40 Greatest Cult/Camp Film Classics
- Freaks 1932
- Glen or Glenda 1953
- Plan 9 From Outer Space 1959
- Blood Feast 1963
- Strait-Jacket 1964
- Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 1965
- Orgy of the Dead 1965
- Sins of the Fleshapoids 1965
- Hold Me While I’m Naked 1966
- The Oscar 1966
- Berserk 1967
- The Day the Fish Came Out 1967
- Valley of the Dolls 1967
- Barbarella 1968
- Flesh 1968
- Vixen 1968
- Angel, Angel, Down We Go 1969
- The Big Cube 1969
- Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 1970
- The Honeymoon Killers 1970
- Myra Breckinridge 1970
- Trash 1970
- El Topo 1971
- Harold and Maude 1971
- The Love Machine 1971
- Bluebeard 1972
- The Last House on the Left 1972
- Pink Flamingos 1972
- Female Trouble 1974
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975
- Drum 1976
- Eraserhead 1976
- I Spit on Your Grave 1977
- Can’t Stop the Music 1980
- Mommie Dearest 1981
- Basket Case 1982
- Forbidden Zone 1982
- Reform School Girls 1986
- Showgirls 1995
It might be hard to pin down exactly what makes a film a Cult or Camp Classic. In many cases it’s a film that intended to be serious but was so over-the-top that it became comical (The Oscar, Valley of the Dolls, Angel, Angel, Down We Go). In others it’s an exaggerated sense of design and style (Barbarella, The Day the Fish Came Out). Some films are intentionally campy and gain a cult following (Sins of the Fleshapoids, Forbidden Zone, Reform School Girls). With others it’s an intensely dark , startling, and compelling perspective that creates a cult following (The Honeymoon Killers, Freaks, Eraserhead). Excess, and a no holds barred approach can also give a film the “camp” label (Vixen, Blood Feast, Showgirls). And finally, some of them just make you wonder what were the producer and director thinking (Can’t Stop the Music, Orgy of the Dead)? As with any list, this list is not above disagreement, discussion, or alternate viewpoints. It was compiled through cumulative research and is presented in good faith.