10 Great Midnight Movies You Need To Watch
The rise of the cult classic.
The 1970s saw a change in how audiences viewed films that helped shape the future of film; releases that were once shunned were now making their way through independent cinema circuits across America, attracting larger audiences than they enjoyed upon initial release. The decade saw the rise of second life cinema, and weirdly, in slots that you wouldn't usually expect many to flock to.
Long before the biggest blockbusters of the year were released at the stroke of midnight for fans clamouring to claim to be the first to watch them, late night screenings were home to abnormal, often daring cult movies. The birth of the ‘midnight screenings’ is responsible for bringing some of the most beloved movies to the public attention; Tod Browning’s Freaks found an audience, while David Lynch launched his career after Eraserhead.
Once seen as box-office failures, these films were now beginning to enjoy a second life that would help define them for future generations. The ‘midnight circuit’ grew more popular, and by the 80s, the term ‘cult’ and ‘midnight movies’ became more of a novelty amongst fans, streamlined thanks to the introduction of the VCR.
These 10 films were the alternatives to the blockbusters of the day. They were the odd, exploitive, the daring films of the 20th century that helped shape and inspire and new generation of fans and filmmakers around the world. And they remains so important, so transgressive and so bloody odd that you really need to see them...
10. Freaks
Due to 1930s legendary release Freaks' startling premise centred around a group of real life carnival acts, it was deemed at the time to be too controversial for audiences and was soon banned in a number of countries across the world for a good old time.
Partly thanks to the censorship laws of 1932, when it was initially slated for release it also saw over-zealous edits cut out of it too. The film was cut from a 90 minute runtime to around 70 minutes. Most of the cut scenes were later sadly lost, never to be seen again.
Unsurprisingly, critics and audiences savaged Freaks upon its release and not only did it lose a lot of money, but it was also then banned in countries such as England for more than 30 years. Most tragic however, was the fate of its director Browning; a one time respected filmmaker whose career after the film's release was never the same again.
The film and its subject were clearly ahead of its time. It wasn’t until the mid-70s that it started to gain cult status thanks to midnight screenings of the movie across America. It is now thankfully considered to be a classic, though it’s a shame that Browning could never enjoy its belated success.