Five Cult Films You Need To See This Summer

Cult cinema cures every single ailment known to humankind.

Seriously though. The medicinal effects of genre film might not yet be properly understood, but all who have dedicated themselves to the art form understand its almost spiritual value. Any problem you are suffering from can be solved by watching heads explode in slow-motion, or by gazing at vampire prostitutes mauling unsuspecting punters.

To that end, there is no other acceptable way to spend one’s summer than gorging on cult films. Screw the beach and outdoors and friends and parties, and all that other nonsense people try to convince you is good and valid – the only way to while away the hot months is in a darkened room, binging on ridiculous slices of stylised kitsch.

So, without further adieu, here are the five flicks you should submerge yourself in rather than going outside and indulging in that social interaction stuff.

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1. The Fly

David Cronenberg is a putrid poet, the high master of mutilation. He also happens to be perhaps one of the most important filmmakers currently living, and though his entire body of work is worth your time, the easiest entry point isThe Fly. One of the rare examples of a remake that actually works, the film follows the mishaps (to put it lightly) that befall charismatic scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) after he accidentally genetically splices himself with a fly.

The film features Cronenberg’s trademark body horror touches, but more than anything, it’s a deeply humanist film – a movie that cares about its characters, and the tragedies that befall them. It also so happens to feature one of the all-time great horror movie lines – “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” – and some groundbreaking effects work. A true classic.

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2. Robocop

The films of Paul Verhoeven have only become more important as the years have gone on. Though the auteur was accused of being heavy-handed back in the ’80s, his vision of a world in which violence is considered the ultimate form of entertainment seems startlingly prescient in the Trumpian age we now inhabit.

Indeed,Robocopis a film that captures the true American experience in all its glitzy, ugly, kitschy, blood-stained insanity. It is a true masterpiece of an excess, an over-the-top look at an over-the-top culture, and a film with more political commentary than anyone ever gave it credit for.

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3. The Untouchables

Another cult classic helmed by an all-time great director, Brian De Palma’sThe Untouchables is a hard-boiled epic that – controversial opinion incoming – stands as a significantly better crime film thatThe Godfather. Yeah. We went there.

There’s just so much to love about this spaghetti-fattened experiment in extremism, from the central performance of Kevin Costner as hero Eliot Ness to Robert De Niro’s legendary turn as Al Capone. And that’s not even to mention the expertly directed set pieces, particularly the renowned train station showdown that caps off the whole proceedings. A genuine masterpiece.

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4. Killer Klowns From Outer Space

The Chiodo Brothers never found much mainstream success as filmmakers – actually, make thatany mainstream success – but in cult circles they are luminaries. The pair have only one feature film to their name, the vicious, blackly comicKiller Klown From Outer Space, but the film is resoundingly insane enough to have an entire reputation forged upon it.

There is simply nothing else out there likeKiller Klowns. It’s a neon-soaked attack on taste itself, and an astoundingly uncouth swipe at all that most Americans and cinemagoers hold dear. And in that – in its sheer, unbridled bravery – it’s a demented epic worthy of more praise than it has ever once been afforded.

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5. Motel Hell

A bizarrePsycho rip-off/parody/tribute,Motel Hell is the very definition of an exploitation flick. It’s a mushy, half-digested puke pile of horror movie tropes, reference points and crude jokes that never once feels fully formed… and that’s its precise genius.

A formless anti-film about a pair of killers who off their victims in order to turn them into jerky (yep, jerky),Motel Hell rolls about the place without rhyme or reason, until suddenly it just… kinda… stops. But lawd almighty does it leave an impression. It’s the kind of film that grows in stature in your mind, eventually taking on a mantle of true anti-art greatness. Check it out: you won’t regret it.

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