Oddur B.T. Film Blog

Blogging about my passion

„Cult“ is where my comfort zone lies

I mostly enjoy writing about films that fit into the category „Cult“ in one way or another. It‘s, frankly, where my comfort zone lies. It would be easy to just focus on horror films (by far the most films labeled „Cult“ are horror films) but the category also includes so many films that are really un-classifiable. Many of these movies are so truly enjoyable and you don‘t even know exactly why. These are often films that are considered very poor, very cheap, very amateurish and some are just plain old studio films that got panned or performed very poorly when released. This is the stuff I like to write about and I hope you like reading about.

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As the Earth Turns (1938)

In 1937, in Seattle, a twenty-year old budding filmmaker had already created 50 plays and 9 never released, award-winning films, using his own equipment. This director would go on to work for Disney, and eventually create an Academy Award winning documentary in 1950. Richard H. Lyford’s films have developed a following among film-historians around the world. His early “amateur” films are some of the first “indie” films ever created outside of Hollywood. Lyford experimented with special effects and models, and was developing as a director. His final film of this era was “As the Earth Turns”. It was filmed in the Pacific Northwest, around Seattle.

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Tightrope (1984)

It’s a stretch to coin any of Eastwood’s movies as genuine cult items but some of them stray fairly from the mainstream. The legendary actor/director is a favourite of mine and I wanted to cover at least one of his movies and “Tightrope” fits the bill perfectly as something slightly different.

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Detox (1999)

Less than a year ago (27th June to be exact) I posted a review on “D-Tox” In conclusion of my earlier review I mentioned that the film was in serious need of some loving from niche labels (Arrow Video, Scream Factory etc.) and, in a small way, that has happened with MVD Marquee Collection’s Blu-ray release that came out on April 14th…

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Box (2019)

A man (Dempster) wakes up in a car only to find himself being threatened by an assailant. The man manages to kill him, then frantically dumps his body and heads home in a state of shock. On his doorstep he comes across a large wooden box. He brings it inside and then…

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Blood Rage (1987)

In an age where bona fide classics in the horror genre get the remake treatment or are being re-imagined there are some cult films out there that really could do with a make-over treatment. A little finesse story wise, some polishing in the gory department and a bigger budget that could help realize better a possibly great location could work wonders for a film that has a solid premise. Case in point; “Blood Rage”.

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Pieces (1982)

“Pieces” is an unapologetically sleazy and gory slasher film without any socially redeeming qualities to hide behind. It’s misogynistic, overall in bad taste and, in the end, completely gonzo so there’s no way of taking it seriously. It’s there for the bloody set-pieces and the gratuitous nudity and so it goes all out in delivering those.

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Boogens (1981)

Two young men, Mark and Roger, are hired as assistants to foremen Brian and Dan to explore a long abandoned silver mine and determine whether it’s fit to reopen. During a blast something is let loose and starts wreaking havoc at a nearby guesthouse …

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