Cult Movies (book)

In the book's foreword, Peary notes that out of the thousands of movies that have been made, "only an extremely small number have elicited a fiery passion in moviegoers that exists long after their initial releases." Cult movies are defined by Peary as "special films which for one reason or another have been taken to heart by segments of the movie audience, cherished, protected, and most of all, enthusiastically championed."[https://www.kcur.org/show/central-standard/2014-01-31/movie-critics-what-makes-a-cult-film Movie Critics: What Makes A 'Cult' Film?|KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City] He explains that "the typical Hollywood product" never attains cult status since all viewers perceive these average films in more or less the same way, with no real disagreement as to the film's quality. But cult films "are born in controversy, in arguments over quality, theme, talent and other matters. Cultists believe they are among the blessed few who have discovered something in particular that the average moviegoer and critic have missed – the something that makes the pictures extraordinary."Peary, Danny. Cult Movies, Delta Books, 1981. {{ISBN|0-517-20185-2}}

The book features a guest contribution from Henry Blinder, who provided the essay on the film Two for the Road.[https://www.thedigitalfix.com/film/blu-ray-review/two-for-the-road-masters-of-cinema/ Two for the Road: Masters of Cinema Review|Blu-ray Review|The Digital Fix]

Cult Movies has been reprinted several times, most recently in 1998 by Gramercy Books ({{ISBN|0517201852}}). Two sequels were published, Cult Movies 2 (1983, Dell, {{ISBN|0-440-51632-3}}) and Cult Movies 3 (1988, Fireside, {{ISBN|0-671-64810-1}}), with each book reviewing fifty additional cult films. Certain chapters from Cult Movies were republished in 2014 as a thematically connected e-book, bringing together essays about cult movies from certain genres.{{Cite web|url=https://thedissolve.com/news/3447-cinephiles-rejoice-danny-pearys-cult-movies-books-/|title=Cinephiles rejoice: Danny Peary's Cult Movies books now repurposed as budget-friendly e-books|website=The Dissolve}}

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
• All About Eve (1950)
• Andy Warhol's Bad (1977)
• Badlands (1973)
• Beauty and the Beast (1946)
• Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
• Behind the Green Door (1972)
• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
• Billy Jack (1971)
• Black Sunday (1960)
• The Brood (1979)
• Burn! (1969)
• Caged Heat (1974)
• Casablanca (1941)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Conqueror Worm (1968)
• Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
• Deep End (1971)
• Detour (1946)
• Duck Soup (1933)
• El Topo (1971)
• Emmanuelle (1974)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• Eraserhead (1977)
• Fantasia (1940)
• Forbidden Planet (1956)
• ''Force of Evil (1948)
• 42nd Street (1933)
• Freaks (1932)
• The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
• Greetings (1968)
• Gun Crazy (1949)
• Halloween (1978)
• A Hard Day's Night (1964)
• The Harder They Come (1973)
• Harold and Maude (1971)
• The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
• House of Wax (1953)
• I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
• I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
• It's a Gift (1934)
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
• Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
• Johnny Guitar (1954)
• The Killing (1956)
• King Kong (1933)
• King of Hearts (1967)
• Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
• La Cage aux Folles (1979)
• Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
• Laura (1944)
• The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
• Lola Montès (1955)
• The Long Goodbye (1973)
• Mad Max (1979)
• The Maltese Falcon (1941)
• Man of the West (1958)
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• The Nutty Professor (1963)
• Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
• Out of the Past (1947)
• Outrageous! (1977)
• Pandora's Box (1929)
• Peeping Tom (1960)
• Performance (1970)
• Petulia (1968)
• Pink Flamingos (1973)
• Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956)
• Pretty Poison (1968)
• The Producers (1968)
• The Rain People (1969)
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
• The Red Shoes (1948)
• Reefer Madness (1936)
• Rio Bravo (1959)
• Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• The Scarlet Empress (1934)
• The Searchers (1956)
• Shock Corridor (1963)
• The Shooting (1967)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• Sylvia Scarlett (1936)
• The Tall T (1957)
• Targets (1968)
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
• Top Hat (1935)
• Trash (1970)
• Two for the Road (1967)
• Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Up in Smoke (1978)
• Vertigo (1958)
• The Warriors (1979)
• Where's Poppa? (1970)
• The Wild Bunch (1969)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)

{{Div col end}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/share-your-love-author-danny-peary-on-cult-movies Interview with Danny Peary about the Cult Movies books.]
• [http://thepinksmoke.com/PCPs2ep24.html Podcast discussion about Danny Peary's Cult Movies, with an interview with Peary himself.]

Category:1981 non-fiction books

Category:Books about film

Category:Cult following

Category:Film fandom