Cult Movies (Paperback)

by Watson-Guptill (Author), Karl French (Author), Philip French (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Possibly a future cult object itself, this volume's odd facts, memorable moments, and key lines from all-time favorite films make it an endlessly entertaining and engrossing read that cuts across all generations of cultist movie fans. Informative and all-inclusive, the book focuses on 150 unique films that have withstood the test of time: comedies, dramas, mysteries, westerns, political thrillers, war movies, horror and sci-fi, foreign films, and even early soft-core nudies. Classic titles include Airplane, Blowup, Manhunter, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Deer Hunter, Blade Runner, Mad Max, and The Battleship Potemkin. Entries include credits, running time, plot synopsis, and unforgettable lines, along with great still shots from each film.

About the Author
Philip French has written many books about film and has been a film critic for The Observer since 1978. Also a BBC producer for many years, he lives in London. Karl French, Philip's son, writes books about film, and has worked in the publicity departments of several film companies. He is based in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Billboard Books (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823079163
• ISBN-13: 978-0823079162
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #184,808 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice companion guide, July 9, 2001

By	"quizkid82" (Wheeling, IL USA) - See all my reviews

"Cult Movies" isn't so much a rumination on the existence and proliferation of cultish behavior around certain movies as it is a guide to some of the more venerated and talked-about cult films. It really works best as bathroom reading, where you can open to any page and read about "Blade Runner," "La Jetee," "A Clockwork Orange," "The Italian Job" and so on and so forth. A light diversion, and maybe that's all it was intended to be. And it works very well on that level. One thing really stands out: British film scholars have the foresight to include BOTH "Bill & Ted" movies in this tome?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There's just one thing I do not like...., June 16, 2004

By	Chris Wilson (Lafayette, IN United States) - See all my reviews

In every movie they list, the plot from beginning to end is given away. I just didn't really like knowing what exactly happenend at the end of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia or any other movie I might rent after viewing this book. No complaints otherwise.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, but there are some movies missing, March 9, 2002

By	Jill T. McMillan (USA) - See all my reviews

Hmmmm... How about The Crow, Somewhere in Time, The Princess Bride, or Labrynth? Or how about a film from Kevin Smith? Or- I dunno- STAR WARS!! Yes I know its very well known, but so are The Exorcist and Apocolypse Now. The same goes for The Godfather Part I and II. And howabout an anime movie? Ghost in the Shell or Akira or one from Studio Ghibli would be excellent choices. Star Trek II- The Wrath of Khan would have been a great choice to cover the cult Star Trek franchise. Another lesser known movie that I would have liked to see, but wouldn't have anticipated would be the MST3K classic, Manos the Hands of Fate. It gives the included Showgirls and Plan 9 from Outerspace a run for their money in its badness. Also, if you had to give a Hitchcock movie a space for his status as a cult director, I would have listed Vertigo or Psycho. Heck, even The Birds is more culturally relevant than Dial M for Murder, which was included.

Don't get me wrong, this is really worth buying, but I just would recommend the authors to write a sequel to cover all the stuff they excluded.