- 2 days ago
Venture into cinema's darkest corners with us as we explore the most unsettling cult classics that have flown under the radar. From psychological horror to controversial exploitation, these films push boundaries in ways that mainstream movies wouldn't dare. Not for the faint of heart, these underground favorites have gained devoted followings despite—or perhaps because of—their disturbing content.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the more obscure and extreme end of the cult movie spectrum.
00:15Number 10. Santa Sangre.
00:17The legacy of filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky is one that's firmly tethered to both controversy and artistic passion.
00:30We'll have an act that will be sensational.
00:33Santa Sangre was released years after Jodorowsky first made headlines with his midnight movie called Hits, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain.
00:401989 proved that this maestro had lost none of his boundary-pushing power, however, as evidenced by the film's visual aesthetic.
00:46You're about to witness the ultimate miracle.
00:51Santa Sangre is colorful and morbid, grotesque yet beautiful.
00:54Jodorowsky also peppers his film with subtextual references to trauma and psychological damage.
01:00You can't atone for your sins with nightmares.
01:02It all comes together to form an experience that may be occasionally difficult to watch.
01:06It compels us to stare into its abyss all the same.
01:09What's happening to you?
01:15Nothing.
01:16It was just an elucidation.
01:19Number 9. The Baby.
01:20The term infantilism isn't generally used today in the medical world, but 1973 was a long time ago, a perfect time for a film like The Baby.
01:27When was the last time Baby, uh, had an examination?
01:33Why do we have to talk about Baby all the time?
01:36Well, if we don't, I'd like to find out more about you.
01:40Director Ted Post's work within the medium of television allows for this film's visual style to play into the overall confusion surrounding its protagonist, Anne.
01:48Your son was everything to me.
01:50I know.
01:53The Baby feels like a fuzzy, retro sitcom come to life, only with a very twisted premise.
01:58Anne's own feelings of guilt play into her decision to take the case of a family with a very special individual.
02:03Things end up being not as they seem, of course, and trust us when we tell you that we just can't spoil the ending of The Baby.
02:09You'll have to check it out for yourself.
02:10I only thought...
02:12Well, maybe you think too much.
02:15When it comes to Baby, I do all the things.
02:17Number 8.
02:18Possession.
02:19Much has been written about this cult psychological horror thriller from writer-director Andrzej Zhuofsky.
02:24If I threw myself at your feet and yelped, would you still walk over me?
02:28Yes!
02:291981's Possession is largely seen today by critics as something of a masterpiece, despite its brazen and disturbing special effects work.
02:36Awww!
02:36Awww!
02:37Awww!
02:38Awww!
02:39Awww!
02:40Awww!
02:41Awww!
02:42Juhavsky has been quoted describing Possession as something of an autobiographical piece, dramatizing his real-life divorce within a plot that includes espionage, creature effects, and an absolutely riveting performance from Isabella Gianni.
02:53You are not different from anyone else, we are all the same, but in different words, with different bodies, with different versions.
03:09The latter is truly the star of the show here, showing no restraint within scenes that honestly demand a lot of physicality and hysterics from the actor.
03:16Possession is truly one of a kind.
03:18I can't exist by myself, because I'm afraid of myself, because I'm the maker of my own evil.
03:25Number 7.
03:26Tetsuo the Iron Man
03:27It isn't every day that a movie could potentially be referred to as an all-out assault, but that's exactly what watching Tetsuo the Iron Man feels like, especially for the first time.
03:37Who's coming?
03:41Not no lie.
03:42This feature was written, produced, and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, and is an artistically shot piece, to be sure.
03:48It's also, however, a relentless attack in the audio-visual department, battering the senses of its viewer.
03:53The gruesome special effects depict a man undergoing a violent, physical metamorphosis into a machine.
04:08Meanwhile, the score from Chu Ishikawa echoes this body horror madness, scraping and scarring the audience with harsh walls of noise.
04:15Number 6.
04:24Gummo
04:24Many critics took major notice of 1995's Kids.
04:39That film featured a screenplay from Harmony Corrin, and it was the success of Kids that allowed for him to helm his first feature, Gummo.
04:45The end results were predictably unique, perhaps to a fault.
04:49You Jared Wiggly?
04:50Yeah.
04:52You know Hunt?
04:53Yeah.
04:55He told me some stuff about you.
04:57What did he say?
04:58They also didn't hold the hand of anyone who liked Kids, and expected more of the same from Corrin.
05:03Gummo eschewed traditional story structure in favor of malcontent slice-of-life vignettes from a small Ohio town that's been victimized by a tornado.
05:11Ooh boy, getting in that stuff in my hair.
05:13Unforgettable images, such as the spaghetti in the bathtub scene, or an accompanying soundtrack full of harsh black metal music,
05:19proved that Gummo was going to do whatever the hell it wanted, and it didn't care if you were along for the ride.
05:24Life is beautiful.
05:26Really it is.
05:28Full of beauty and illusions.
05:30Life is great.
05:34Without it, you'd be dead.
05:36Number 5.
05:37Faces of Death.
05:38The world of Mondo Cinema is one that exists at the nexus point combining documentary filmmaking and exploitation.
05:44If nature doesn't destroy the environment, it is very possible that the human being will.
05:49It's a genre that dates back to the 1960s, encompassing everything from travelogue films to the reality embodied by Faces of Death.
05:56This was a home video staple in the 1980s for horror-loving youth, thanks to its very simple premise.
06:02Lisa, how do you feel about the thought of going into the water with a potentially dangerous animal?
06:07Not me, no more.
06:08Faces of Death contains scenes of violence and death that are occasionally legitimate, usually ripped from newsreel footage.
06:14Much of it, however, is staged, but this takes little away from the shock value of its initial release.
06:20Some people will place themselves in precarious situations even when they're aware of the risk.
06:26Could this be caused by a latent death wish?
06:28There's also the cult fandom surrounding franchises like Faces of Death that ask real questions as to the complicity of enjoying such material in the privacy of our homes.
06:36Number 4, Begotten.
06:45This is one of those cult films that's largely survived through reputation and word of mouth alone.
06:50Begotten is an uncategorizable cult film that largely exists within the horror space, thanks to the harrowing nature of its visuals.
06:56Director E. Elias Merhij crafted an art piece that works as a silent, black-and-white slow burn with a non-linear narrative.
07:08The experience of watching Begotten is one that's best enjoyed alone and in the dark.
07:17Meanwhile, the controversial Death of God sequence is one that seems to be permanently a part of the Begotten conversation amidst cult film circles.
07:25Well, that and the film's permanent fixture within the bootleg-slash-great-market arena, since finding physical copies of Begotten has proved difficult for fans.
07:38Number 3, Necromantic.
07:41Are you one of those movie fans that's always seeking out the next extreme thing to explore one of humanity's greatest taboos?
07:48Then perhaps you're one of the many who championed director Jörg Bucharest's 1987 cult classic Necromantic.
07:55This is a film that was banned and censored around the world, yet one that's also been praised in the modern era for its morose and melancholic beauty.
08:02Necromantic isn't only about loving the dead.
08:23Budke Jörg's film also explores themes of social apathy, of internal anxiety, and our collective fear of dying and the unknown.
08:29Meanwhile, the soundtrack to Necromantic juxtaposes scenes of sex, death, and real animal violence to musical moods of unique and subtle darkness.
08:47Number 2, Men Behind the Sun.
08:49There is no joy to be found within 1988's Men Behind the Sun.
08:53Attention!
08:55Down!
09:00Prone position, crawl!
09:03Nor is there any sort of comeuppance for the wartime atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army within this dramatization of the real-life Unit 731.
09:12What was that injection this morning?
09:15I've had no reaction at all.
09:17I don't know what it was.
09:19Instead, this film from director Mao Ton-Fei, under the pseudonym of TF Mao, feels like a hate letter from Hong Kong, delivered under the guise of exploitation cinema.
09:28The special effects here were among the most infamous of the time, leaning almost into faux snuff territory.
09:33However, there's also the allegedly very real footage of a human autopsy, as well as a controversial scene featuring a cat.
09:40Don't say that we didn't warn you.
09:41Well, gentlemen, I can tell you, this is not the end.
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10:01Number 1, Man Bites Dog.
10:04The NC-17 rating isn't one that's usually doled out for North American theatrical releases, yet this definitely felt appropriate back in 1992 for Man Bites Dog.
10:12Serve-toi. Serve-vous. Il y'en a pour moi, il y'en a pour vous. Allez-y, je sais que vous avez des difficultés pour votre film, alors, franchement, je partage. Il n'y a pas de problème. Merci, Ben.
10:22This Belgian film is a black comedy slash mockumentary that asks its audience questions about violence, how we consume it as entertainment, and our places as accessories to its effects.
10:32You have a zoom on your machine. You want me to zoom and tell me where he is?
10:36The documentary film crew featured in Man Bites Dog are following a hitman during his day-to-day murders. Soon, however, the lines between documentary impartiality and complicity are blurred, and the crew finds themselves unable to detach from their subject.
10:54All of this is told within the film's outstanding black-and-white photography, a thing of beauty that exists alongside unrepentant violence.
11:01What to you defines a cult classic? And is there a point where movie-making goes too far? Let us know in the comments.
11:12The end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end. I'll leave that decision to you.
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