CultFlicks.net

Rating:

Review

They Live is a seriously stupid movie, yet interestingly, that sort of reflects the culture of the times and the themes of the film. They Live has aliens ruling the world through television (media) turning all the people into slaves of the aliens (media). The people consume and consume to fuel the aliens strive for dominance, and the people are powerless to stop them. It seems like a terrible C-grade alien flick, and it most certainly is. But it also speaks on the culture of the era in a weird way. After John Carpenter took a break from milking the tit of the Halloween franchise, he encapsulated an overall thought process with intrigue and suspense, encased in a shell of a stupid movie.

Reason to Watch

They Live doesn’t pander to you as much as you deserve it to, and for that, it is worth your time.

Context

It’s a throwback to 50’s alien-grade visuals, and it has underlining messages of mass-consumerism and greed helmed by John Carpenter. Not bad for a one trick pony.

Most Memorable Quote(s)

• Nada: I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum. 
• Nada: Wooo. It’s like a drug. Wearing these glasses gets you high, but you come down hard. 
• Bearded Man: We could be pets, we could be food, but all we really are is livestock. 

What You Need to Get Through This Movie

All your receipts of the all the shit you bought in the last year, to make yourself feel bad and bring yourself into the movie with greater aplomb

Trivia

• The line “I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubble gum” was ad-libbed by Roddy Piper. According to director John Carpenter, Piper had taken the line from a list of ideas he had for his pro wrestling interviews. 
• Roddy Piper, being a married man at the time of filming, refused to take his wedding band off. That’s why in several scenes you can see a wedding ring on. 

Educational Content

If aliens were to invade, the first place they would go is to the televison stations

Mullets- still not retro

You may be married to, sleeping with, or sitting next to an alien. Men in Black taught you this one as well

Justification for Rating

Well, it’s a movie.

Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZUDMGJsKo

Ginger Snaps DVD Cover

Rating:

Review

Your first clue to the type of movie you’re about to see is the title, which is a play on words in a couple of witty ways. Ginger is the name of the lead character who is bitten and infected by a werewolf on the day she gets her period.  She then goes on a killing spree, as any self-respecting werewolf would. It’s also a euphemism for a quick, unexpected dog bite. This kind of black comedy is what you’re in for, along with a good bit of gore.

Ginger and her sister consider themselves weird because they stage and photograph bloody death scenes. Then they find out that they’re really weird because one of them is now a werewolf. Your basic heavy metal, sex kitten kinda werewolf, but a lycanthrope nonetheless. A pissy one, too.

Reason to Watch

If you’re into some pretty heavy gore, like pretty young women, dark humor and metal music, you’re probably going to be a happy little viewer.  If you’re into analysis of such films, you can ponder the fact that this film was praised for using werewolfism as a metaphor for puberty. To this reviewer (a female) , it seemed more like a tongue-in-cheek illustration of how deadly women can become when they’re on their period.

Context

This film started production right after Colombine and took quite a publicity hit for its glorifcation of teen violence.

Most Memorable Quote(s)

• Ginger: The fuck, Bee. This is your idea. If you don’t like your ideas, stop having them.
• Bridget: Are you sure it’s just cramps?
  Ginger: Just so you know… the words “just” and “cramps,” they don’t go together.

What You Need to Get Through This Movie

Midol and a silver belly ring.

Educational Content

• Silver belly rings do not contain enough silver to cure werewolfism.
• Being a werewolf apparently makes you quite horny.

Justification for Rating

It’s heavy on the gore and a bit on the depressing side, even for horror. However, the occasional humor is quite good. In fact, writer Karen Walton won an International Horror Award for Pretty Funny Writing. Not making that up.

Clip

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoa1A987A_k

Rating:

Review

With deep religious undertones, and wild performances of sacrilege, The Holy Mountain is a metaphor for religious insurrection as much as a take on why religion sucks ass. There are many direct and indirect allusions to religious events thrown all about the film, and though it really doesn’t come together into something that makes all that much sense, it does sort of make you think- instead of thinking about what app you will download to your phone, thoghts willa rise such as “does the animal i sacrified have a bearing on how many virgins i will get ” or “would being possessed by kind of cool?”

Reason to Watch

You don’t really learn anything and the plot is a series of disjointed scenarios and frames, wrapped in a casing of science-fiction and awkward melodrama. Sounds like a cult film to me.

Context

The Holy Mountain really tells a bizarre story about combining the world of heaven with the realities of earth, and how the task is insurmountable and kind of daunting. It also has a lot of dead animals and religious subtext, so there is a whole lot of something here, not executed all that well.

Most Memorable Quote(s)

• The Alchemist: You are excrement. You can change yourself into gold. 
• Surrender yourself to the Earth. Return what was loaned to you. Give up your pleasure, your pain, your friends, your lovers, your life, your past, what you desire. You will know nothingness, it is the only reality.

What You Need to Get Through This Movie

A copy of The Bible, the Quaran, Islamic texts and an mp3 of System of a Down’s hit song, Holy Mountains.

Trivia

The crucified animal carcasses were borrowed from a local restaurant, which were then served to customers upon being returned.

The “tumor” that the priests pull out of the back of the Thief’s neck was an octopus the filmmakers purchased at a local market.

The crew didn’t obtain any permits for the shot of the helicopter setting down in the street, merely had an actor in a police uniform shop traffic while they filmed, then proceeded to run off after the shot was complete.

Educational Content

When dogs fight, people cry

Chanting is religious, but may have consequences, such as bleeding out the eyes or eternal damnation

Justification for Rating

it is hard to determine if The Holy Mountain is a good weird, a bad weird, or an absurdly awesome weird. The rating is irrelevanet here, because The Holy Mountain is every type of weird at any moment in the film

Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHiA3w6Y3KA

Rating:

Review

1984 is wholly drowning in science-fiction oddities. Some of them fail miserably and others are quaint and retreaded, though sort of intriguing. Night of the Comet is unabashedly open to taking in influences from many mediums and genres, sort of crafting a romance story around a science-fiction tale, capping it with humor and drama alike. Night of the Comet isn’t particuarly good, but for what it does, you come to appreciation the seamlessness of making so many types of movies in one and having it turn less into a hodge podge mess and something not entirely pretentious. Night of the Comet is quiet for all its exaggerated tendencies, and the film comes and goes without making a huge splash, but a quiet simmer that will stick for some time. Like a slow kiss and not meaningless mediocre sex, Night of the Comet is pretty and interesting, and for sci-fi in the 80’s, that’s about as modest as it gets.

Reason to Watch

Night of the Comet does a lot right, and doesn’t focus on one thing to drive the characters through their silly story.

Context

The film’s charming elements are helped further by a story that actually sort of makes sense, something akin to a god-like impossibility in mid-80’s science-fiction realm.

Most Memorable Quote(s)

• Willy: You wouldn’t believe what we want from you. In your worst nightmare you wouldn’t believe. 
• Regina Belmont: C’mon Hector, the MAC-10 submachine gun was practically designed for housewives. 

What You Need to Get Through This Movie

A nice cup of coffee and your viewing glasses, this contradicts the absurdity with a little bit of wholesome goodness

Trivia

• The original working title for the film was Teenage Mutant Horror Comet Zombies.
• The Shopping Mall featured in Night of the Comet was the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The Galleria has been used for several movies including Terminator and Fast Times at Ridegmont High.

Educational Content

If famed gruesome horror/children’s film director Robert Rodriguez likes something, it’s probably good

Malls are creepy when empty

If Night of the Comet does something right, they remind you that Dawn of the Dead is a good movie

Justification for Rating

Unlike many cult films, Night of the Comet is a legitimate engrossing movie. it takes influences from many different sources, yet on its own, its a nice mix of many different things that work well together, as opposed to a blender of random items that make a chunky gross brown smoothie.

Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91xWXTIwTwM

Rating:

Review

Having been banned in countless countries, including rape scenes and controversy, and the utter hatred of the author who created the original story, the film version of A Clockwork Orange is polarizing and simply awesome. Stanley Kubrick is a tue visionary of the film medium, and by making a film so outwardly bizarre and controversial, it has essentially confirmed the film the status of “cult.” Yet despite the status, the film manages to say something about society, commercialism, greed, and corruption in a way that is so fresh and inventive it still stands the test of time as a primeir film of the horror divine. Kubrick is a cult mastermind, and A Clockwork Ornage arguably stands as his greatest creation in film-making.

Reason to Watch

Without getting into too great of detail, two scenes in particualr are enough to watch this film. it is also culturally historic. if you haven’t seen the move, i’m sure you’ve missed a few references to it in other areas. The cinematography is exquisite and astonishing effective in setting the mood. For you move newbies and dingdongs, that basically means it’s really cool to look at. On a final note, if you have no knowledge of Stanley Kubrick (or awesomeness) there’s no better place to start.

Context

The movie is not without its detractors. its controversy and message still holds up over time, and if you want to hear what all the fuss is about, might as well dive into the film right. it may offend you, even for its time, and it may keep you reeling from thoughts such as “how did they get away with that?” and “I want to learn cool dance moves and rape things.”

Most Memorable Quote(s)

• Alex: Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well. To what do I owe the extreme pleasure of this surprising visit? 
• P.R. Deltoid: I’ve just come from the hospital; your victim has died. 
  Alex: You try to frighten me. Admit so, sir. This is some new form of torture. Say it, Brother Sir. 
  P.R. Deltoid: It’ll be your own torture. I hope to God it’ll torture you to madness. 
• Chief Guard Barnes: Are you now, or have you ever been a homosexual? 

What You Need to Get Through This Movie

Hallucinogenic drugs wouldn’t hurt, though we would never condone behavior such as that. A bottle of Nightquil will do. Ok, maybe just a backscratcher. Do not watch with a new date!

Trivia

One of only two films to ever be nominated for an Academy Award to debut with an X rating.

The film’s first cut was just over 4 hours, a notorious typical action for Kubrick

Director Stanley Kubrick handled a large portion of the marketing for the film, a rarity, especially in the early 70’s.

The film largely uses a made up language, a mix of Russian, English, and slang words of both. It was an original invention of original author Anthony Burgess, which you would think makes the book unreadable but contrarily makes it amazing.

Educational Content

• Sex isn’t always fun or awesome
• The message: over saturation of media is bad, in case you haven’t heard that before
• You can change a person from bad to good if you force their eyeballs open and have them watch depictions of cute puppies cuddling

Justification for Rating

After it’s all said and done, A Clockwork Orange says more than most films ever could and does it more splendidly and with greater enthusiasm than most films could ever achieve- all capped with an unrivaled eye for perfection from director Stanley Kubrick.

Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C-20JyOgMY