How to define a Cult classic? Is it a shoestring exploitation Film from the world of Ed Wood? Off-beat movies made outside the traditional Hollywood studio system? Does the film in question even have to be good?

More often than not, one can identify a cult movie simply by watching it and being washed over by its quirkiness, off-beat tone, or technical mastery despite clear budget restrictions. Yet, this generic rule doesn't encapsulate all cult films. Sometimes, a cult film is an international success, a wannabe blockbuster, or just a straight-up production of unadulterated shlock.

Most of all, a cult film requires devotion: the devotion of a feverous fanbase that persists for decades, gradually drilling the movie into the mainstream with near-religious zealousness. To become a true ‘cult classic,’ the movie must possess a lasting staying power from its initial mixed reception and may now come highly regarded as one of the best in the history of the film medium.

With the assistance of the Geek Team, Wealth of Geeks presents these true cult classics, beginning with the slightly mainstream before gradually dovetailing into the off-beaten path that makes a film part of the cult.

1. Grindhouse

Though listed as one entry, Grindhouse is truly two films for the price of one, split between Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof.

Spliced in with fake trailers (or proofs-of-concept, considering many of these “fake” movies became real several years later), Grindhouse makes for a loving ode to exploitation cinema from two directors who are forever indebted to the works of that genre of film, rather fittingly being a box office failure much like most exploitation films.

Strong word of mouth and robust home video sales ensured that Grindhouse would become a cult classic in its own right, thanks to Rodriguez's over-the-top horror and Tarantino's genuinely insane vehicle stunt work.

2. This Is Spinal Tap

Rob Reiner earned renown for the sitcom All in the Family when he set out to satirize the 1980s rock scene with the definitive mockumentary This is Spinal Tap.

Following the fictional band of the same name on their North American tour, all the pretensions and mystiques of prior music documentaries are stripped away and mocked relentlessly. Packed with quotable improvised dialogue and dedicated to its faux-documentary filmmaking, Spinal Tap was only a modest box-office success in 1984 but found a devoted following amongst critics and real musicians who found much of themselves in the satire. Not many cult films can dial themselves up to eleven, but This is Spinal Tap truly lives up to the idiom it created.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim was too unique not to become a cult film when it first came out in 2010.

Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim comics series, Edgar Wright’s spin on the material embraced its video game inspirations with religious zeal, helped by an inspired cast of actors who’d become major stars over the next ten years, particularly the likes of Brie Larson and Kieran Culkin. It was perhaps too off-the-wall to make a profit, let alone back its estimated $85 million budget.

Still, its commitment to video game visuals, comic book pacing, and Canadian setting ensured Scott Pilgrim lived on as a cult hit, ultimately seeing a revival of sorts in the anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off in 2023.

4. Mad Max

Cinesists have written much about the Mad Max franchise over the years, from the influential The Road Warrior to the highly acclaimed Fury Road. Less has been said, however, about the first film in the franchise, 1979's Mad Max, probably because of how different this entry is from the series it spawned.

Set firmly in a gradually breaking Australia, with Max himself portrayed as a highway police officer driven to vigilantism, the original Mad Max drew a split response from critics but proved vital in the emerging Australian New Wave of the 1970s and ‘80s. Though lacking the series’ trademark post-apocalyptic design, Mad Max possesses the same high-action car stunts that would become its calling card and draw the attention of fans worldwide.

5. Harold and Maude

A black comedy, a sweet romance, and an existential drama rolled into one, Harold and Maude follows the namesake Harold Chasen, a death-obsessed young man, as he strikes an unorthodox friendship with the bohemian Maude Chardin.

The film’s twisted sense of humor offended critics back in 1971 and  itfailed financially because of a lackluster marketing campaign, but its critical reception has vastly improved over the decades. While directors don't often cite Harold and Maude  as a named influence on their  work over the years, the dark comedy on display would herald the arrival of a more macabre humor and further unconventional depictions of romance in films going forward.

6. Speed Racer

After the success of The Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta, one would think that the Wachowskis wanted to tackle something somewhat different. Speed Racer became that something different and then some, becoming a modern pop-art film that paid homage to its original 1960s anime counterpart with a larger-than-life presence all its own.

Yet the film received dismal box office returns and critical disappointment; its visuals were praised, but its screenplay was found lackluster. However, in the sixteen years since its initial release, Speed Racer became a modern cult film, drawing praise from social media for its anime style in a world far more appreciative of its stylistic action.

7. Legend

For all his strengths as a director, Ridley Scott possesses a highly turbulent filmography marked by remarkable highs and lows throughout his forty-five-plus-year career, of which Legend was considered a considerable low for a time.

A dark fantasy epic starring a young Tom Cruise with Tim Curry as the devilish Lord of Darkness would, on paper, have the makings of the next great ‘80s fantasy epic. Instead, historians credited it with discouraging interest in the genre for many years. However, the release of Scott’s director’s cut in 2002 allowed the film reassesment by a new generation of fans, appreciating its darker fairy tale-inspired tone, grayer character complexity, and gleefully wicked performance by Curry.

8. Brazil

Between his fittingly quixotic endeavor to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote to the wonderfully imaginative Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam always possessed a unique touch for British surrealism from his time as a Python.

Nestled between Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen lies the maddening dystopian comedy Brazil, a Fellini-esque riff on the sci-fi totalitarianism found in 1984. With a rich visual design that draws from across the 20th century and featuring the likes of Jonathan Pryce and Robert De Niro, Brazil ran into distribution hurdles in America from Universal, crippling any chance for box office success.

Nevertheless, Brazil's whimsical, art-deco set design would greatly influence future films, ranging from Tim Burton’s Batman to the Coen Brothers’ cult favorite, The Hudsucker Proxy.

9. House

A genuinely demented Japanese horror film, House combines the classic tropes of a haunted house chiller with experimental visuals and comedy that could only have been cooked up in the late 1970s.

Granted special permission by Toho Studios to oversee the film to ride off Jaws‘ success, director Nobuhiko Obayashi oversaw a cast of mostly amateur actors based on script ideas he conceived with his then-young daughter. Negatively received by Japanese critics but a domestic box office hit, House plays like an arthouse acid trip mixed with giallo sensibilities for a bizarre, absurdist take on the horror genre that demands a watch.

10. After Hours

Of the many films Martin Scorsese has overseen, perhaps the most curious of his esteemed career remains his frantic black comedy After Hours.

Following a hapless computer worker on his misadventures in the Soho night, After Hours combined the same New York grit that Scorsese made famous in Taxi Driver with the dark comedy he previously explored in The King of Comedy to create a madcap nocturne New York odyssey. Only a modest success back in 1985, After Hours was largely forgotten, being nestled in a small corner of Scorsese’s catalog. However, it proved influential in music, lending its title to the Weekend’s highly acclaimed 2020 album of the same name.

11. Watership Down

Somewhat wrongly, audiences pigeonhole animation as a medium catering to children, focusing on cute visuals and harmless fairy tale plots. Ralph Bakshi already did away with this notion with his adult-oriented Fritz the Cat, but 1978’s British adventure-drama Watership Down takes the general shape of a children’s film with a Brothers Grimm-esque edge.

Infamous for the traumatic injuries inflicted on its cast of realistic rabbit characters and its perceived impact on child audiences, Watership Down nevertheless drew praise for its naturalistic art style and voice-acting performances. Now regarded as an animated masterpiece, the film counts among its admirers Guillermo del Toro and Wes Anderson, with Richard Kelley citing Watership Down as an influence on his own cult film Donnie Darko.

12. The Princess Bride

It may seem hard to believe, but Rob Reiner’s follow-up to the acclaimed Stand by Me only met with modest financial success in late 1987, just making under twice its $16 million budget.

Yet The Princess Bride remains one of the great fantasy films of the 1980s, with some of the genre’s most memorable characters, swashbuckling swordplay, and a witty script provided by William Goldman. The romantic story of Westley and his beloved Buttercup continues to capture the imagination nearly thirty years later, with its post-modern approach to fairy tale storytelling and enduring quotes resonating in a cynical age.

13. Black Christmas

Before John Carpenter’s Halloween, there was Bob Clark’s Black Christmas, made just four years prior. Taking the urban myth of “the babysitter and the man upstairs” and creating a slasher mystery in the heart of the Christmas season, Black Christmas became unique for its unseen killer, primarily female cast, and heart-stopping final twist.

While successful in its native Canada, the film performed poorly stateside due to stiff competition and Warner Brothers’ insistence on retitling the movie for release. Despite these hurdles, Black Christmas helped form the early basis for the emerging slasher genre as a whole, with a conversation between Carpenter and Clark over a hypothetical sequel profoundly influencing the development of the defining Halloween.  

14. Suspiria

One of the grand examples of Italy’s giallo horror movement and Dario Argento’s magnum opus, Suspiria combined slasher thrills with gorgeous cinematography still unseen in most horror cinema. Following the witchcraft-inspired murders at a prestigious ballet school in Germany, Suspiria was cut down for its theatrical release in America to ensure an R-rating and received a mixed critical reception in 1977.

However, the film earned critical reevaluation in the decades since, becoming Argento’s most successful American release and ultimately inspiring a reimagining of its own in 2018. Gratuitously violent yet strangely beautiful at once, Suspiria is a vivid nightmare that could only come from the imagination of Dario Argento.

15. Ghost in the Shell

Inspired by the cyberpunk action manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell followed the cyborg security agent Motoko Kusanagi as she faced off against the cyber hacker the Puppet Master in an alternate 2029.

With high-end action mixed with philosophical musings courtesy of Patlabor director Mamoru Oshii, the film became a critical hit yet a box office failure, only beginning to attract a wider audience when it became available on VHS in both America and Japan.

Ghost in the Shell’s gorgeous animation, world design, and lead heroine drew admirers, including the previously mentioned Wachowskis, whose The Matrix was directly inspired by concepts and action sequences from Ghost in the Shell. 

16. Escape From New York

Following the commercial successes of Halloween and The Fog, John Carpenter plunged into dystopian sci-fi action with Escape from New York. Following former soldier turned criminal Snake Plissken as he rescues the US president from a Manhattan transformed into a super prison, Escape from New York combined Carpenter’s love for B-movie sci-fi with a creative action adventure.

Only modestly popular at the time of its release it has attained a cult following over the decades. The film proved instrumental in reforging Kurt Russell into an action star, having only been previously known for Disney comedies, and he would become a key collaborator of Carpenter’s throughout the 1980s. Russell's Snake also became popularly referenced in other media, most notably in game developer Hideo Kojima’s landmark Metal Gear series in the form of Solid Snake.

17. Slap Shot

Famed for certified film classics Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, director George Roy Hill once more collaborated with actor Paul Newman for a decidedly different comedy than either man was accustomed to.

Following a struggling steel town hockey team turning to violent play to stay afloat, Slap Shot was only a modest hit in 1977 and was deemed subpar compared to Newman’s previous releases. However, as one of the rare, well-remembered hockey-centric movies, Slap Shot has become a cult sports film and inspired two direct-to-video sequels in the early 2000s.

18. Reservoir Dogs

Not only does Reservoir Dogs serve as Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut, but the film also serves as a crucial turning point in American indie cinema, which, alongside the directorial debuts of Steven Soderbergh and Kevin Smith, had a profound impact on filmmaking beyond the 1990s.

While only a modest financial success in 1992, it drew renewed attention thanks to the critical acclaim of Tarantino’s follow-up Pulp Fiction, leading fans to compare the two films back-to-back often. Gleefully violent with quotable dialogue and memorable performances from Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen, Reservoir Dogs honored numerous international film movements with a uniquely American pulp twist.

19. American Psycho

A decidedly satirical take on psychological slashers, American Psycho became a stunning showpiece performance for the then-relatively unknown Christian Bale, providing both gratuitous kills and a comedic send-up of corporate yuppie culture.

In adapting Bret Easton Ellis’ novel, director Mary Harron played up the book’s satirical and psychological elements, crafting a horror film just as funny as a skewering of the hyper-capitalism of the late 1980s.

While already pivotal in raising Christian Bale’s profile to an internationally renowned actor, American Psycho gained a new lease on life in the 2000s upon home video release, inspiring perverse affection for its psychotic lead and psychological examination of masculine vanity.

20. The Good, the Bad, the Weird

A Korean action spin on Sergio Leone’s legendary The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Good, the Bad, the Weird follows a trio of gunslingers in 1939 Manchuria caught between bandits and the Imperial Japanese army over a treasure map believed to lead to untold riches.

Unabashedly silly while still retaining its Spaghetti Western edge, the film benefits from director Kim Jee-woon’s action cinematography, particularly a standout sequence between an Imperial convoy and Jung Woo-sung’s ‘The Good’ in a shootout chase for the ages. While one of the highest-grossing films in South Korea, The Good, the Bad, the Weird remains little-known in the United States. Still, its high-octane gunplay, Western inspirations, and unique setting make for a captivating action epic unlike anything else from South Korean cinema.

21. Labyrinth

Though famed as the creator of the Muppets and a pivotal contributor to Sesame Street, Jim Henson had long professed his desire to show that his brand of puppetry could be far more than just simple entertainment for children. In the 1980s, Henson oversaw two mature fantasy films, each darker than he was known for and meeting mixed critical/commercial reception.

However, while The Dark Crystal would see a revival in the form of Netflix prequel Age of Resistance in 2019, that same sort of revisitation has yet to greet Labyrinth. Buoyed by a typically charismatic David Bowie as Goblin King Jareth and a lavish fairy tale production design, Labyrinth experienced a home video revival and maintains a passionate fan following that persists to this day.

22. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Already renowned for their sketch comedy series Flying Circus, the Monty Python troupe worked to tell a surrealist comedy spin on the Arthurian legend in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

With its delightful send-up on the famed Grail Quest, the Pythons skewered medieval epics and chivalry while serving as Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones’ directorial debut. Though a relative box office hit that split critical opinion over its set pieces and jokes, Holy Grail’s reputation grew over the decades to become one of British cinema’s great comedies. Decades later, the film would inspire a musical adaptation from former Python Eric Idle in Spamalot.

23. Repo Man

One of the most highly acclaimed films of the 1980s remains an almost undiscovered gem buried beneath the likes of Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and Footloose.

Starring a pre-Breakfast Club Emilio Estevez, Repo Man took a punk-rock approach to sci-fi comedy, satirizing Reagan America and atomic fears with repo men, government agents, and punks all fighting over a Chevy Malibu supposedly containing aliens. Marking British director Alex Cox’s feature debut, the film endures thanks to its punk soundtrack and off-kilter humor.

24. Return to Oz

The enduring image of L. Frank Baum’s classic Oz book series remains the definitive The Wizard of Oz from 1939, but that film never received a true sequel or remake thanks to its place in pop culture.

However, because of Baum’s prolific work, unofficial sequels to the MGM production have appeared over the decades, perhaps the most well-known being Disney’s 1985 Return to Oz. Far darker than its spiritual predecessor but more in line with the original tone of Baum’s books, Return to Oz faced mixed critical reception and box office failure, no doubt due to general audiences only familiar with the 1939 interpretation.

However, thanks to its dark fantasy tone and special effects work, the film still holds a special, if slightly traumatic, place in the children who grew up with this more nightmarish Oz. 

25. El Topo

Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky remains beloved in the cult, avant-garde film world for his visual aesthetics, hybrid Eastern/Judeo-Christian philosophical themes, and bizarre characters. His second film, the acid western El Topo, became the grandfather of the midnight movie scene, beginning like a typical western set-up before dovetailing into feverish imagery and surrealism.

Blurring the line between the art house and exploitation cinemas, El Topo proved influential on directors David Lynch, Gore Verbinski, and Nicolas Winding Refn. In music, admirers have included Frank Ocean and Peter Gabriel, while game director Suda51 cited El Topo as a critical influence on the similarly cult-adored action game No More Heroes.

26. Phantom of the Paradise

Before Scarface, Dressed to Kill, and even Carrie, Brian de Palma oversaw this radically reimagined interpretation of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. Rather than following a disfigured classical music genius, Phantom of the Paradise would follow a disgruntled songwriter seeking vengeance against the devious rock producer who stole his work.

Equal parts rock opera, black comedy, and supernatural horror, Phantom received near-universal negative reviews but received praise, fittingly, for its music soundtrack. References to the film can be found in the manga industry, with the design of this rock n’ roll Phantom influencing characters appearing in works as diverse as Berserk and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

27. Heavy Metal

Based on the sci-fi/fantasy anthology comic magazine of the same name, Heavy Metal was an animated anthology that took the underground/French comics stories of its print counterpart and rendered them in the same graphic detail.

Produced by Ivan Reitman and featuring a massive voice cast including John Candy, Harold Ramis, and Eugene Levy, the film showcased various animation studios on different segments, ranging from sci-fi comedy to fantastical horror in equal measure. Thanks to its eclectic rock soundtrack and heavy rotation on television and midnight screenings, Heavy Metal inspired later adult-oriented animation projects, including the modern-day hit Rick & Morty.

28. Point Break

Before Kathryn Bigelow earned an Academy Award for Best Director for her work on the war drama The Hurt Locker, she was perhaps most famous for her early ‘90s action romp Point Break.

With star turns from both Keanu Reeves as an undercover FBI agent and Patrick Swayze as the charismatic leader of the “Ex-Presidents” bank robbery gang, Point Break combined over-the-top crime thrills and sports stunt work to craft a film that epitomizes the extreme era of the 1990s.

While a contemporary critical/financial success, Point Break continues to endure thanks to the chemistry between Reeves and Swayze’s characters, with the film inspiring The Fast and the Furious a decade after its release and referenced in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz.

29. Swiss Army Man

The feature film debut of the Daniels, previously known for music videos and episodes for television sitcoms, Swiss Army Man gave a first taste of the pair’s penchant for the surreal while combining effective comedy and drama six years before sweeping the film world with Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Equal part survival story and buddy comedy, Paul Dano stars as a man marooned on an island, with his only hope of returning home being a seemingly magical corpse portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe. The premise is patently absurd, but Dano and Radcliffe's commitment to the tone, paired with its imaginatively weird visuals, remains inspiring and destined to become a cult staple in the years to come.

30. Battle Royale

One of Japanese cinema’s most violent and controversial action films, Battle Royale is undoubtedly one of the 21st century’s most influential films for its impact across all forms of media. Following a Japanese middle-school class forced to fight one another to the death, director Kinji Fukasaku’s final film drew praise and criticism for its teen