20 Best Cult Movies Of The 1980s
3. This Is Spinal Tap
Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap is the mockumentary which started them all; a spoof journey following the experiences of the fictional band Spinal Tap as they attempt to break through into the American market, touring the country with groupies and music journalists in tow.
Reiner appears as the documentary director, with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer playing the band members (plus a number of other actors playing the band's ill-fated drummers). Featuring mostly improvised dialogue, This Is Spinal Tap represents the kind of off the cuff filmmaking rarely seen, with extra jokes coming from the many songs sung by the band throughout their tour, taken from the album Smell The Glove.
Like Withnail And I, This Is Spinal Tap owes a debt of gratitude to drunk and stoned students, who gobbled up the film when it was released on VHS and continue to parrot the dozens of quotable lines of dialogue to this day. Likewise, the mockumentary concept proved to be more than a fad, with Guest, McKean and Shearer going to to appear in more comedy classics, including Best In Show and A Mighty Wind.