Top 10 Underrated Cult Classic Movies

These movies passed the radar at their time, but they have audiences that firmly stand by them. The Nerd Stash proudly presents the top ten underrated movies that became cult classics. This list will focus on films that really are cinematically impressive but, for whatever reason, were misunderstood by critics or passed over by audiences. Despite that, they’ve gone on to garner a fanbase that swears by their cinematic greatness. And since we at The Nerd Stash love to celebrate everything underrated, from video games to Christmas movies, we feel it’s fitting to bring these cult classic movies that deserve a wider audience to your attention.

Note: Before anyone gets mad at us for not including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, this list is about celebrating underrated cult movies with certain cinematic strengths. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is many things, but a masterpiece it is not.

1o. The Princess Bride (1987)

Image Source: 20th Century Studios via The Criterion Collection

Many readers have likely watched The Princess Bride more times than they’d care to admit. Those same readers may be surprised that the movie garnered mediocre box office revenue. However, it is now frequently ranked among the best comedies of all time, serving as one of the only successful movies in the parody genre. If you’re having a rough day, The Princess Bride is a cult classic movie that will get you in a good mood.

9. Donnie Darko (2001)

Image Source: Flower Films via MUBI

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a troubled teenager who, while sleepwalking, escapes death when a jet engine crashes into his room. He’s also plagued by visions of a creature dressed as a rabbit who warns him of the coming end of the world. The film is acclaimed for being a strong sci-fi story while still touching on themes of adolescence and mental health. However, it was a box-office failure, as promoting a movie with a plane crash so soon after 9/11 proved challenging. The movie developed a fanbase through Netflix’s mail-in DVD service, and that fanbase only got bigger and bigger. A 2004 director’s cut brought the movie back into the public eye, and D0nnie Darko still manages to stay relevant over two decades after its release.

8. Fight Club (2004)

Credit: 20th Century Studios via Slash Film

Fight Club, with its extreme level of violence, continues to stir up controversy to this day. It even inspired other men and, oddly, Christian groups to form their own fight clubs. Collider calls this behavior out, saying these people missed the point of the movie. Dealing with themes like capitalism and men trying to solve their struggles in unhealthy ways, Fight Club is still relevant and likely will be for years.

7. Office Space (1999)

Image Source: 20th Century Studios via The Ringer

The first live-action project from King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge, Office Space tells the story of a group of workers frustrated with their jobs. The movie is a fantastic satirical take on the frustrations those in the workforce still deal with in the workplace. Unfortunately, it tanked at the box office. But its rediscovery on DVD made it a genuine cult classic that has strongly influenced the culture. For example, T.G.I. Fridays removed its striped shirts and its mandatory pins and buttons after dealing with too many “flair” jokes. Watch the movie. You’ll get it.

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Image Source: Summit Entertainment via Cook Another

While critics dismissed this as a typical teen movie, it has a cult following among millennials and Gen-Z, and we are confident that time will prove that fanbase right. Many authors cannot stand adaptations of their books, and Stephen Chbosky saved himself from such trouble by adapting his own 1999 young adult novel to the screen. As with the novel, so many viewers identified with Charlie (Logan Lerman), an introverted and kind-hearted kid coping with severe mental health issues he can’t explain. It’s when he forms close bonds with Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) that he is able to experience a level of happiness that makes him “feel infinite.”

While Miller’s presence in the film is awkward, given the actor’s recent disgraces, the movie is a beautiful nostalgia piece for other introverts who remember what it’s like to find friends and feel accepted and loved.

5. This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Image Source: Embassy Pictures via IMDb

This movie (along with Airplane!) is among the earliest and best examples of parody movies. At a time when rock music and band profile documentaries were coming out left and right, This is Spinal Tap beautifully poked fun at the pretentiousness of certain musicians and the fans who made gods out of them. The mockumentary format may have confused moviegoers, but its success on VHS was massive. As the decades have passed, it’s now considered a significant and highly influential cinematic work. It also has a sequel coming next year, 40 years after its release.

4. Blade Runner (1982)

Image Source: Warner Bros. via Atla Journal

Blade Runner was a dud at the box office, and critics felt its world was more impressive than its characters. However, the movie became highly popular on home video, and its audience continued to grow with a director’s cut and a magnificent final cut released in 2007. Blade Runner has gone from being an underrated cult classic to one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all time.

3. True Romance (1993)

Credit: Warner Bros. via Time Out

One of Quentin Tarantino’s best creations is a movie he did not direct. Tarantino served as the screenwriter for this Tony Scott film that stars Christian Slater as Clarence, a nerd obsessed with comics, kung fu movies, and Elvis. Clarence falls in love with a hooker named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), marries her, kills her pimp, and steals the pimp’s cocaine with the intent of selling it. However, that cocaine is actually owned by the mob, and they are willing to kill to get it back. While the movie failed at the box office, it garnered praise from critics and eventually garnered its cult following. With powerful performance and the signature Tarantino dialogue, it’s now considered one of the best films of the 1990s.

2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Credit: Warner Bros. via IMDb

Yes, you read that correctly. We are calling The Shawshank Redemption an underrated cult classic. Why? Because while the critics got it right, the audiences took time to catch on. Frank Daramont’s magnificent adaptation of Stephen King’s novella was actually a box office failure. However, this story of a wrongly-incarcerated inmate plotting his escape from a horrible prison became one of the top video rentals of 1995, and its popularity grew from there. The Shawshank Redemption has gone from being an underrated cult classic to one of the most beloved films of all time.

1. Dark City (1998)

Image Source: New Line Cinema via IMDb

Directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow), this movie stars Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch, an amnesiac who awakens in a hotel bathtub into a world where it’s always dark and where he is wanted for several murders. Setting out to clear his name, he soon learns that he is being targeted by a mysterious group known as the Strangers, who have the power to bend reality at their will.

While Dark City has a very small fanbase, its biggest fan was the legendary film critic Roger Ebert. In his review, Ebert called the movie a “great visionary achievement” and likened it to Metropolis and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Naming it the best movie of 1998, he believed it would be one of the most influential sci-fi classics of all time. Sadly, Dark City didn’t go far beyond its cult fanbase.

Dark City creates a magnificent sci-fi world while serving as a convincing film noir. This is perfected with great performances from Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, and Kiefer Sutherland, who is particularly impressive as a neurotic doctor trying to help John defeat the Strangers.

Proyas is working on a Dark City series that we are excited to see. However, until that series is released, do yourself a favor and seek out this underrated cult classic movie.