Cult Musicals
Cult musicals, not your classics with Judy Garland but the whacked out bizarre fever dream musicals (and music-centric films).
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- DirectorRichard ElfmanStarsGene CunninghamMarie-Pascale ElfmanVirginia RoseThe bizarre and musical tale of a girl who travels to another dimension through the gateway found in her family's basement.Another one of my favorites. Danny Elfman and his brother made this, music by Oingo Boingo. Bizarre and wonderful. Susan Tyrell is magical.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsPaul WilliamsWilliam FinleyJessica HarperA disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.Music (and acting!) by Paul Williams and Jessica Harper. PG and that is okay. Incredible song writing and performances. One of my favorite movies.
- DirectorJames FargoStarsPia ZadoraCraig ShefferTom NolanAliens land in the town of "Speelburgh" searching for the source of rock & roll. They find trouble with Dee Dee, Frankie and the pack.Super cheesy. Originally meant as a parody of B sci-fi movies but they decided to turn it into a musical. It's hilariously bad but somehow the music is catchy. In a way it is rockabilly greasers vs. new-wave aliens.
I'm partially ashamed at how much I love this. - DirectorJim SharmanStarsJessica HarperCliff De YoungRichard O'BrienJanet and Brad become contestants on a game show and wind up as captives.A sequel to rocky horror. Jessica Harper is delightful with her sultry voice.
- DirectorJim SharmanStarsTim CurrySusan SarandonBarry BostwickA newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.A classic, duh, but would be remiss not to include.
- DirectorJohn Cameron MitchellStarsJohn Cameron MitchellMiriam ShorStephen TraskA gender-queer punk-rock singer from East Berlin tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the former lover/band-mate who stole her songs.Hedwig has one of the strongest stories of these kind of musicals. The music is also fantastic.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsMoira ShearerRobert RounsevilleLudmilla TchérinaA melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.The oldest movie I have on the list. It's classic with ballet and opera but it is gorgeous and so bizarre.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBob GeldofChristine HargreavesJames LaurensonA confined but troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
- DirectorRamón SalazarStarsMónica CerveraPablo PuyolMiguel O'DoghertyA narcoleptic transvestite who yearns to become a transsexual dreams up elaborate musical numbers in which she's the star.
- DirectorAllan ArkushStarsMalcolm McDowellAllen GarfieldDaniel SternMega-promoter Colin Beverly plans to sabotage the New Year's 1983 concert of small-time operator Max Wolfe. Wolfe's assistants Neil Allen and Willie Loman find romance while trying to save the drugs, violence, and rock and roll from Beverly's schemes.Music-centric and oh so good.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreyAnn-MargretOliver ReedA psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute boy becomes a master pinball player and, subsequently, the figurehead of a cult.
- DirectorLloyd KaufmanStarsJason YachaninKate GrahamAllyson SereboffZombified chickens attempt to kill the fast-food workers that cook them in a restaurant built on an ancient burial ground.Troma, does musical. Worth it for troma, musical part is nothing to rave over.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEwan McGregorJonathan Rhys MeyersChristian BaleIn 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.I like glam.
- DirectorTrey ParkerStarsTrey ParkerDian BacharStephen BlackpoolThe sole survivor of an ill-fated mining expedition tells how his taste for gold was replaced by that of human flesh.
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsPaul SorvinoAnthony HeadAlexa PenaVegaA worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan. The repossession clause is a killer, however.Great visuals, costumes and story. Personally, the music does not do it for me.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsPeter Lind HayesMary HealyHans ConriedA young boy dreams that he is in an imaginary world where, assisted by his family's plumber, he must save other piano-playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mind-controls his mother.Jello Biafra's favorite movie.
- DirectorJim HensonStarsDavid BowieJennifer ConnellyToby FroudSixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsGeena DavisJeff GoldblumJim CarreyA Southern California girl befriends three furry aliens after their spaceship lands in her swimming pool.Odd interruptions of song, not a true musical but a fun movie nonetheless.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsJohnny DeppRicki LakeAmy LocaneIn 1950s Baltimore, a bad boy with a heart of gold wins the love of a good girl, whose boyfriend sets out for revenge.
- DirectorGerald PottertonJohn BrunoJohn HalasStarsRichard RomanusJohn CandyJoe FlahertyA glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.
- StarsNeil Patrick HarrisNathan FillionFelicia DayAn aspiring supervillain must balance his career and his pursuit of a beautiful do-gooder.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsDanny ElfmanChris SarandonCatherine O'HaraJack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
- DirectorJohn FasanoStarsJohn MartinKen SwoffordSal VivianoDemons hypnotize the general public by posing as a rock and roll band.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsDiana RossMichael JacksonNipsey RussellAn adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.The Wiz is not quite cult, but it legitimately a fever dream.
- DirectorClive A. SmithStarsDon FrancksPaul Le MatGreg SalataA malevolent rock star kidnaps a singer to force her to participate in the summoning of a demon, and her band must help her stop him.
- DirectorAndy FickmanStarsKristen BellChristian CampbellNeve CampbellAn outrageous tongue-in-cheek musical comedy adaptation of the classic anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness (1936).
- DirectorDean StockwellNeil YoungStarsNeil YoungRuss TamblynDean StockwellThe new owner of a roadside diner stuck in a town built around an always leaking nuclear power plant plans to torch the place to collect insurance. However, an assortment of bizare characters and weird events (such as spaceships flying around) gets in his way.
- DirectorGary L. KeadyStarsRob HartleyRoz WasonJeff DuffIn a futuristic Australia, a scheme to blow up the Sydney Opera House is discovered. The only way to stop it is to send an agent back in time to prevent the plotters from hatching it.
- DirectorNancy WalkerStarsRay SimpsonDavid HodoFelipe RoseA pseudo autobiography of disco's The Village People.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsMalcolm McDowellRalph RichardsonRachel RobertsAn ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures that seem designed to challenge his naive idealism.
- DirectorDavid SwiftStarsRobert MorseMichele LeeRudy ValleeArmed with the titular manual, an ambitious window washer seeks to climb the corporate ladder.
- DirectorMenahem GolanStarsCatherine Mary StewartGeorge GilmourGrace KennedyIn 1994, a young couple enters the world of the music industry, and subsequently the world of drugs.
- DirectorPhilippe MoraStarsAlan ArkinChristopher LeeKate FitzpatrickDuring WWII, Captain Invincible fought against Nazis using superpowers. Later falsely accused of communism, he retires in Australia. When a secret US weapon gets stolen, he's called back but struggles with alcoholism.
- DirectorChris WindsorStarsClarence 'Big' MillerGeorge DawsonAndrew GilliesStrange events occur in a small town after a mild mannered butcher hires an unusual apprentice.
- DirectorRobert KlaneStarsDonna SummerValerie LandsburgTerri NunnA Friday in the life of the disco club The Zoo, where the staff and clients meet and dance their lives away.
- DirectorMike JittlovStarsMike JittlovRichard KayePaige MooreA Hollywood filmmaker (Mike Jittlov) makes a short for an evil film studio. Unbeknownest to him, the producer has placed a bet of $25,000 that he won't come up with anything with a use. Luckily, our film creator gets the help of his friends.
- DirectorZoe Lister-JonesStarsZoe Lister-JonesAdam PallyFred ArmisenA couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
- DirectorLuca BercoviciStarsDean CameronToni BasilThomas DolbyA young vampire cannot lose his virginity because of a curse imposed upon him centuries ago.
- DirectorChris LöfvénStarsJoy DunstanGraham MattersBruce SpenceDorothy is a 16-year-old groupie riding with an up-and-coming rock band when, suddenly, their van is in a road accident, and she hits her head. She wakes up in an alternate reality that's as gritty and realistic as the one she came from, and learns that she killed a young thug with the van. A gay clothier called the Glynn the Good Fairy gives her a pair of red shoes as a reward to help her see the last concert of the Wizard, an androgynous rock singer, in the city (Melbourne) that evening. She is pursed by the thug's brother who attempts to rape her on several occasions. During her journey, she becomes the traveling companion of a dumb surfer, a heartless mechanic, and a tough biker.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsPatsy KensitEddie O'ConnellDavid BowieIn London in 1958, a young photographer seeks media stardom to keep the love of a beautiful, aspiring fashion designer.
- DirectorAgnieszka SmoczynskaStarsMarta MazurekMichalina OlszanskaKinga PreisIn Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.
- DirectorLin-Manuel MirandaStarsAndrew GarfieldAlexandra ShippRobin de JesusOn the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
- DirectorJosh GreenbaumStarsKristen WiigAnnie MumoloJamie DornanLifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time - ever.
- CreatorKatie KrentzPatrick McHaleStarsElijah WoodCollin DeanMelanie LynskeyTwo brothers find themselves lost in a mysterious land and try to find their way home.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsAdam DriverMarion CotillardSimon HelbergA stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.