26 Cool Cult T-Shirts

Blade Runner (1982)

Cult Credentials: Gaff, that master of origami-based taunting has apparently started up his own school of paper-folding excellence. This really is a genius idea isn’t it? And those twin unicorns are cool enough to carry a t-shirt on their own…

Coolest Detail: “Lessons taught in basic and cityspeak.” There’s nothing like a gloriously nerdy film reference to get our juices flowing!

Blade Runner ...Again! (1982)

Cult Credentials: Rutger Hauer’s group of badasses are all Nexus-6 model replicants. This is top of the range technology we’re talking about, hence the slogan “more human than human”. Kicks the shit out of “Just Do It” doesn’t it?

Coolest Detail: The small print below the logo. Phy: Lev A ; Men: Lev A. That’s the kind of detail that scores you some proper geek points…

Army Of Darkness (1992)

Cult Credentials: More Japanese artwork, this time in the shape of a thoroughly barmy Army Of Darkness teaser. We’ve no idea why there’s a dolphin splashing around in the background, nor can we explain the bald-headed chap uttering the word “moon”. All we know is that we like it.

Coolest Detail: The Warhol-aping “Bruce Campbell” soup tins are a nice touch.

The Karate Kid (1984)

Cult Credentials: Every Tom, Dick and Harry on the high street can be seen wearing t-shirts professing varsity athlete credentials from institutions they’d never previously heard of. Sporting one emblazoned with the scene of Daniel-san’s greatest triumph, on the other hand…well that’s just plain awesome.

Coolest Detail: The red and yellow colour-scheme is brilliantly ‘80s. We want!

Back To The Future (1985)

Cult Credentials: Doc Brown always seems to us as if he’s wandered in from a more obscure, culty film than Robert Zemeckis’s blockbuster, and this shirt pays appropriate tribute to the great man’s scientific endeavour. Nice and understated, unlike the Doc…

Coolest Detail: There’s a cool image of the flux capacitor on the back of the shirt. Great Scott!

Back To The Future...Again! (1985)

Cult Credentials: Huey Lewis enthusiasts Marty and the Pinheads get top billing on this band-poster themed design, alongside a wealth of other Back To The Future references. “Try to keep up”…brill.

Coolest Detail: We particularly like the way the Hill Valley clock-face has been incorporated into the name of the band.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Cult Credentials: The Japanese poster for Tobe Hooper’s notorious ‘70s slasher boasts a range of iconic scenes, including the particularly unsettling image of the finger-sucking grandfather. If that’s not cult, we don’t know what is. Get it on your chest!

Coolest Detail: The gruesome chair poor Marilyn Burns is strapped to, with human arms clearly on display. Gross.

Se7en (1995)

Cult Credentials: A FedEx spoofing delivery advert, applauding John Doe’s ability to keep even the soggiest of parcels in good condition. One of cinema’s most macabre moments turned into a jaunty and colourful t-shirt…bravo!

Coolest Detail: “Always one step a head of the game.” We’re suckers for a good pun…

Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

Cult Credentials: The original one-sheet of this forgotten’70s horror flick is gloriously trashy, from the heroine’s jarringly green hue to the oversized skeletal hands rising up from the deep. A midnight movie classic!

Coolest Detail: That tag-line is just great, isn’t it? Whatever it is, it’s not quite as dead as Jessica would like…

Jaws (1975)

Cult Credentials: Like any good cult t-shirt, the title of the movie concerned is nowhere to be seen. In fact, at first look, this could be just another piece of preppy, faux-retro clothing picked off the rail of any high-street store. Only we know better, don’t we? Now, about that boat…do you have any bigger ones?

Coolest Detail: The weathered font fits the subject matter nicely. We can imagine these on sail outside a beach shack on Amity Island itself…

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Cult Credentials: This one really works on a number of levels, from the Freddy-inspired colour-scheme, down to the clever-clever tag-line. Krueger himself has sensibly been left out of the advert…after all, would you buy a house off that man?

Coolest Detail: The way Freddy’s silhouette has been incorporated into the word “Krueger’s”. It wouldn’t be right if he was missing completely…

Braindead (1992)

Cult Credentials: Peter Jackson’s early splatter-fest gets the Japanese treatment with this ultra-exploitative artwork. We never thought we’d get to see Selwyn the baby zombie on a t-shirt, and yet here he is! Nice bondage overtones as well…

Coolest Detail: The Peter Jackson signature is a welcome addition. Just so passers-by don’t think you’re a total wacko…

Robocop (1987)

Cult Credentials: If you’re going to advertise a multi-national corporation on your chest, don’t waste your time with Nike or Adidas…give the oft-maligned Omni-Corp a well-needed publicity boost. After all, not all of their products can backfire and kill you…can they?

Coolest Detail: It says Detroit Police on the back in nice big letters, so no one will mess with you. Unless of course you wear it in Detroit, in which case you will be arrested for impersonating an officer.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Cult Credentials: This adaptation of the classic Jurassic Park logo is a pleasingly witty spoof of the Spielberg classic, from the jaunty-looking Hammond avatar to the “we have a T-Rex” sales pitch. The kids look a touch scary though!

Coolest Detail: We don’t know why, but listing “Isla Nubar” next to “Petticoat Lane” makes us laugh! We’d advise sticking to the London store…

The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

Cult Credentials: Not only does this t-shirt show off a bit of artwork from one of the greatest zombie comedies of the ‘80s, it uses the cover of the VHS for inspiration! Romero might not be impressed, but we reckon this is total win!

Coolest Detail: The rad ‘80s ‘dos on display. Bodacious stuff.

Die Hard (1988)

Cult Credentials: Be honest, if the words “Nakatomi Corporation” weren’t printed below, would you have recognised this logo as having anything to do with Die Hard ? If the answer is yes, then you ought to buy one immediately. Such knowledge deserves reward!

Coolest Detail: The Japanese symbols under the company name. We can only assume they spell out “Yippie-Kay-Ay”…

Goodfellas (1990)

Cult Credentials: It’s arguably the greatest moment in mafia film history…Joe Pesci’s “joking” meltdown after being called “funny” by Ray Liotta. So it’s only right and proper that it gets its own t-shirt, which posits the frankly terrifying scenario of little Tommy DeVito opening a comedy club. For Christ’s sake nobody laugh…

Coolest Detail: The menacing caveat in the small print: “Amuse me…or die on stage!”

Class Of 1984 (1982)

Cult Credentials: Mark Lester’s dystopian action thriller is a blast of retro entertainment from start to finish, and this alternate artwork shows off the film’s punk-rock look in some style. “We are the future”, indeed…

Coolest Detail: The chap on the right is rocking a superb multi-coloured Mohawk. If only we could pull one off ourselves…

High Fidelity (2000)

Cult Credentials: Yep, it’s a t-shirt bearing the logo of John Cusack’s record store in High Fidelity . Why do you need one of these in your life? The same reason you need to alphabetise your DVD collection of course! It’s a sickness…

Coolest Detail: Just how obscure the whole thing is. We must admit, it took us a while to remember where we recognised Championship Vinyl from…

Aliens (1986)

Cult Credentials: Ah, the power loader. What we wouldn’t give to purchase one of these babies…although sadly, we don’t have the Class 2 certification required to operate one. Still, we reckon we could muddle through somehow…

Coolest Detail: The shadow detail is a really nice touch. It’s the little things that count!

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970)

Cult Credentials: This US one-sheet promoting the release of Dario Argento’s first film sports all the classic horror-poster staples. Unsettling passage of viewer “advice”, terrified girl staring down the camera, unseen, knife-wielding killer…all are present and correct.

Coolest Detail: The way the blade separates the red and white portions of the image is aesthetically pleasing. Top marks for composition!

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Cult Credentials: Celebrate Kubrick’s space-bound epic with this suitably tech-savvy nod to the shifty artificial intelligence known as HAL 9000. Careful it doesn’t start manipulating you, mind…

Coolest Detail: The “Urbana Illinois” detail is a nice reference to the HAL plant at the University of Illinois.

Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Cult Credentials: Referencing Shaun’s line, “how’s that for a slice of fried gold” this ace t-shirt is crammed full of more SOTD references than you can shake a gore-soaked stick at. Plus the cartoon is pretty cool too, the zombie on the right bearing more than a passing resemblance to Bruce Campbell!

Coolest Detail: The Cornetto in “Ash’s” hand. An in-joke within an in-joke? Don’t mind if we do.

Videodrome (1983)

Cult Credentials: David Cronenberg’s creepy mind-bender is about as cult as mainstream cinema can get, what with its surrealist theme and body-horror ickiness. Civic TV is of course the broadcast signal promoting hardcore violence within the movie. It’s still more watchable than Big Brother though…

Coolest Detail: The channel listing is a clever touch, as is the retro colour palette.

American Psycho (2000)

Cult Credentials: Need a few tips on maximising your potential? Business card lacking in pizzazz? Who better to consult than good ol’ Pat Bateman, a man who knows how to get things done whilst looking good and keeping impeccable manners. Just try not to look him directly in the eyes…

Coolest Detail: The “Established 1989” slogan. The film begins on April Fools’ Day of that year. Attention to detail goes a long way…

Shogun Assassin (1980)

Cult Credentials: It doesn't get much more cult or cool than this.

Cigarette Burns present monthly midnight movies at the Dalston Rio, and they've recently started producing one-off exclusive t-shirts tied into whichever awesome cult flick they're showing on the big screen.

The catch is - the t-shirts are available for one night only (in the unlikely event they don't sell out, they will be available online, but we don't advise waiting).

Once they're gone, they're gone. Oh, and there's only thirty of them . Like we said, it doesn't get much more cult and cool.

This month, the film and fabric will be a Total Film favourite - Shogun Assassin . Look to your left to see why we'll be first in the queue this Saturday night.

Coolest Detail: The look of determination on bad-ass samurai Ogami Itto's face. Beyond awesome.

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.