but it’s so imaginative and entertaining that I’m eager to see more of his work. ‘Marquis’ alleges to be based on incidents in the life and novels of the Marquis de Sade. If you’re seeking a “Cliff Notes” crib-sheet about de Sade or his works, look elsewhere. On its own merits, though, this film is highly enjoyable for those with a taste for the bizarre. Some of the activities of the real-life Marquis de Sade were downright contemptible, but I intensely admire the tremendous efforts he took to write down his prose in prison (where he was forbidden to possess paper or writing implements) and to smuggle his text out of prison for publication. I was intrigued to learn that the Marquis was a prisoner in the Bastille until only a few days before it was captured by the revolutionaries in 1789; it now appears that de Sade actively fomented the riot of Bastille Day, shouting to the people outside that there were weapons and allies within the prison.Read More »