In other words: What’s a hidden gem I probably haven’t seen but totally should? And why is it a must-watch?
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Rampage, it’s such a good popcorn flick. It’s so over the top that I wouldn’t blame you for writing it off without watching it, but give it a chance, it’s ultimate action silliness.
Cabin in the woods, its a top 2 horror satire, but you may have heard of that one
Tucker and Dale vs evil, maybe watch this one before cabin in the woods, it’s the best horror satire.
Galaxy quest, easily the best star trek movie ever made, one of the top 5 movies ever made.
I’m not sure how many of these are hidden gems, it depends on your viewing habits (not many people would consider horror to contain much good cinema)
Yeah. Tucker and Dale vs Evil still gets way too little love.
It’s a must watch because:
- The twist is perfect.
- Even after the reveal, it’s just so dang fun and hilarious.
- Horror movies with a deep respect for life are often the best horror movies. Tucker and Dale has that, even if in a stupid goofy way.
Officer, we have had a doozy of a day!
Highly recommend that you go in to watching Tucker and Dale versus evil without looking up any information on the movie. Watching it blind is the best way because the less you know about it the more it will entertain you.
Watching it blind is the best way because the less you know about it the more it will entertain you.
Yes! I just tell friends that it’s a horror flick, and a rollicking good time.
So many, so very many, classic lines to be found in that movie.
“We’ve got your friend!”
As a horror fan, I disagree.
The premise gets old fairly fast and then the twist doesn’t really add anything or accentuate the spoofiness, just makes the film more generic.
If you’re a fan of a certain era of teen slashers, sure go for it.
《Little Monsters》 and 《The Rise of Leslie Vernon 》are recent takes on horror films I personally prefer.
I know that downvotes are not disagree buttons but I was strongly tempted to downvote you because I disagree with you so vehemently.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a brilliant film. As someone who quickly tires of being exposed to repetitive information, this movie is easily a once a year re-watch for me.
I’m glad you like it, as I think Mr Tudyk is grand I like to see him in things.
It’s just not for me, and seeing a film I felt to not live up anything close to the hype always praised I felt compelled in this case to show a dissenting opinion.
You do you and enjoy it annually.
Well, yeah, as a horror fan it’s likely a little too spoofy to be terribly engaging, but it sounds like you might specifically be ‘not’ a fan of that.
If it’s never occurred to you to label yourself a horror fan, but kind of like movies in general, you’ll probably get a kick out of it.
I dunno, I credit Scream with getting me into horror, and it’s hardly a genre known for being not-silly. Guess it’s a little more thinky though.
Braindead is brilliant, as is Army of Darkness and What we Do in the Shadows, which is not horror, but is silly.
filled in depth discussion:
I think my main issues with TdD Vs. E is that I didn’t feel any chemistry between Dale and the girl, which seems like it is meant to be a core part of the film. And then, after a good set up the second half of the film feels very paint by numbers, what happens and where they go dictated by genre tropes rather than what their trope inversion story needs.
It’s probably just a comment on the way that slasher film protagonists don’t get PTSD and keeping the film light, but the girl really doesn’t seem to care much about her friends dying. And never has her relationship with Dale challenged by anything.
Then the antagonist being revealled to be the son of a hill billy and that that’s probably why he’s really a slasher villain undermines what was more him being a prejudice burk leading to his maybe friends dying.
There was a lot of potential with it, but I feel the film decided to inverse a tropey premise and then rather than fully investing in that scenario - hillbillies surrounded by fatal accident prone horny teens - and taking letting its results grow organically, the rest of the script just reached for as many slasher tropes as possible to cram in to make sure the “satirical take” part wasn’t subtle, so even a bat with a blindfold and earmuffs on would be sure to “get the joke”.
Tudyk and the other guy had great chemistry and their relationship worked, I just found it the only thing to make me finish watching the rest of the film, and in the last 1/3 they get precious little screen time together.
Once the core conceit of the film is obvious, it doesn’t do anything new, exciting, or interesting with it - just gore for its own sake. (Edit: this is probably exactly what you meant in your post by “too spoofy”, so yes. You’re right, it is and I am. Sorry it took me too long to clock your meaning. As Soccy himself told us “written words are hard”.)
Now maybe I’m missing that the flat romance subplot or nature of the killer, along with gore without substance are high brow meta critiques on the state of horror at the height of the slasher era… And sure, I can dig that. But if you make a film that’s deliberately weak in areas as a joke or comment on other films’ weaknesses, you’ve still made a film that’s not going to hold folks attention.
That said, clearly it’s a very popular film amongst a lot of folks so it’s probably me in the minority here. Thanks for giving me an excuse to organise my thoughts and present them. It feels better to get them out of my head in an organised way, and I’m glad you enjoy it as Alan Tudyk getting work that is a success is only a good thing.
So enjoy it, and don’t care what I say. But for those of you who felt it was missing a little something… Well know you’re not alone.
Hey, no problem, i was trying to challenge your take a little without coming off as dismissive. Thanks for the honest follow up. Nice to follow along with a well thought out response, along with an acknowlegment of some points instead of the sometimes snarkiness you see here.
By Grabthar’s hammer, what a list!
Barring Rampage these are massive cult classics.
Which is generally defined as a lesser known movie that people consider worth watching?
Cult movies are well known but didn’t make money at the box office.
I will preface this with it’s not going to be for either of us to decide, there are plenty people with plenty more intelligence who have debated this topic, according to Wikipedia: “The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art.”
However the general definition according to Google has nothing to do with it’s box office success,
“A cult classic is a movie or other work that has a devoted following, but is often not well-known or popular with the mainstream.”
Further on,
"The definition of a cult classic can be difficult to define, and there are different interpretations. Some definitions include major studio productions, while others focus on more obscure films. Some definitions also exclude films that have been released by major studios, or that have tried to become cult films. "
So it’s open to interpretation, and I’m going to stand by my list, and reinforce the notion that even if they are cult classics there’s a good chance someone looking for movies might not have seen some on this list.
They are good movies. I’m not reading all that over such a slight disagreement, hope you have a good rest of your day if I bothered you with my comment.
(don’t want to edit my post so adding another in the reply)
Another somewhat mainstream movie that was very easily missed, “forward unto dawn”, if you know much about the Halo universe you’ll know this story pretty well, but if you’ve only heard of Halo in passing this is a great place to start (and probably stop unless you’re going to play the games or read the books) the series.
Rubber.
Jacob’s Ladder.
A largely forgotten psychological horror film from 1990 with Tim Robbins and Macaulay Culkin.
Saw it on TV once by chance and loved it ever since.
I’d say it’s must-watch for being influential despite its moderate success and being incredibly gripping as you try to get your head around what’s actually going on.
The Nice Guys
This movie drove me crazy
spoiler
Everyone they are supposed to help and save, gets killed, but they play it off like a victory
Upgrade (Cyberpunk movie from Australia)
I was about to say this, that movie is such a gem. Saw it in theater without knowing what it would be.
It weirdly felt like a Venom movie, and what made it even more weird - it came out around the same time as the actual Venom movie, and even the main hero looked somewhat like a discount version of Tom Hardy😅
Is it about the pimp from Idiocracy?
A decent number of folks have still never seen “Primer”, since it was kind of an indie classic before it got a cult following.
It’s a a must watch because:
A. It’s just really well made. B. It’s delightfully mind bending.
Repo: A Genetic Opera
I own Repo on disk and watch a few times a year ❤️
Flight of the Navigator
In no particular order (and yes some are more well known in film circles, maybe I should’ve ommited them, but you never know what the reader hasn’t seen):
Jojo Rabbit, 2019 - a comedic coming of age in Nazi Germany. Jojo and his imaginary friend, Hitler, face a complicated and rapidly changing world.
The Mitchells versus the Machines, 2021 - animated family adventure for fun with the whole family.
Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006 - mocumentary following slasher killer Leslie Vernon.
Bunny and the Bull, 2009 - an, in my opinion, gorgeously set film about two friends on a road trip in Spain.
Parallel Mothers (Madras Paralelas), 2021 - not a hidden gem if you know anything about Spanish cinema, but maybe you don’t. Penolpe Cruz is a new mother whose life becomes intertwined with another women’s when they give birth in the same hospital.
Hero (英雄), 2002 - again, if you know Wuxia film then this isn’t a hidden gem. A pinnacle of the genre, a Chinese Rashomon with wire fights.
Blow Up, 1966 - British New Wave classic. A photographer used to a free and casual 60s life becomes certain he has accidentally photographed evidence of a murder.
Berberian Sound Studio, 2012 - exploration of sound and feeling. A mild mannered amateurish British sound technician gets a big job working on the sound effects for a giallo film in Italy.
Martyrs, 2008 - the pinnacle of French New Extreme movement. It made a big name for itself at the time for being the sort of torture porn film that really gave it a point beyond vouyerism. Not for the faint of heart.
Rye Lane, 2023 - a romcom love letter to London.
The Day Shall Come, 2019 - an eccentric black preacher gets caught up in a web of madness that runs deep.
Known to horror aficionados, but not to general movie watchers: Lake Mungo (2008)
I highly recommend you don’t read up on it. Besides the fact that the film just works so much better when you come to it fresh, most reviews - both in print and YouTube videos - spoil pivotal scenes, including in the artwork they choose to use as a thumbnail/heading. Just watch it. Even if the horror doesn’t work for you (many people report being bored by the film), it’s still a great film with surprising depth and heart. It’s worth checking off your list for sure.
The basics: It’s a mockumentary set in Australia, made by a director/writer who hasn’t done anything before or since, featuring actors who probably aren’t known to you, even if you’re an Aussie. Much of the dialogue is improvised, so it feels very real and natural.
Try to watch it alone, in the dark, with no distractions (turn off your phone). This will help maximise your chances of being one of the lucky people the film has managed to scare in a profound way. I’m one of those lucky people, I’m happy to say!
These are some of my favourite, in no particular order:
The Phantasm series
Dale and Tucker Fight Evil
Cabin in the woods
Snowpiercer
Equilibrium
A bitter sweet life
The man from nowhere
I saw the Devil (you may not want to watch this one)
Train to Busan (1 and 2)
Lady Vengence/Sympathy for Lady vengence
Sympathy for Mr Vengence
OldBoy (the Korean version - you may also not want to watch this)
Wrath of man
The Family (DeNiro and Pheiffer)
Keeping up with the Joneses
Gran Torino
Boondock Saints
Layer Cake
RocknRolla
Operation Fortune
Lucky Number Slevin
A man called Otto
Stand up guys
King of New York
The Dead Zone
7 Psychopaths
Biloxi Blues
In Bruges
The Matador
From Paris with loveRocknrolla but not Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels!? It’s been a very long time but I distinctly remember being disappointed in rocknrolla when compared to the other two I mentioned.
Love Guy Ritchie!
Same! I think the only one I didn’t really care for was Covenant, I felt it wasn’t paced the same as his other movies, but I’d still watch it again if it was streaming.
In regards to Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, also two of my favorite movies, thanks for pointing them out, defintely a fun time!
+1 for In Bruges. Love Martin McDonagh’s films and this one might be my favorite. At first glance, it looks like a kinda generic action movie, but that’s not the case at all.
Snowpiercer looked like such a dumb action movie, but I read so many good reviews of it that I decided to try it. Was not disappointed at all!
I quote In Bruges anytime I get angry at an inanimate object lol
Agreed! I honestly not sure which was the most messed up of all the revelations
There is a Train to Busan sequel?!?!?
That infromation just made my day, loved the first one.
There is! Peninsula IMHO it wasn’t better/as good/worse than the first, it was just different
Cashback I feel is pretty unknown. Maybe not but still very good. Also Gentleman Broncos is fantastic if you’re into the napoleon dynamite style of comedy, same creators.
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
The book is so much better.
Wong Kar-Wai’s films, particularly his 90s Hong Kong vibes of Chungking Express and its spiritual counterpart Fallen Angels.
The question was about “lesser-known movies”, but Wong Kar-Wai and his movies are (for obvious reasons) very well-known.
I saw Snowpiercer on another comment so I assumed we were scraping the surface lol
Fantastic! If that’s the level for lesser known then you’re perfectly right, most of the world’s most celebrated, successful and influential filmmakers then certainly count as lesser known.
Pecker 1998
A talented young photographer, who enjoys snapping photos of his satirical, perverted Baltimore neighborhood and his wacky family, gets dragged into a world of pretentious artists from New York City and finds newfound fame.
Written and directed by John Waters.
Starring Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci and Bess Armstrong.
