Elizabeth Clare Prophet died last Thursday at age 70, from Alzheimer's. In the 1970s, she helped found and led a New Age doomsday cult, the Church Universal and Triumphant, and predicted (in the 80s) a nuclear strike inside the United States that led all her followers to do the compound/weapons stockpiling thing in Montana. Also of interest is the Smithsonian/Folkways recordings of her cult, Sounds of American Doomsday Cults, Vol. 14 which contains many fascinating and insane chanting tracks, most notably the Great Divine Rector's Call, which was sampled to hilarious effect by Negativland and Mylo. [more inside]
posted by fungible on Oct 18, 2009 - 34 comments

From the same wicked awesome site that brought you the totally unofficial Ren and Stimpy soundtrack, Kirk Demarais gets nostalgic, drawing family portraits of cult-famous families of the last three decades. Take a stroll down memory lane with the Torrances, the Lundegaardes, the Griswolds, and other infamous families. [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Sep 9, 2009 - 5 comments

I was shot in the head two years ago. I was in prison for six years. I live in a Taliban hub. I need to be an amputee. I'm four. I'm six. I'm eight. I have a micropenis. I've had sex both with and without a foreskin. My sister and I are in love. I'm in love with my mother. I married and had a daughter with my first cousin. I love my dog. I have killed someone while driving drunk. I have superpowers from chemotherapy. I was in a cult for seven years. I own a woman. I used to be asexual (I am still asexual). I was in porn (and I'm still in porn). I took a boy's virginity. I am killing myself in a few months. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Aug 30, 2009 - 125 comments

A five-page Washington Post epic about the pluralistic cults of WaWa and Sheetz. If you've ever spent any significant amount of time in the Mid-Atlantic states, you'll understand. (print format link)
posted by potch on Aug 27, 2009 - 102 comments

Get away from it all. [more inside]
posted by phrontist on Jun 30, 2009 - 9 comments

I am Myra Breckinridge whom no man will ever possess. Clad only in garter belt and one dress shield, I held off the entire elite of the Trobriand Islanders, a race who possess no words for "why" or "because." Wielding a stone axe, I broke the arms, the limbs, the balls (nsfw) of their finest warriors, my beauty blinding them, as it does all men... [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Jun 1, 2009 - 20 comments

Cult western classic One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is the only film ever directed by Marlon Brando, who happened to replace the original director, none other than Stanley Kubrick.
posted by ageispolis on May 11, 2009 - 15 comments

The Torture Colony. In a remote part of Chile, an evil German evangelist built a utopia whose members helped the Pinochet regime perform its foulest deeds... [i]nvestigations by Amnesty International and the governments of Chile, Germany, and France, as well as the testimony of former colonos who, over the years, managed to escape the colony, have revealed evidence of terrible crimes: child molestation, forced labor, weapons trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, torture, and murder. It may sound like the farfetched plot of Saw VII (or something out of Kafka) but it's horrifyingly true. [Previously]
posted by dersins on Apr 17, 2009 - 38 comments

...[Change of scene. We are looking out of a car window; it is raining, or has recently rained. Shops go by.] I treated myself to a taxi. I rode home through the city streets! There wasn't a street--there wasn't a building--that wasn't connected to some memory in my mind. There I was buying a suit with my father. There I was having an ice-cream soda after school. When I finally came in, Debby was home from work. And I told her everything about my dinner with André

And here is Sergio Leone and the Inside Fly Rule's meditation on the only possible other candidate for Best.Movie.Ever. [more inside]
posted by y2karl on Apr 3, 2009 - 52 comments

The cult of fashion; the fashion of cults.
posted by fiercecupcake on Feb 11, 2009 - 41 comments

TCM Underground (warning: flash, sound) has been screening an excellent selection of Cult movies on late Friday nights that are worth staying up for. Upcoming films include: Terror of Tiny Town, The Swinger, Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains, Willie Dynamite, Shack Out On 101, Two-Lane Blacktop, and The Legend of Hell House.
posted by Otis on Jan 12, 2009 - 34 comments

Revealing Self-Aggrandizement and Superstition in Self-Realization since 2005
posted by Roach on Dec 4, 2008 - 21 comments

Bruce McDonald, respected Canadian indie director, announced his plans last week to make not one, not two, but three sequels to his low-budget 1996 cult favorite Hard Core Logo, essentially turning it into a franchise. Hard core fans will no doubt hope that the films are either great enough to live up to the original, or that it's all a publicity stunt timed for the TIFF premiere of his new film Pontypool, a horror flick about zombies who spread infection through conversation. [more inside]
posted by mannequito on Sep 3, 2008 - 26 comments

The music of the People's Temple. Five years before Jim Jones coerced 900 of his church members to commit suicide in Guyana, the People's Temple cut an album. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Aug 7, 2008 - 24 comments

A 15-year-old in London is being prosecuted for holding a sign calling Scientology a "cult", during a peaceful demonstration (0:55-1:40). The teenager refused to back down, quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" ... The City of London police came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology. The City of London Chief Superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for "raising the spiritual wealth of society" during the opening of its headquarters in 2006. Last year a video praising Scientology emerged featuring Ken Stewart, another of the City of London's chief superintendents via
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on May 21, 2008 - 128 comments

The unprecedented slaughter of over 1600 of Yellowstone's bison this winter (resulting in a 50% decrease in the overall size of the herd) will go down as the largest wild bison kill since the 19th century. Despite vehement protests and bold acts of civil disobedience instigated by the Buffalo Field Campaign, the slaughter will continue according to the tax-payer supported Bison Interagency Plan - the goal of the plan being to prevent economic losses from the unlikely spread of brucellosis (a cattle disease) from Yellowstone bison into Montana and Wyoming's livestock. TERRA aired a gripping three-part 'fly-on-the-wall' film series chronicling the story: ONE, TWO, THREE. [more inside]
posted by huckhound on May 9, 2008 - 39 comments

50 best cult books from The Telegraph.
posted by Artw on Apr 26, 2008 - 85 comments

The sequel to Repo Man will finally arrive next month - in graphic novel form. The script was originally floated by Alex Cox in 1994, but an attempt at filming it was unsuccessful. Now, the comic version, illustrated by Chris Bones, is on its way from Gestalt Comics. [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Feb 21, 2008 - 35 comments

1,780 Cult Movies Online ~ A huge repository of online movies described as cult classics.
posted by Dave Faris on Feb 10, 2008 - 35 comments

The Cult of Wikipedia - An expose by The Register on conflict of interest at Wikipedia.
posted by loquacious on Feb 7, 2008 - 124 comments

Trailers From Hell. Cult directors (and other industry types) introduce and comment on trailers for cult films. For instance, Allison Anders on Peeping Tom, Rick Baker on The Man Of A Thousand Faces, Joe Dante on Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman, Jack Hill on White Heat, Dan Ireland on The Haunting, Mary Lambert on The Masque Of The Red Death and Edgar Wright on Carnage. (Flash menu and intro unfortunately)
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Jan 28, 2008 - 11 comments

Stanislav Szukalski was born in Warta, Poland on December 13, 1893. When he was only six years old, a teacher sent him to the headmaster's office for whittling a pencil. The headmaster examined the pencil more closely and discovered that young Stanislav had carved a tiny, near-perfect figure. [more inside]
posted by louche mustachio on Jan 23, 2008 - 8 comments

Freaky Flicks is a p2p community with a radical mascot that collects arthouse and cult cinema.

Browse the selection on The Pirate Bay or look at their list of Red Letter Directors.

The FF Forum is pretty good for recommendations and links to non-p2p and legal online video.
posted by sushiwiththejury on Dec 4, 2007 - 20 comments

You have been invited to the 2008 Presidential Inaugural Ball by The Light Party: a wholistic, proactive, educational, empowerment party is a synthesis of the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and Green Parties. This cosmic Artainment of music and light should not be missed!
posted by ozomatli on Nov 30, 2007 - 6 comments

Russian sect says world ends May 2008. And no, you can't borrow their cave. [more inside]
posted by Artw on Nov 15, 2007 - 43 comments

21-87 is a short film from Arthur Lipsett that has been discussed before.
posted by tellurian on Aug 2, 2007 - 12 comments

Children of God film to premiere September 6 on HBO. Filmmaker Noah Thomson goes in search of the young adults who have made a life for themselves outside of the controversial Christian cult "The Children of God." [previously] Many children of this cult have failed to thrive in the outside world and committed suicide, unable to adjust to life in a society indifferent to their abuse as children. Premieres Thursday September 6 on HBO. Link to trailer (sound is low). Jane Magazine has an article on the group and Noah Thompson in its June/July issue. [link to text and PDF scans].
posted by k8t on Jul 20, 2007 - 18 comments

Crazy 4 Cult is a new exhibit coming to Gallery 1988, the Los Angeles art gallery that hosts the annual (and always great) IAm8Bit exhibit. Just as IAm8Bit uses videogames of the 1980s as the theme for the artists, Crazy 4 Cult is using Cult movies. For fun, the exhbit poster features a huge number of movie references - can you catch them all? Via.
posted by jonson on Jul 16, 2007 - 12 comments

Eight of the craziest cults evar. An honorable mention is being considered for the Taiwanese chicken cult.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jun 23, 2007 - 49 comments

Welcome, space brothers, from representatives of planet earth! It's the Unarius Academy of Science. (wp)
posted by serazin on May 3, 2007 - 17 comments

Why waste time on playing roleplaying games or writing pastiches when you can actually worship Cthulhu? Join an existing Cthulhu cult or form your own!. They've got a book and everything! (though it may contain big chunks of wiki-plagarism). As ever, the ability to rock a traditionalist shaved-head-and-goatee satanist look considered a plus.
posted by Artw on Apr 29, 2007 - 32 comments

Modern Mummification. For yourself or your pets. The Summum organization, which incorporates a variety of religious and spiritual philosophies into its belief system, introduced modern mummification in 1975 as a means to "guide one's essence to a greater destination following the death of the body." They even have their own pyramid, in Utah of all places. There are several webpages for the kiddies, even very young ones. One presentation for kids explains that mummification is like "a caterpillar turning into a butterfly." Some people would like to expose the whole thing as a batshitinsane, money-making cult.
posted by amyms on Mar 30, 2007 - 20 comments

Gwen Shamblin's faith-based weight loss program, The Weigh Down Workshop, has been so successful that in 1999 she spun off her own Evangelical church, now found in over 100 cities worldwide. Her weight loss methods are not without controversy, and her church has recently been in the news.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Mar 27, 2007 - 24 comments

Heaven's Gate Cult pre-Suicide Videos (via, wiki)
posted by bardic on Mar 23, 2007 - 38 comments

The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard. A surprisingly sympathetic look at the cultists everyone loves to hate. Or more specifically their slightly less crazy splinter church.
posted by mock on Feb 11, 2007 - 152 comments

Jonathan Richman - I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar
The Raymond Scott Quintette - War Dance For Wooden Indians
Chic - Le Freak
Young Marble Giants - Cakewalking
Captain Beefheart - Ice Cream for Crow
Burning Spear - Foggy Road
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Cue
Jonathan Richman - I'm So Confused

Cult music on the YouTube
posted by y2karl on Nov 30, 2006 - 132 comments

Withnail & I on the YouTube:

Drinking the Lighter Fluid
In the tearoom
Withnail and Danny argue about drugs
Withnail and the Telephone Box
Monty and I
Withnail's monologue in the rain

Withnail & I - A review, Sanjek on Withnail and I
Concerning film maker Bruce Robinson
Withnail & I - The Screenplay
Withnail & I  locations, Withnail and I  quotes and picturesand...
Kids, don't try this at home!--Regarding the Withnail & I drinking game
posted by y2karl on Nov 24, 2006 - 49 comments

Boris Weisfeiler disappeared in Chile. The authorities claim that the experienced outdoorsman had drowned trying to ford a four-foot river. Uncovered documents tell a different story - that Pinochet's military had mistaken the vacationing mathematics professor for a "Jewish spy" and sent him as a political prisoner to the 37,000 acre German expatriate Nazi apocalyptic cult enclave of Colonia Dignidad. There, he was kept alive for at least two years before Paul Schaefer, the founder of the enclave, a Luftwaffe nurse and a serial child molester, most likely had him killed.
posted by Sticherbeast on Nov 22, 2006 - 20 comments

A new documentary on the Jonestown Massacre (YouTube) raises a few key questions about The People's Temple and mass suicide; yet the most pertinent quandary at the moment (posed by New York Magazine) has little to do with tainted Kool-Aid and instead focuses on an unfortunately named rapper from Harlem. This week, it's Jim Jones versus Jim Jones.
posted by dead_ on Nov 9, 2006 - 22 comments

"This is my happening, and it freaks me out!" A sequel far removed from its namesake, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, the 1970 sex-drugs-rock-violence classic by Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert, gets a special-edition DVD release this week. Also, at retroCRUSH, a trio of interviews with Casey, Roxanne and the ultra-eccentric Z-Man.
posted by LinusMines on Jun 15, 2006 - 14 comments

Stripping The Gurus. Sex, violence, abuse and enlightenment. Chogyam Trungpa, the Dalai Lama, Zen masters, exposing the reality behind the facade of various spiritual teachers. Geoff Falk also writes about the spiritual beliefs of rock stars.
posted by nickyskye on Jun 5, 2006 - 66 comments

The Room: The Movie. Triple-threat (actor/writer/director) Tommy Wiseau made his cinematic debut in 2003 with the The Room (see trailer and various scenes), "a blend between a softcore porn flick and a Tennessee Williams stageplay." Wiseau ("who's not just one of the most unusual looking and sounding-with an unidentifiable Eastern European accent-leading men ever to grace the screen, but a narcissist nonpareil whose movie makes Vincent Gallo's "The Brown Bunny" seem the apotheosis of cinematic self-restraint...may be something of a first: A movie that prompts most of its viewers to ask for their money back-before even 30 minutes have passed." - Variety), allegedly raised $6 million outside Hollywood to cover production and marketing costs of the self-described "black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies" (see various rough dress rehersals). Audience members, including comedian David Cross, have been "marveling at the bizarre editing, bad bluescreen, uncomfortably explicit sex scenes and, of course, the enigma of Wiseau himself" as the film played monthly for years in Los Angeles. Available on DVD, diehard "roomies" swear by the theatrical experience, shout out their own commentary, hurl spoons at the screen and singalong to the soundtrack. Some call it "The Rocky Horror of the New Millenium" and stage "Room" parties. If you look at the marketing campaign or survived a screening you might see The Room as "a seminar on how NOT to make a movie." [Inspired by Boing Boing]
posted by boost ventilator on Jun 1, 2006 - 28 comments

Drama is impossible today. I don't know of any. Drama used to be the belief in guilt, and in a higher order. This absolutely cruel didactic is impossible, unacceptable for us moderns. But melodrama has kept it. You are caged. In melodrama you have human, earthly prisons rather than godly creations. Every Greek tragedy ends with the chorus — "those are strange happenings. Those are the ways of the gods". And so it always is in melodrama.
His career as a film director lasted more than 40 years, but Douglas Sirk (1900-1987) is remembered for the melodramas he made for Universal in Hollywood between 1954 and 1959, his "divine wallow": Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956), The Tarnished Angels (1958, William Faulkner considered it the best screen adaptation of one of his novels), Imitation of Life (1959) -- all considered for decades little more than a camp oddity. Now audiences are beginning to look deeper at the films of Douglas Sirk, at how, in megafan Todd Haynes' words, they are "almost spookily accurate about the emotional truths". Now, lucky Chicagoans can enjoy "Douglas Sirk at Universal", matinees at the Music Box. More inside.
posted by matteo on Apr 29, 2006 - 14 comments

Dangerous Men (embedded video, sound) A film started in the 70's/80's, finished in the 90's and unleased in 2005. Variety said, "Dangerous Men by John S. Rad will strike horror in the hearts of anyone." trailer (nsfw, mpeg)
posted by phirleh on Apr 24, 2006 - 32 comments

If they ever make a K-Tel Greatest Hits of found footage, Metallica Drummer [iFilm | YouTube] is bound to be the grand finale.

Meet the hesher behind the mirth, and catch a glimpse at Metallica Drummer: The Next Generation.
posted by keswick on Mar 31, 2006 - 11 comments

It might not be funny, but it's true. An educational episode of South Park, via Waxy.org.
posted by mokey on Mar 19, 2006 - 111 comments

"It is nothing less than a generation-defining event.... It is this era’s 2001: A Space Odyssey." Even as the second, shorter cut of Terrence Malick's Pocahontas epic is slinking out of theaters, The New World is dividing and confounding critics, audiences, and bloggers: "The New World is my new religion." - "The New World separates the wheat from chaff." - "The first necessary film of this young year." The Village Voice's J. Hoberman observes the growing cult, Dave Kehr of the New York Times weighs in and gets testy. Matt Zoller Seitz responds. In the meantime, Malick is reportedly preparing a third, longer cut for the DVD.
posted by muckster on Mar 14, 2006 - 55 comments

I first read "Ask the Dust" in 1971 when I was doing research for "Chinatown". I was concerned about the way people really sounded when they talked, and I was dissatisfied with everything else I had read that was written during the '30s. I wanted the real thing, as Henry James would say. When I picked up Fante's "Ask the Dust," I just knew that was the way those kids talked to each other—the rhythms, cadences, racism.
Robert Towne on adapting John Fante's novel for the big screen. More inside.
posted by matteo on Mar 4, 2006 - 17 comments

Remains of guru's disciple identified Shortly after the 1998 death of "A Separate Reality" guru Carlos Castaneda, whose peyote-fueled sorceric journeys into the Mexican desert captured the imagination of a generation in the 1970s, five of his closest disciples made out their wills, disconnected their telephones, and disappeared into thin air. via
posted by hortense on Feb 20, 2006 - 46 comments

The punkiest Monkey that ever popped from an egg on a mountain top, the one and only Monkey from cult Japanese TV series Monkey Magic, is finally coming back to our TV screens after a 30 year absence. Monkey will be played in the new series by Shingo Katori and even with blonde hair, in the role of Monkey he will no doubt tease the Gods and everyone and, presumably, have some fun while he's at it.
posted by Effigy2000 on Feb 18, 2006 - 28 comments