Cult movies aren’t usually the first place you go when choosing a movie for date night. You’ve got yourself pretty covered with a good romantic comedy, or you could really amp up the class with a good foreign film. But going straight to the final danger with a cult movie for date night? That’s just a recipe for disaster.
Still, for all the inherent negativity that exists with cult movies, sometimes achieving cult status can be the best thing that ever happened. Take, for example, the rock band Europe. They wrote a song called “The Final Countdown” in the mid-’80s. Nearly four decades later, this song is still a part of every New Year’s Eve celebration, meaning this song guaranteed them a gig somewhere on the planet forever. Somehow, cult status essentially keeps something alive well beyond its shelf life, and for the more peculiar cult films, this means that in a theater somewhere, there’s still life.
But a date night, though? It actually ends up being a pretty good fit. There’s enough camping to feel like a comedy, with enough heavy stuff to feel like a serious movie, and enough of a horror element to make it a scary movie. For couples who have a hard time choosing a movie for date night, a cult movie might be just the ticket.
Here are five quirky cult movies that should be on your late-night watch list:
Lost Children – Filled with iconic actors from the 80’s and with a story based on family conflicts, comic books and gangs of teenage vampires, this film is one wild ride. It’s actually a pretty solid movie, and who doesn’t love to see Dianne Wiest as a lovable mom?
Rocky Horror Picture Show – More than four decades later, people still pack theaters in full costume to see and sing every frame of this movie. Think of it as a very twisted version of the Creation story that you remember from Sunday school. Very twisted. You have to watch this at least once.
They live – Put on some mysterious shades and instead of basking in their freshness, you will have the opportunity to see the world as it really is. Even though today’s world talks about the role of the media and how they inform the masses, this movie is more relevant now than ever. Also, if there was one person who would like to uncover the conspiracies plaguing our planet and enslaving humanity, it would be the late “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. This movie has.
Night of the Living Dead – Yes, it’s a horror movie, but the real monsters aren’t the undead. A cheeky look at the dark side of society and one of the truly chilling movies of the 20th century. Released in the late 1960s, it makes you wonder how much things haven’t changed.
Tucker and Dale against evil – Two sweet mountaineers just looking for some downtime at their fixer-upper vacation home are mistaken for murderous sociopaths by some college kids who were too quick to judge a book by its cover. Easily one of the most unique takes on the horror genre, and it’s certainly one of the best comedies of the last decade.
Cult movies are, in many ways, exactly what watching movies is all about. They are entertaining, stimulating and artistic. And since so many fans of these movies refuse to let them die, they may live a very fruitful life for generations to come.