“What are the best Cult Movies Of All-Time?” We looked at 198 of the top Cult films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 41 films, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Cult” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 150+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Not to be confused with our Best Movies Featuring Cults!

---

---

Top 41 Cult Movies Of All-Time

---

---

41 .) Akira (1988)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• List Challenges

Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda are pulled into the post-apocalyptic underworld of Neo-Tokyo and forced to fight for their very survival. Kaneda is a bike gang leader, and Tetsuo is a member of a tough motorcycle crew who becomes involved in a covert government project called Akira. But a bloody battle ensues when Kaneda sets out to save his friend.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

40 .) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• List Challenges

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 comedy film directed by John De Bello and starring David Miller. The film is a spoof of B-movies. Made on a budget of less than USD $100,000, the story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

39 .) Battle Royale

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Make Use Of

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary “Battle Royale” act.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

38 .) Donnie Darko

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Rolling Stones

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

37 .) Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Games Radar

Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become house guests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

36 .) Fight Club (1999)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• Rolling Stones

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground “fight clubs” forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

35 .) Forbidden Planet (1956)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism

A rescue team from earth lands their flying saucer-like spacecraft on an alien world, to discover they are not only not welcomed by the lone survivor of a missing scientific expedition sent there two decades earlier, but, once they have determined to investigate the deaths of his colleagues and bring him back home by force, along with his planet-born daughter, find themselves subjected to assault by something invisible which seems intent on preventing them from leaving the planet, ever.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

34 .) Galaxy Quest

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Make Use Of

The stars of a 1970s sci-fi show – now scraping a living through re-runs and sci-fi conventions – are beamed aboard an alien spacecraft. Believing the cast’s heroic on-screen dramas are historical documents of real-life adventures, the band of aliens turn to the ailing celebrities for help in their quest to overcome the oppressive regime in their solar system.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

33 .) Logan’s Run (1976)

Lists It Appears On:

• Futurism
• Americas Spotlight

An idyllic sci-fi future has one major drawback: All citizens get a chance of being ‘renewed’ in a Civic Ceremony at their 30th birthday, unless they run and escape before their time comes.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

32 .) Phantom of the Paradise

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Rolling Stones

Rock Opera version of Phantom of the Opera with elements of Faust. Record producer Swan steals both the music and the girl, Phoenix, from composer Leach. Disfigured Leach plans revenge on Swan and his rock palace, The Paradise, and becomes The Phantom. Leach signs contract with Swan to complete rock opera based on the life of Faust for Phoenix. Double crossed by Swan who hires heavy metal singer Beef, Leach exacts his vengeance.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

31 .) Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Games Radar

In California, an old man grieves the loss of his wife and on the next day he also dies. However, the space soldier Eros and her mate Tanna use an electric device to resurrect them both and the strong Inspector Clay that was murdered by the couple. Their intention is not to conquest Earth but to stop mankind from developing the powerful bomb “Solobonite” that would threaten the universe. When the population of Hollywood and Washington DC sees flying saucers on the sky, a colonel, a police lieutenant, a commercial pilot, his wife and a policeman try to stop the aliens.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

30 .) Planet of the Apes(1968)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism

An U.S. Spaceship lands on a desolate planet, stranding astronaut Taylor in a world dominated by apes, 2000 years into the future, who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

29 .) Showgirls (1995)

Lists It Appears On:

• Film Site
• Games Radar

A young drifter named Nomi arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing and pushing her way to become a top showgirl.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

28 .) Starship Troopers (1997)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism

Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico’s military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as “the Bugs”.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

27 .) The Big Lebowksi (1998)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• Rolling Stones

Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink white Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

26 .) The Blob

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• MUBI

A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man and grow to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

25 .) The Harder They Come (1972)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• List Challenges

Ivanhoe Martin arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, looking for work and, after some initial struggles, lands a recording contract as a reggae singer. He records his first song, “The Harder They Come,” but after a bitter dispute with a manipulative producer named Hilton, soon finds himself resorting to petty crime in order to pay the bills. He deals marijuana, kills some abusive cops and earns local folk hero status. Meanwhile, his record is topping the charts.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

24 .) The Princess Bride

Lists It Appears On:

• Make Use Of
• Rolling Stones

In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can’t stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

23 .) The Thing (1982)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people it kills.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

22 .) This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• Rolling Stones

“This Is Spinal Tap” shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

21 .) Tommy (1975)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site

A psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

20 .) Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site

A driver and a mechanic travel around the United States hopping from drag strip to drag strip in a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air coupe. They race for money, betting with their competitors. The pair gain a young and talkative female stowaway. Along the way they unintentionally attract a well-to-do drifter driving a new Pontiac GTO. This older man, looking for attention, antagonizes their efforts.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

19 .) Withnail & I (1987)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• Rolling Stones

Acerbic and irresistibly self-destructive Withnail and neurotic Marwood are down-at-the-heels actors in 1960s London, living in self-inflicted squalor and drowning their artistic frustrations with booze and any drugs they can get their hands on.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

18 .) Barbarella (1968)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism
• MUBI

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

17 .) Brazil (1985)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism
• Games Radar

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

16 .) Clerks (1994)

Lists It Appears On:

• Make Use Of
• Games Radar
• Rolling Stones

Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

15 .) Easy Rider (1969)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site
• List Challenges

A cross-country trip to sell drugs puts two hippie bikers on a collision course with small-town prejudices.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

14 .) El Topo (1970)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site
• List Challenges

El Topo decides to confront warrior Masters on a trans-formative desert journey he begins with his 6 year old son, who must bury his childhood totems to become a man. El Topo (the mole) claims to be God, while dressed as a gunfighter in black, riding a horse through a spiritual, mystical landscape strewn with old Western movie, and ancient Eastern religious symbols. Bandits slaughtered a village on his path, so El Topo avenges the massacred, then forcibly takes their leader’s woman Mara as his. El Topo’s surreal way is bloody, sexual and self-reflective, musing of his own demons, as he tries to vanquish those he encounters.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

13 .) Eraserhead (1977)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

12 .) Mad Max (1979)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism
• MUBI

In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

11 .) Pink Flamingos (1972)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Games Radar
• List Challenges

Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as “The Filthiest Person Alive”.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

10 .) Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

Lists It Appears On:

• Rolling Stones
• Film Site
• List Challenges

A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

9 .) Re-Animator (1985)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism
• Games Radar

A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

8 .) The Room (2003)

Lists It Appears On:

• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

Johnny is a successful banker with great respect for and dedication to the people in his life, especially his future wife Lisa. The happy-go-lucky guy sees his world fall apart when his friends begin to betray him one-by-one.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

7 .) They Live (1988)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Futurism
• Games Radar

Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like “Stay Asleep”, “No Imagination”, “Submit to Authority”. Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

6 .) A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

Demonic gang-leader Alex goes on the spree of rape, mugging and murder with his pack of “droogs”. But he’s a boy who also likes Beethoven’s Ninth and a bit of “the old in-out, in-out”. He later finds himself at the mercy of the state and its brainwashing experiment designed to take violence off the streets.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

5 .) The Warriors (1979)

Lists It Appears On:

• Make Use Of
• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

Prominent gang leader Cyrus calls a meeting of New York’s gangs to set aside their turf wars and take over the city. At the meeting, a rival leader kills Cyrus, but a Coney Island gang called the Warriors is wrongly blamed for Cyrus’ death. Before you know it, the cops and every gangbanger in town is hot on the Warriors’ trail.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

4 .) Blade Runner (1982)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Film Site
• Futurism
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

3 .) Harold And Maude (1971)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site
• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

2 .) Repo Man (1984)

Lists It Appears On:

• Americas Spotlight
• Film Site
• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted ’64 Chevy.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

1 .) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Lists It Appears On:

• MUBI
• Film Site
• Games Radar
• List Challenges
• Rolling Stones

Sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named ‘Rocky’.

Purchase / Learn More

---

---

---

The 150+ Additional Best Cult Film

---

---

 

#	Film	Lists
(Movies Appear On 1 List Each)
42	(National Lampoon’s) Animal House (1978)	Film Site
43	12 Monkeys	Americas Spotlight
44	1984 (1984)	Futurism
45	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)	List Challenges
46	Ace High	Irish Times
47	After Hours (1985)	List Challenges
48	Ali: Fear Eats the Soul	MUBI
49	Alien	Americas Spotlight
50	American Graffiti (1973)	Film Site
51	Army of Darkness’	Rolling Stones
52	Band of Outsiders	MUBI
53	Barfly’ (1987)	Mlive
54	Barton Fink (1992)	Games Radar
55	Beyond the Valley of the Dolls	MUBI
56	Big Trouble In Little China	Make Use Of
57	Black Dynamite	Irish Times
58	Black Sabbath	Fandor
59	Black Snake Moan’ (2006)	Mlive
60	Blacula (1972)	List Challenges
61	Blood and Chocolate	Pajiba
62	Bloodrayne	Pajiba
63	Blow-Up	MUBI
64	Blue Ruin’ (2013)	Mlive
65	Blue Velvet (1986)	List Challenges
66	Bottle Rocket (1996)	Games Radar
67	Brick	Pajiba
68	Bring It On: All or Nothing	Pajiba
69	Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia	MUBI
70	Cannibal Apocalypse	Io9
71	Cruising (1980)	List Challenges
72	Dancing Outlaw’ (1991)	Mlive
73	Dark Star (1974)	Futurism
74	Dawn of the Dead (1978)	List Challenges
75	Day of the Dead (1985)	List Challenges
76	Dazed and Confused’	Rolling Stones
77	Deep Throat (1972)	Film Site
78	Delicatessen’ (1991)	Mlive
79	Descent	Pajiba
80	Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood	Irish Times
81	Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)	List Challenges
82	Drunken Master	Irish Times
83	Earth Girls are Easy (1988)	Futurism
84	Evil Dead 2 (1987)	Games Radar
85	Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control’ (1997)	Mlive
86	Flash Gordon (1980)	Futurism
87	Foxy Brown	Irish Times
88	Frankenhooker (1990)	List Challenges
89	Freaks (1932)	Games Radar
90	Friends with Money	Pajiba
91	From Dusk Till Dawn	Make Use Of
92	Futureworld	Fandor
93	Get Carter (1971)	Games Radar
94	Gone Baby Gone	Pajiba
95	Gone With the Pope (2010)	List Challenges
96	Grey Gardens	MUBI
97	Heathers (1989), Clueless (1995)	Film Site
98	Heavy Metal (1981)	List Challenges
99	Hedwig and the Angry Inch’	Rolling Stones
100	Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)	List Challenges
101	Hot Fuzz	Pajiba
102	House (1977)	List Challenges
103	I Spit on Your Grave	MUBI
104	In Bruges	Make Use Of
105	Invasion of the Body Snatchers	Americas Spotlight
106	Jazz on a Summer’s Day	MUBI
107	Johnny Guitar (1954)	Film Site
108	Junebug	Pajiba
109	Kiss Kiss Bang Bang	Pajiba
110	Kung Fu Killer	Irish Times
111	Labyrinth (1986)	Games Radar
112	Les idoles	MUBI
113	Liquid Sky (1982)	List Challenges
114	Love Story (1970)	Games Radar
115	Mamma Mia! (2008)	Games Radar
116	Me and You and Everyone We Know	Pajiba
117	Miami Connection (1987)	List Challenges
118	Mock Up on Mu	Fandor
119	Monty Python and the Holy Grail’	Rolling Stones
120	Moon	Americas Spotlight
121	More about Cult Films:	Film Site
122	Motel Hell (1980)	List Challenges
123	Mulholland Drive (2001)	List Challenges
124	Night of the Living Dead (1968)	List Challenges
125	Office Space (1999)	Games Radar
126	Out of the Past	MUBI
127	Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)	Games Radar
128	Performance	MUBI
129	Persona	MUBI
130	Primer	Make Use Of
131	Pulp Fiction’	Rolling Stones
132	Pulse (Kairo	Io9
133	Q: The Winged Serpent	Io9
134	Quadrophenia (1979)	Games Radar
135	Rebel Without a Cause	MUBI
136	Reefer Madness	MUBI
137	Reefer Madness (1936)	Film Site
138	Reincarnated	Irish Times
139	Repo! The Genetic Opera’	Rolling Stones
140	RoboCop	Americas Spotlight
141	Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)	List Challenges
142	Santa Sangre (1989)	List Challenges
143	Scorpio Rising	MUBI
144	Shaft (1971)	Film Site
145	Shock Corridor	MUBI
146	Sholay	MUBI
147	Shortbus	Pajiba
148	Silent Running (1972)	Futurism
149	Sisters	MUBI
150	Six Bullets	Irish Times
151	Skinwalkers	Pajiba
152	Slither	Pajiba
153	Snowpiercer	Americas Spotlight
154	Sugar Hill	Io9
155	Sullivan’s Travels	MUBI
156	Sunset Blvd.	MUBI
157	Super Fly	MUBI
158	Switchblade Sisters (1975)	List Challenges
159	Taxi Driver (1976)	List Challenges
160	The 36th Chamber of Shaolin	Irish Times
161	The Bank Job	Irish Times
162	The Blues Brothers’	Rolling Stones
163	The Brother from Another Planet (1984)	Futurism
164	The Burning	Io9
165	The Butcher	MUBI
166	The Chelsea Girls	MUBI
167	The Crow	Make Use Of
168	The Dead Zone	Americas Spotlight
169	The Devil’s Backbone’ (2001)	Mlive
170	The Devil’s Men	Fandor
171	The Devils (1971)	List Challenges
172	The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie	MUBI
173	The Evil Dead (1981)’	Rolling Stones
174	The Exorcist III	Io9
175	The Fly	Americas Spotlight
176	The Holy Mountain (1973)	List Challenges
177	The Last Wave	MUBI
178	The Lickerish Quartet	MUBI
179	The Night of the Hunter	MUBI
180	The Night Porter	MUBI
181	The Pit	Io9
182	The Rezort	Irish Times
183	The Servant	MUBI
184	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	Games Radar
185	The Sound of Music (1965)	Film Site
186	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)	Games Radar
187	The Wiz	MUBI
188	Trainspotting	Make Use Of
189	Trick or Treat	Io9
190	Troll 2	Irish Times
191	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)	Games Radar
192	Two Thousand Maniacs!	Io9
193	Un chien andalou	MUBI
194	Urgh! a Music War (1981)	List Challenges
195	Vampyros Lesbos	MUBI
196	Vanishing Point	MUBI
197	Waiting	Pajiba
198	Wet Hot American Summer	Make Use Of

---

---

13 Best Cult Film Sources/Lists

---

---

Source	Article
Americas Spotlight	One Through Forty-Two or Forty-Three
Fandor	Janet’s Presidential Biography Project & Blog
Film Site	The Best Presidential Biographies
Futurism	Presidents’ Day History: The Must-Reads Of Presidential Biographies
Games Radar	Selected Bibliography
Io9	44 Presidents and Their Definitive Biographies
Irish Times	Why I’m spending a year reading about every U.S. president
List Challenges	Presidential Resources
Make Use Of	Pulitzer Prize Winning Books About Presidents
Mlive	FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT CHESTER ARTHUR
MUBI	The 44 Best Presidential Biographies
Pajiba	The Fix’s list of best presidential biographies
Rolling Stone	The Fix’s list of best presidential biographies