40 More Cult Movies offered up by film scholar Jon Towlson

 

Review by Doug Gibson

A while back I reviewed on Plan9Crunch blog Jon Towlson's 40 Cult Movies. It was an informative 21st Century version of the fascinating cult movies books Danny Peary produced in the 1980s. You can read the review here. Mr. Towlson is a Britiah academic who has many genre books published. He has written screenplays, worked on films, including directing and acting. His Amazon page is here.

Our YouTube page, Plan9Crunch, has interviewed Towlson. The most recent interview was right around the time a sequel, 40 More Cult Movies, was published. Perhaps tongue in cheek, Towlson told me with a smile that he embarked on the second cult movies book in part because I had suggested it in the 40 Cult Movies review.

Whatever his inspiration, 40 More Cult Movies is another interesting provocative read in which Towlson recounts unique films worthy of a cult. One film I want to highlight is a too-overlooked horror film that would be ideal for an October rental or buy. It's Frankenstein (2015) directed by Bernard Rose, who includes the 1992 cult horror film, Candyman, in his resume.

Set in 2015 and shot in the Los Angeles area, I agree with Towlson that this Frankenstein is the finest film adaptation of the original novel. Scientists create an attractive young man and provide him an infant's brain. DNA starts to corrupt and the creation (Adam) becomes grotesque. Overcoming an attempt by his creators to euthanize him, he traverses the rural and urban wastelands of Los Angeles seeking love, which he associates with a female scientist who helped create him.

There are nods to the Universal classic. One includes Adam befriending a young girl and then rescuing her after tossing her in a lake. Police regard him as a criminal and shoot a dog he befriended. Eventually caught, Adam calls the woman scientist "mother" and the police notify her. But she denies knowing him.

Adam has super-human strength and cannot be kept in captivity. In a poignant scene he tells police his name is "Monster" because that's what people call him. Later Adam encounters a friend, a blind street person played by Tony Todd, of Candyman. Adam is a vulnerable creation, seeking acceptance from his creators and those whom he enclunters. They are invariably repulsed by him, fear him, and ironically help prompt Adam to becoming a "monster" who kills.

Towlson has a strength of drawing societal mores and perceptions to film. In his review of Frankenstein (2015) he writes this:

"While Boris Karloff's 1931 creature stood in for war veterans, unemployed homeless men and homosexuals increasingly persecuted as a result of the 'sex crimes' panics which swept through the United States during the Depression, Rose's Monster is representative of the urban poor in modern America. His allegorical function is emphasized by his seeming indestructibility: he repeatedly returns to life after attempts are made to kill him, seeking redress from a society that demonises him and others who are similarly disenfranchised."

Besides providing interesting analysis, Frankenstein (2015) is simply a damn good 89-minute film that merits a cult following. It can be viewed streamed on Amazon Prime and Xumo.

There are 39 other films in 40 More Cult Movies. Tthe lineup will keep cult film fans reading through the early-morning hours. They include: Basket Case; The Black Cat (1934); The Crazies (1973); Curse of the Cat People; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Deathdream; Last House on the Left (1972); I Was a Teenage Wolfman; Rosemary's Baby; The Sorcerers; Targets; Tourist Trap; Witchfinder General. ...

You want to know the rest of the movies featured? Get the book.

Here is Jon Towlson's most recent interview on Plan9Crunch YouTube page.

Here is our first Jon Towlson interview on Plan9Crunch YouTube page.

'40 Cult Movies' offers a perceptive, interesting new look at the genre

Review by Doug Gibson

Jon Towlson is pretty well known and respected as a genre writer. On the Plan9Crunch blog, we have read and enjoyed his book on pre-code horror films, “The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films: 1931 to 1936.” But he’s written several books and many articles. The guy’s a legit expert on films.

 

In “40 Cult Movies: 40 Cult Movies from Alice, Sweet Alice to Zombies of Mora Tau” (2023), he reviews and comments on a wide variety of films, from Freaks to Shivers, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Upgrade, to The Legend of Hell House to Drag Me to Hell.

 

It's a very diverse selection. Some of the films are familiar to all, some familiar to genre fans, and some are obscurities that Towlson notes have small cults. A Serial Killer's Guide to Life and Redeemer: Son of Satan are examples of films with a following in search of a sustained cult. I love that The Legend of Hell House is included. It’s a fantastic horror film overshadowed by another great film, The Haunting. Towlson aptly notes how the haunted house is perfect match for the plot and mood of ... Hell House.

 

One strength of Towlson’s writing is he can thoroughly discuss a film, its plot, cultural impact, its director's history, its relation to other films, and leave the reader satisfied with what has been read. That is a rare quality in writing.

 

In his introduction, Towlson makes it clear that if you don’t agree with everything, “that’s OK.” I love that in a writer. Towlson describes how many of his films underscore political or cultural themes. I agree with him in many cases, notably films from Penelope Spheeris, David Cronenberg, and George A. Romero, all with multiple films discussed in this book.

 

I had a harder time accepting that Invasion of the Body Snatchers represents 1950s conformity and even the McCarthy era. I know director Don Spiegel thought so but to me it’s solely a damn good science fiction piece. But Towlson presents excellent arguments for his takes and I’d likely have a tough time debating him.

 

The book is full of these types of interesting discussions on how films provoke the culture wars. Cronenberg’s Shivers is an example. Is this tale of a parasite infecting residents with sexual mania actually positive? Is it preferable to a stultified, consumerist life that decreases sexual interest? These, and other reviews of  films such as Martin, Alice Sweet Alice, and others will keep us reading through the night.

 

Also in his introduction, Towlson hopes that the book prompts readers to seek out the films he has covered. I have already started. In the past two weeks I have watched, for the first time, Horror Hospital, Alice Sweet Alice, Audrey Rose, and Shivers. I also re-watched, Redeemer: Son of Satan, a film I saw a long time ago as Class Reunion Massacre. All have been rewarding views.

 

This is the best book on cult films since Danny Peary's 1980s series of books. I hope Towlson will do this again with 40 more cult movies. He’s the writer to give us genre in-depth looks at these unique films. I hope we have three or four volumes. 40 Cult Movies would be a great companion buy with "TCM: Undergound: 50 Must-See Films", which we also reviewed on Plan9Crunch.

 

In his acknowledgments, Towlson writes, “I dedicate this book to anyone who has ever had a tape snarl up in his VCR.” Oh, that is apt. Reading about these films, many I watched for the first time on VHS (I even saw a few in Beta) brings so many great memories of heading to the VCR store and looking for a garishly decorated clamshell VHS. In those days they sold the sizzle more than the steak. I discovered that in films like Dr. Butcher M.D. …, Criminally Insane, Pranks, Bloody Birthday, etc. But there was steak amidst the sizzle, such as Martin, Evil Dead, and Torture  Dungeon, Andy Milligan’s take on Shakespeare that I’d love to see explored in a future volume of Cult Movies ...