50 Greatest Cult Movie Moments

Troll 2 (1990)

The Moment: You know what’s coming… “They’re eating her…and then they’re going to eat me… OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD!”

Coolest Element: It’s the subtlety that really makes this one. It would have been easy to give it too much oomph.

Repo Man (1984)

The Moment: Miller’s controversial suggestion that, “John Wayne was a fag”.

Coolest Element:
His explanation always raises a giggle. “I installed two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress.”

Eraserhead (1977)

The Moment: The scene in which Mary feeds the “baby”. Creepy doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Coolest Element: The baby is repellent enough on its own merits, but the introduction of what should be a nurturing, maternal element only serves to heighten the horror.

Road House (1989)

The Moment: Patrick Swayze gets his badass on and rips a guy’s throat out. Clean out.

Coolest Element:
Jimmy, the guy he does it to, really, really had it coming.

Bad Santa (2003)

The Moment: Willie is trying to take a relaxing bath, but poor little Thurman won’t let him get a minute’s peace with his constant questions about the North Pole.

Coolest Element: The comic chemistry between these two is pure gold. “The fuck is wrong with you?” he rages, finally snapping. “I can’t remember this shit! Does everything with you have to be a fucking test?” Merry Christmas, kids…

Pee-Wees Big Adventure (1985)

The Moment: Large Marge steers things down a sinister road with her hair-raising storytelling session.

Coolest Element: We’d argue that the sudden claymation transformation of Marge’s face is as frightening as anything in any horror film.

Barbarella (1968)

The Moment: Barbarella tests out the Ogasmatron. Turns out it works rather well.

Coolest Element:
Probably the most farcical bit of lovemaking you’ll ever witness. Evern sillier than Showgirls , which is saying something…

Office Space (1999)

The Moment: “PC load letter?” groans Michael Bolton, staring at the printer in dismay. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Coolest Element: In this one line, all the petty frustrations of office life are perfectly encapsulated. What the fuck does it mean, anyway?

The Crow (1994)

The Moment: In an explosive sequence full of lightning, broken glass and soft rock, Eric Draven makes his transformation into… the Crow!

Coolest Element:
The screamingly camp sense of abandon in which the whole scene is drenched. Kudos to Brandon Lee for making this seem awesome rather than awesomely risible.

Bottle Rocket (1996)

The Moment: More of a sequence than a moment, but every second of the abortive heist is worthy of a chuckle.

Coolest Element: “I lost my touch, man," says Kumar, having failed to crack the safe. “Did you ever have a touch to lose, man?" wails Dignan, in sheer exasperation.

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.