10 Awesome Films That Never Got The Cult Following They Deserved
9. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
The Film:
Set in and around the small English Peak District town of Matlock, Dead Man's Shoes is a classic revenge tale with a unique backdrop. The story follows a local paratrooper named Richard (Paddy Considine, also the co-writer) as he returns home to find that his mentally-ill brother has been manipulated into becoming a drug mule.
Incensed at how his younger sibling has been treated at the hands of a local gang of thugs and drug dealers, Richard puts his military training to use and, after toying with them for a short time, begins to hunt and execute the villains one by one. This uncompromising psychological thriller manages to retain a dark humour up until the very last, when you realise that Richard is already too late to save his brother.
Why It Never Got The Cult Following It Deserved:
Despite being chock-full of memorable one-liners and a Paddy Considine performance reminiscent of De Niro's Travis Bickle, Dead Man's Shoes is critically considered one of Shane Meadows' worst movies. The talented English director found his inevitable mainstream success two years later in 2006 with the release of This Is England, a drama following a group of young British skinheads in the 1980s.
This Is England went on to earn critical acclaim and spawn TV spin-offs while Dead Man's Shoes became a blip on the Meadows radar, though the latter film offered more in every department: suspense, emotion, and action. Revenge is a common theme in cult films, but despite seemingly having all the required ingredients, Dead Man's Shoes never attained that status, and the problem was a lack of re-watchability.
For starters, it is twist film, and once you know that Anthony is dead the whole time, and that Richard is simply imagining him by his side as he avenges his death, the pay-off loses its punch. Also, the regional British setting (and accompanying accents) likely alienated some viewers from further afield, who probably find it hard to quote even the funniest of one-liners when they can barely understand them.