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Cult

From the mind-altering and unclassifiable to fantasy, sci-fi and horror.

What is a cult film? Something that exists outside the mainstream? A movie that deliberately pushes boundaries, or one that inadvertently creates its own subculture? Of course, it can be any of these things. And more. From the modern thrills of Ti West’s The Sacrament, to the loving homage that is Rigor Mortis; the sci-fi innovation of The Congress to the riotous action of Why Don’t You Play In Hell?, this selection celebrates the transgressive and unclassifiable. A cult reputation can take years to achieve. Decades even. But why wait? These films are all cult classics in the making. Let’s claim them now.

Michael Blyth

Cult Gala

Only Lovers Left Alive

From Jim Jarmusch comes this stylish tale of Adam and Eve, two centuries-old vampires reuniting after a spell of time apart.

All Cheerleaders Die

A gang of cheerleaders embark on a supernatural path of vengeance in this wickedly ghoulish subversion of the high school movie.

Blackwood

The classic English ghost story gets a smart revision when a college professor finds himself plagued by spectral visions.

The Congress

Ari Folman’s follow up his critically lauded Waltz With Bashir is a mind-bending slice of science fiction set in a dystopian Hollywood.

Grand Piano

A classical pianist finds himself under threat from a homicidal maniac in this stylish thrill ride with nods to Hitchcock and Argento.

Jodorowsky’s Dune

An inventive documentary charting Alejandro Jodorowsky’s infamous attempt to bring Frank Herbert’s novel to the big screen.

Rigor Mortis

A modern take on the much-loved supernatural action films that populated Chinese genre cinema of the 1970s and 80s.

The Sacrament

Ti West brings his inimitable brand of smart, slow-burn terror to this story of two journalists visiting a mysterious religious commune.

The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears

Another giallo-inspired exercise in operatic violence from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, directors of the acclaimed Amer.

Sx_Tape

An exhilarating and terrifying found footage horror film from the director of modern genre classics Paperhouse and Candyman.

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

An ultra-violent slice of insanity that is both a wild subversion of the yakuza film and an affectionate tribute to the death of celluloid.

The Witches

Joan Fontaine suspects her sleepy English village may be home to the supernatural in this often overlooked Hammer production.

The Zero Theorem

Terry Gilliam returns to dystopia with a satire on our obsession with, and reliance upon, ever-faster means of communication.

Freaks ’n’ Geeks

Short filmmaking gets genre specific with the good, the sad and the weird.

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