Last month I published an article here on WhatCulture! giving you my pick of 10 obscure films that I feel deserve a wider audience. The article turned out to be a big hit, so I’ve decided to do another list along the same lines.
Be assured that these next 10 choices are not just films that ended up on the cutting room floor the first time around. They all have genuine merit, and the reason I didn’t include them the first time around is that I wanted as wide a range as possible to recommend. This time around there’ll be more sci-fi and horror choices, as well as the odd comedy and even a Christmas film (hey, if Asda can have Santa’s grottos in August, I think I can get away with this).
As with the original article I’ll give a brief summary of each film, along with links to my longer written reviews and the downloadable Movie Hour podcast for each one. If you want an explanation of my interest in obscure and cult films, you can find it in the original article here.
So, without any further ado, let’s take another trip down some of the sadly little-known alleyways in cinema, and see what we can find along the way…
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4 Comments
Superb list. This was a great find.
Thank you :)
Maybe I’m getting old and have to accept that this website is for a younger readership but apart from whistle down the wind which I had heard of but not seen I would argue that the remaining films are not obscure. Perhaps they live does hold the same amount of cache that bigger higher profile films have but surely there are enough sci fi / John carpenter fans out there to ensure this film is far from obscure, cult yes but not obscure.
The man who fell to earth and silent running should be known to most sci fi fans, with the former starring Bowie & directed by Roeg that surely ensures its place in history. Bad lieutenant bagged load of headlines when it came out
Great list of movies but would argue whether they are obscure
You make a fair point Matt. I guess I was coming at it from the point of view of films that people my age (24) normally wouldn’t have encountered had they been raised on a mainstream-heavy diet. Each of these entries started out as cult film podcasts/ reviews so perhaps I am being a little disingenuous.
Ultimately with this kind of article you have to strike a balance between ‘obscure enough so few people have heard of it’ and ‘not so obscure that no-one can see it’. There wouldn’t have been much point in me recommending The Passion of Darkly Noon to an audience whose film consumption is DVD/ Blu-Ray and streaming, since it’s never had a DVD release (a crime in itself). I think my choices are a decent compromise and hopefully will lead people to explore more obscure films further.
Thanks for commenting :)