What makes a movie a cult classic? Well, first, it needs to be rejected by the mainstream. Then it’s often forgotten, only to be discovered by a new generation. A cult classic doesn’t feel like a typical film and it shouldn’t be like anything you’ve ever seen. Most importantly, it should leave you feeling completely different. Here are five life changing cult classics to watch this weekend.
1. Escape from NY
Escape from New York takes place in a fictional, fascist dystopia set post Watergate. America has a problem with prison overpopulation and therefore makes the executive decision to just throw them away. But where can you throw a large, ever-increasing population of prisoners? Well, how about emptying Manhattan, sealing it off, and dumping them there? Great idea. Kurt Russel is as tough as they come playing Snake Pliskin, but really, Isaac Hayes steals the show as the reigning Duke of New York (I mean, he drives around in a Cadillac that has chandeliers as headlights — pretty pimp). Also look out for Ernest Borgnine as the crazy taxi driver Cabbie and Harry Dean Stanton, the king of cult, as Brain, the only guy who knows how to build anything. Written and directed by John Carpenter (Halloween), see this film, now.
2. Shoguns Assassin
Banned in America for like, ever, due to its violence, gore, and our tendency to behave like Puritans, Shogun Assassin is the condensed version of the classic series “Lone Wolf and Cub.” It is dubbed, and though most people hate dubbed movies, this is the greatest dubbing on any film ever made. I feel like one guy does every single person’s voice, which, if true, is like getting a life time supply of free pizza. Shit is amazing. Oh yeah, have you ever listened to the GZA’s debut solo album Liquid Swords? Well, all of the dialogue that made that album great is from Shogun Assassin! Remember how it starts? “When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest Samurai in the Empire and he was the shogun’s decapitator…” That’s Shogun Assassin! Go in peace ya’ll.
3. Battle Royale
Before the Hunger Games was written and made into a zillion dollar movie franchise, there was another book made into a movie. A film some would claim Hunger Games stole its plot from: that film was Battle Royale. God damn is this movie insane! The Japanese government decides that the youth has become too lazy after 800,00 students stage a walk out, and to fix this problem, they institute, the “BR Act.” This means that a high school class will be selected at random every year to be sent to an island where they will fight to the death. Rough, dude. Each student is given a bag of supplies. Some get a gun, others a flashlight, and only one can survive. If two survive after the 72 hour time limit, both die and no one wins. If you try to escape or refuse to fight, the explosive necklace they each wake up wearing will blow their heads into the great unknown. The film also stars legendary Japanese actor/director Takeshi ‘Beat Takeshi’ Kitano as the terrifying teacher running the game. Also, GoGo from Kill Bill is in it, which is totally rad.
4. The Warriors
There is no such thing as a cult classic list that does not begin or end with The Warriors. This is as good as it gets. No movie has ever made NYC seem so big, so strange, or so fucking awesome! The film takes place in a dystopian NYC, where every neighborhood is run by its own gang. The film follows Coney Island’s crew, “The Warriors,” as they make the 27 mile journey to the Bronx for a meeting with every other gang in New York. What could go wrong? The story itself is an adaptation of the Greek story of the 300 Spartans, which we’re all familiar with now. Without giving too much away, every gang in NYC is out to kill them and they have to fight their way back to Coney Island. This is one of those films that you should watch after you finally make the move to NYC. You’ll be filled with pride as you recognize the subway lines and just how far they have to travel.
5. Kids
Kids was written by an 18 year old skater named Harmony Korine and is possibly the best teen film ever made. It’s horribly beautiful, unique, and honest. It’s one of the first few films to show what life can really be like for a teenager without dumbing it down or cleaning it up. All of the actors were non-professional kids already living in the city, handpicked by the director Larry Clark. The film is fun, and so, so tragic.
Article by Timothy White. You can follow him on Twitter @TipToTheHip.
