Customer Reviews

Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful

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Danny Peary, a film fanatic himself, in these series of three books (I'm only dealing with the first in this review) gleefully, critically and passionately celebrates what makes film going the sheer pleasure that it is. In a series of well written, insightful, often humourous and always celebratory essays, Peary explores many classic, weird and wonderful films that raise the pulses of fans.

Many film texts are dry treatises that absolutely drain the rollercoaster vicseral joy that a film can bring. Not so with Peary's excellent series. Peary manages to legitimately relate the true art that is cinema while at the same time exploring what makes so many great films live as a part of our very extistances.

I have read and re-read this book several times and each time, I have discovered a new insight into a favorite film or been directed to a new reference point. Peary is very careful to point to other film scholars and film titles that can enhance a film cutlists experience. In deconstructing each film, he also includes fascinating tidbits of information such as interviews with the film makers, insights into the creative process and backstory history.

Especially fine are his explorations on "It's a Wonderful Life", "King Kong", "Singin' in the Rain", "Rio Bravo" and "A Hard Day's Night". He successfully argues in all those cases that superb entertainment does make great art.

Do I agree with every one of Peary's opinions? Do I enjoy every single film included in these three books? Of course not! But Peary does give vallidation to all of us who could be classified as true film geeks. Since these books are as of this writing all out of print, I with the strongest terms possible urge you all to seek them out. You will not be dissapointed!

Let me state at the outset that I just love this book! I bought it when it first came out in the early '80s, and it kind of changed my movie-going habits. I'd long been a fan of the old movies, but this book, along with its two sequels, "Cult Movies 2" and "Cult Movies 3," provided me with 200 films that--largely due to Mr. Peary's enthusiastic and keen-minded style--I just had to go and see. As of today, I've seen all but a handful of these wonderful films. It's always fun to see a movie and then read a dead-on analysis of that film. Many times I will disagree with Danny Peary (for example, I think he downgrades "Forbidden Planet" unfairly), but in the vast majority of cases I will be amazed at how much Mr. Peary has picked up that I hadn't noticed. (For example, for some reason, it never sunk in with me that Janet Leigh's character in "Psycho" has the name of Marion CRANE, while Norman Bates is a taxidermist of birds!) He is an extremely observant and thoughtful reviewer, with an obvious love of his subject. The range of films reviewed in these three books is quite large, from the 1927 silent movie "Napoleon" to "Plan 9 From Outer Space"; from "Children of Paradise" to "Phantom of the Paradise." This is the type of book that forces you to respect the author's opinions, even if you wildly disagree with them. Finally, I would like to recommend the book "Alternate Oscars" by the same author...a true treat for film buffs!

How much do I love CULT MOVIES by Danny Peary? As I write this my edition of the book (purchased in 1981) has split in two. It's spine severed from years of flipping its pages obessively from front to back. I consider it a trusted friend that I refer to many times as a fellow "film fanatic."

This expose of 100 films was one of the firsts along with Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman's MIDNIGHT MADNESS to delve into what makes a movie a "cult movie," and Peary does a spectacular job. Unlike some surveys which focus more on indiscriblable oddities such as David Lynch's ERASERHEAD, Peary wonderfully widens the cult criteria to include a whole array of film-watching experiences. From schlock like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE to high art like THE RED SHOES, Peary's historical overview and analysis within an ever changing pop cultural landscape is consistantly readable and on the money. Every conceivable genre gets their due -comedies, westerns, horror, musicals, film noir thrillers, kung fu epics, pornography- and, like them or not, all are made to seem wonderfully relevant and alive. Even if you disagree with Peary's opinions, afterwards you're just begging to run to experience these movies from a different angle. This is film criticism at its best.

When I first found this treasure in 1982, my first thought was "I'm not alone!" Of the 100 movies Danny Peary chose for his work, many were my own personal favorites. Mr. Peary clearly loves film, but he loves movies even more. By that I mean his reviews reflect someone who sits in a dark theater or a comfortable chair and just enjoys what he is watching, without overanalyzing them. That is why this book is so enjoyable.

I bought this book when it first came out in the early 80s. I've referred to it so often that it now rests peacefully open on my desk at any given page. It provided me with a "birdwatcher's list" of unique films to seek out and enjoy.

Mr. Peary's approach to cult movies is respectful- this in contrast to other books of the "Bad Movie catalog" bent. At the end of his comments about "Plan 9 From Outer Space", for example, he came to the defense of Ed Wood. He pointed out that Mr. Wood managed to get his message, critical of American nuclear build-up, past the censors and into the theaters. Most other filmmakers at that time just went with the political flow.

Thanks to Mr. Peary's tutelage, I sought out such diverse films as "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (artsy, passionate), "El Topo" (bizarre, egotistical), "42nd Street" (musical... not my style, but I enjoyed it), "Kiss Me, Deadly" (pure noir), and "Behind the Green Door (`nuff said). If you want to put some excitement in your experience of cinema, this book is a great way to begin.

From a source that was never revealed I wound up with Mr. Peary's cult movies 2 book as a kid. I read it with great enthusiasm and wound up checking out quite a few movies because of it. The noteworthy ones were A Clockwork Orange and Taxi Driver. After years of looking in the back and seeing the list for the first Cult Movies book, I could stand it no longer. I finally ended up with the book and it is a true treat. Recommended to not read about the films that you have not seen. For those you have this serves as a background check, a detailed analysis and a clarifier. If for nothing else one can appreciate the plot synopsis, cast and credits, and production stills. For the fans of such "classics" as 2001, Forty Second Street, the Searchers, and many others, this is the book for you.

I have all 3 volumes of the series and have devoured every word over the years. I still like to pull them out whenevere I watch one of the covered movies. These are not just obscure cult movies known only by a few fans but he covers mainstream movies that have a cult following. All are covered by thorough commentary containing background information and the author's detailed thoughts about the movies.
My only criticism.....where are volumes 4,5 and 6? :)

"Cult Movies" was one of the first film books I devoured, when I was first getting serious about the medium in the late 1980s. It's probably the book I first learned about such then-obscure oddities as EL TOPO, PEEPING TOM, PERFORMANCE and TWO-LANE BLACKTOP; they all went on my to-see-someday list; little did I dream that video would bring them all to me, to anybody, someday. I never owned a copy of the book until recently though - friends, libraries, and at least one ex-girlfriend all provided the hours I spent reading it up through the 90s - and after a long absence, I find that it's every bit as good as I remembered it, and maybe more so. It's one of the very best film "encyclopedias" or guidebooks around, and if anything the almost 30 years since original publication make it seem prescient, rather than dated.

I'll get a few minor quibbles out of the way first. I wish Peary had put together a bit longer and more explanatory introduction; though I don't think most people will disagree that just about everything in the book qualifies as a "cult" movie, Peary doesn't really go into any detail as to why HE thinks they are, or as to the method to his madness in picking these particular 100. CITIZEN KANE rubbing shoulders with TRASH is a bit weird, isn't it? I'd have liked a bit of personal history as well, a bit about how and why he came to be doing this book - though some of that comes out in the individual film descriptions. He does try to define what a cult film is, and why only a few films make it to such status, but as to why he includes THE MALTESE FALCON but not THE BIG SLEEP, FANTASIA but not SNOW WHITE, we're in the dark. Peary does a good job in integrating the well-chosen photographs with the text; it's a shame that they're all black and white.

This is insignificant stuff though. The 100 films are all fascinating choices; there are very few that strike me as poor ones - even something like LAND OF THE PHARAOHS, which has probably dropped farther off the radar than most, is interesting for what it tells us about Peary's aesthetic, and about the Hollywood obsession with spectacle in the 50s and 60s. Peary is uncannily prescient - sure, ROCKY HORROR was probably an obvious choice to pick even in 1981, but some of the other more recent picks like ERASERHEAD, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, THE WARRIORS and HALLOWEEN strike me as not entirely predictable to be films that would stand the test of time. They have, and so have nearly all of the other films in the book. And Peary is a terrifically insightful and penetrating critic, and he puts as much into dicussing PLAN 9 as he does CASABLANCA. Like all critics he has his own personality, his own biases - he seems a little conservative when it comes to violence and transgressive material, from my perspective, for example - but he's very fair, and even dealing with films that he personally doesn't get a lot out of, he's quick to point out why the films have developed their odd little audiences.

I haven't read the book straight through, I'd imagine few people do with a book like this, but I've read most of the pieces on films I'm fairly familiar with (about half of them). One element I really like is that Peary separates his detailed and spoiler-filled plot synopses from the bulk of his analysis, so you can avoid the former if you want and still get something out of the critical essays. If I had to pick favorites right now they would be his essays on Anthony Mann's MAN OF THE WEST (1958) and Budd Boetticher's THE TALL T (1957), two westerns with marked similarities to each other that I have to admit I didn't really catch until reading Peary. His work on MAN OF THE WEST in particular is excellent, with a much fuller appreciation of the way Mann deals with the role of women, and with his nods to the theater of tragedy, than we usually see.

All in all this is an excellent volume with wide-ranging sympathies. One might wish for more non-American films, some silent films, perhaps a blaxploitation film, but in 100 films we can't have everything. Peary's book, and it's two sequels, remain among the best of their kind, and should be on every serious fanatic's shelves, alongside J. Hoberman and Jonathan Rosenbaum's very different but complementary Midnight Movies.

Finally, here's a listing of all the films:

Aguirre, the Wrath of God - All About Eve - Andy Warhol's Bad - Badlands - Beauty and the Beast (1946) - Bedtime For Bonzo - Behind the Green Door - Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - Billy Jack - Black Sunday (1960) - The Brood - Burn! - Caged Heat - Casablanca - Citizen Kane - The Conqueror Worm - Dance, Girl, Dance - Deep End (1970) - Detour - Duck Soup - El Topo - Emmanuelle - Enter the Dragon - Eraserhead - Fantasia - Forbidden Planet - Force of Evil - 42nd Street - Freaks - The Girl Can't Help It - Greetings - Gun Crazy - Halloween - A Hard Day's Night - The Harder They Come - Harold and Maude - The Honeymoon Killers - House of Wax - I Married a Monster From Outer Space - I Walked With a Zombie - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - It's a Gift - It's a Wonderful Life - Jason and the Argonauts - Johnny Guitar - The Killing - King Kong (1933) - King of Hearts - Kiss Me, Deadly - La cage aux folles - Land of the Pharaohs - Laura - The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - Lola Montès - The Long Goodbye - Mad Max - The Maltese Falcon - Man of the West - Night of the Living Dead (1968) - The Nutty Professor - Once Upon a Time in the West - Out of the Past - Outrageous! - Pandora's Box - Peeping Tom - Performance - Petulia - Pink Flamingos - Plan 9 From Outer Space - Pretty Poison - The Producers - The Rain People - Rebel Without a Cause - The Red Shoes - Reefer Madness - Rio Bravo - Rock 'n' Roll High School - The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Scarlet Empress - The Searchers - Shock Corridor - The Shooting - Singin' in the Rain - Sunset Boulevard - Sylvia Scarlet - The Tall T - Targets - Tarzan and His Mate - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Top Hat - Trash - Two for the Road - Two-Lane Blacktop - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Up in Smoke - Vertigo - The Warriors - Where's Poppa - The Wild Bunch - The Wizard of Oz

A complete reference for fans of cult movies : insightful comments, photos and, sometimes, humour makes its consultation easy and fascinating. Too bad the edition is a bit old (1982), so the paper has changed colour a bit. But still an important consultation book to have for any film buff.

Thanks !

Danny Peary's "Cult Movies: The Classics, the sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful" was originally published in 1981, which dates it quite a bit, but it's mandatory reading for film lovers who desire to sample numerous so-called cult flicks of the past. Heck, I bought the book a full 20 years AFTER its release and have enjoyed years of reading and re-reading ever since.

What makes it so good? Danny Peary gives detailed analyses of 100 films that have a large or small devoted (cult) following, offering numerous insights and helping the reader decide if the film in question is his/her cup of tea. The appraisals are long and deep in nature rather than brief and superficial like the book "Cult Movies" (2000) by Karl and Philip French. In other words, Peary's book towers over the one by the French dudes. Don't get me wrong, I like the latter book for what it is -- light reading on cult films -- but comparing the two is like comparing a lion to a kitten.

Of the 100 films featured, I had only seen about 15 when I first bought the book back in 2001. I've now seen about 20 more thanks to Danny. Did I like all 20 of these films? No, I liked about half of them and thought another handful were definitely worth my time. A few I could've lived without seeing, but I don't feel I totally wasted my time. I'm sure I'll check out more of these films in years to come.

The movies featured are of a wide variety of genres -- everything from animation to westerns. This is a good thing since it's natural to get bored with any one category. Regardless of what genres your into Danny will help you decide if the flick is worth checking out. He'll likely even pique your interest in a few films you wouldn't ordinarily see, expanding your horizons, so to speak.

Intestingly, Danny even lists films that he doesn't really like, such as "Land of the Pharaohs." I saw it recently and, whilst his criticisms are valid, the film is well worth seeing for numerous reasons, e.g. the score, the locations, the actors and the fact that no other film deals with the subject of building pyramids and their intrinsic death traps, treasures, etc., which I found fascinating.

Of course I disagree with some of the films he includes in the book. For instance, "Plan 9 from Outer Space" isn't a film that's so bad it's good, it's so bad it's unwatchable. Also, if I were writing a cult movie book I would never include trash like "Pink Flamingos" or overrated tripe like "Rocky Horror," but I guess he felt he HAD to include such films since they have cult followings.

Some of my favorites from the list include: "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," "Conqueror Worm," "Forbidden Planet," "House of Wax," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "King Kong," "Man of the West," "Night of the Living Dead," "The Shooting," "Tarzan and His Mate," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Warriors" and "The Wild Bunch."

Lastly, the book features a nice in-depth index and the 1998 version includes an "Afterword" which lists hundreds of other cult films that may interest readers, including more recent ones, like "Dirty Harry," "Friday the 13th," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "One-Eyed Jacks," "The Piano," "Picnic at Hanging Rock," "The Terminator" and "The Wicker Man."