What makes a cult movie a cult movie? On our most recent conversation for WUWM’s “Lake Effect,” Dan Harmon and I never got around to defining terms precisely. Our topic was our five favorite cult films from the 1980s, and we spent most of our 15 minutes swapping descriptions of our faves. There wasn’t much overlap on our lists, as it turned out. I was in college and Dan was in high school back then, and at those ages, a few years makes a whole lot of difference in pop culture perspective.
So, what is cult movie? At entry level, it must be a film ignored or derided by mainstream audiences at the time of its release. And then, it all gets murky. Do cult movies need to win a fervent if small following or can the cult consist of the lonely vigil of a single supplicant? I tend toward the former, but that might invalidate at least one of my Top-Fives, the little-remembered Slam Dance.
One thing we can all agree upon: a cult movie doesn’t need to remain obscure, but can achieve widespread critical respectability and public awareness over time. In that category comes at least two of my choices, Blue Velvet and Blade Runner.
Blade Runner (1982)
Along with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien, Blade Runner is among the most influential science-fiction films of the late 20th century. With its retro-future look, freak show denizens and genetically engineered Replicants, Blade Runner is a startling visualization of things already beginning to happen. Ridely Scott, who had recently helmed Alien, directs.
Blue Velvet (1986)
Am I alone in thinking that director David Lynch was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt? Blue Velvet pulls the covers on small town America and finds crime and strangeness. Kyle MacLachlan is protagonist, a young innocent-turned-investigator (good prep for "Twin Peaks". Blue Velvet co-stars Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern and Dennis Hopper in full crazy.
River's Edge (1986)
River's Edge takes the temperature of teenage America on the verge of grunge and finds it cold. The kids in this small Pacific Northwest burg grow up amidst the ruins of ‘60s ideals with little direction. It features a great young cast including Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye. Dennis Hopper reappears in full crazy.
The Lost Boys (1987)
A teen horror movie with an edge of satire, The Lost Boys stars up-and-comers Jason Patrick and Kiefer Sutherland and turns Peter Pan archetype into ageless vampires (who never grow up). The undead pick on two brothers, new kids in town with a struggling divorced mom.
Slam Dance (1987)
Tom Hulce became a star—a shooting star as it turned out—with the success of Amadeus. Here, he plays a cartoonist drawn into the underworld of a political sex scandal (and a punk rock club scene milieu). As in a good Hitchcock movie, Hulce is pursued by cops and criminals and must clear his name.