The Best Cult Films of All Time

“Freaks” is a Depression-era film directed by Tod Browning (“Dracula”) that was the most shocking movie of its day. The plot revolves around a trapeze artist who plans to marry a diminutive performer for his money, poison him, and run off with her lover. The other side-show performers discover the plot and exact their own, terrifying revenge on the conspirators. The film, which featured real sideshow performers, was banned in many states for decades because some audience members claimed it made them ill.

Ridley Scott’s grim, futuristic drama about a man (Harrison Ford) tasked to hunt “Replicants” who have escaped to Earth was misunderstood in its time but has gained a legion of fans. A sequel to “Blade Runner,” “Blade Runner 2049,” was released in 2017. It brought back Ford and cast him alongside Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas.

“A Clockwork Orange” is Stanley Kubrick’s disturbing and thought-provoking look at a dystopian England where roving gangs get high and prey on society. After one sadistic gang member (Malcolm McDowell) kills a woman, he’s captured. He allows himself to undergo behavior modification that conditions him to reject violence. When he returns to the outside world, he himself becomes the victim of his victims.

“Fight Club” is David Fincher’s exploration into nihilism and for some critics an indictment of toxic masculinity. An office worker (Edward Norton) dealing with insomnia and a soap maker (Brad Pitt) create an underground fight club that attracts men tired of living dead-end lives. Though some critics found the movie inhuman and deeply unsettling, audiences on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 96% score.

“This Is Spinal Tap” is Rob Reiner’s hilarious send-up of heavy metal rock ‘n’ roll. Told in documentary style, the movie follows the peaks and valleys of the career of the fictional British metal band Spinal Tap. Smartly written by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, and Harry Shearer – all of whom appear in the film – the comedy is chock full of quotable moments.