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"Cult
Movies are special films which for
one reason or another have been
taken to heart by segments of the
movie going audience, cherished,
protected, and, most of all,
enthusiastically championed ... They
see them repeatedly and are intent
on persuading anyone who will listen
that they should be appreciated
regardless of what the [critics]
think."
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I
remember as if it were yesterday...
Back
in high school (--
circa 1985),
during a study hall, I was diligently
finishing up my Algebra assignment so
I could turn my attention to this
wonderful new book that I had just
purchased. Alas, I didn't notice, but
Mrs. Barger -- the Nurse Ratchet of
study hall monitors, was making her
rounds, and when she saw the book --
and it's lurid title, quickly snatched
it up, thinking it was evil (--
as
the word "cult" often
implies),
or some kind of porno-film
guide.
The
old battle-axe thought she had me dead
to rights, but
luck
was with me that day as she sneered
and flipped through the pages. I say
lucky because she didn't see the entry
for Behind
the Green Door,
and the huge picture of a naked
Marilyn Chambers. Instead, her facial
expression quickly changed as the
first page she stopped on was the
entry for the Christmas classic, It's
A Wonderful Life,
and then the John Ford masterpiece,
The
Searchers.
Asking me what it was, I explained
that it was a serious book on film and
filmmaking, and after mumbling
something about James Dean, and
pointing out some pictures from
Rebel
Without a Cause,
she snorted, gave the book back, and
then moved on to torment someone else.
Quickly burying it under another text
book, I breathed a huge sigh of relief
and went back to work; the book would
have to wait until I got home.
Author
and film critic Danny Peary presents an eclectic bunch
of films for this book, covering everything from the
obscure to the well known. From Citizen
Kane
to El
Topo,
Eraserhead
to The
Maltese Falcon,
Caged
Heat
to
The
Wizard of Oz
and beyond. In all, one hundred films
are broken down with a credit list, a
detailed plot synopsis, and are
beautifully illustrated with photos,
posters and publicity stills. And then it gets
really interesting with lengthy
and thoughtful dissertations on the
film's particulars, and why each particular film enjoys it's cult
status.
With
all due respect to the other B-Movie
websites that helped inspire 3B
Theater, it was Peary's style and
presentation in this book that has
been the most influential in the
shaping and molding of what this
website is today. I've always loved
weird movies and read a lot of books
and magazines on monster movies and
other strange films. But it wasn't
until after I bought this book that I
became truly fascinated by the carnal
knowledge of movies: behind the scenes
scuttlebutt, gonzo directors,
idiosyncratic stars with hidden
agendas, or messages in films that make
the production almost as interesting
as the film itself.
Peary
has three volumes of books dedicated
to these weird, wonderful and
sometimes gonzoidal pieces of cinema.
He also has a great book on alternate
Oscars, dedicated to films that
probably should have won the Academy
Award for best picture since it's
inception. And any serious film
scholar who would nominate The
Thing from Another World for
Best Picture in 1951 is a freakin'
genius in my book.
Coming
out fifteen years before the internet
made anything and everything about a
film available -- BEFORE IT'S EVEN
RELEASED, Peary's books were (and
still are) a gold mine.
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