Keep coming back each month to be introduced to some of the best movies in the world...or at least the ones that make you seem cool in college.  

This year I want to focus on the idea of the "cult classic."  Now, a cult classic film does not mean that it bombed in the theatres, though that has happened.  No, a cult classic means that it has a very strong, very loyal fanbase.  Often, these fans with go to verbal war to defend their favourite movie.  So, for this year, I am pulling a set of good, bad, and ugly films that qualify as cult classics for you to sink your teeth into (which should be easy in October).

December: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

     There ae cult movies and then there are cult movies.  There are great Christmas movies and then there are awful Christmas movies.  There are amazing movies, and then there’s Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  Often considered one of the worst movies ever made, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians deserves at least one viewing.
     The premise to this 1964 film is fairly easy.  Martian children are lazy and hooked on television programs picked up from Earth.  In order to bring some pep into the lives of the Martian children, it is decided to kidnap Santa Claus so that he can infuse the same kind of excitement into the Martian children as he does for Earth children.  Well, Santa and a couple of Earth kids get kidnapped, and then go about teaching the Martians the error of their ways.
     That’s the premise, and it was done with what looks like the budget of a high school theatre production.  Don’t believe me, watch the movie and then come and talk with me about the awesome polar bear used for the film.
     Once again, it’s not a movie you will watch again and again, but Santa Claus Conquers the Martians holds a certain place in American cinema and should be viewed at least once.  Just know you will probably laugh, or cry, while watching it.
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November: Bladerunner

​The poster child for a cult classic.  Bladerunner was not a runaway success when it was first released in 1982.  And it should have been.  The story was built around Sci-Fi icon Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (a classic in its own right), directed by Ridley Scott (director of Alien, Gladiator, The Martian and more), and starring Harrison Ford (of Star Wars and Indiana Jones fame).
     The story itself is a futuristic crime noir.  Replicants (realistic robotic humanoids) are illegal on Earth, but many smuggle themselves onto the planet, and it is the job of blade runners to track down and “retire” these rogue replicants.  Ford plays the blade runner Deckard, who is assigned the job of chasing down the most dangerous group of replicants yet.
     There are several versions of this movie.  Many different director’s cuts of the film.  If you only watch one version, then you haven’t seen the entire thing.  A sequel came out a few years ago.  It also did not hit as big as it could have.  Maybe it has future cult classic written all over it.

October: Dog Soldiers

     Here’s a little horror for October (and yes, it is rated R--so be forewarned).  Dog Soldiers begins with an elite unit of British soldiers being flown into a remote area of the Scottish Highlands for a training exercise.  Sounds like a safe enough story…oh, wait.  As the movie progresses, the soldiers realise they are in the territory of a pack of werewolves and those werewolves are hungry.
     A battle of survival unlike anything these soldiers have ever seen ensues, and it gets pretty bloody.  In the end, only one side can win.  You can probably guess which side, but there are a few twists and turns before we get there.
     Go ahead and give this one a viewing…late at night…with the lights out…with your dog scratching to be let inside.  You don’t own a dog?  Oh.

September: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

     Let’s start the year with an Oregon-based film.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed at the Salem Hospital on Center St.  And, it was perfect casting for the setting—you see the novel it was based on too place at the Salem Hospital and was written by Oregon writer Ken Kesey.
     The premise of this cult classic is pretty straight forward.  McMurphy is a criminal who pretends to be crazy in order to avoid jail time.  Mission accomplished, but now he is stuck in a mental hospital.  Not being one to sit still and obey orders, McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) proceeds to cause mischief at every turn and to create an enemy of Nurse Ratched.  The film follows their battles, and in the end, we get to see who ends up the winner—but I won’t give it away.
     This is one of very few films that won all of the Big Five at the Oscars—Screenplay, Director, Picture, Actor, and Actress).  It is worth watching at least once, and then it is worth reading the novel. 
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