TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema

by Millie De Chirico, Quatoyiah Murry, Patton Oswalt (Foreword by)

Overview

Based on the Turner Classic Movies series, TCM Underground is the movie-lover's guide to 50 of the most campy, kitschy, shocking, and weirdly wonderful cult films you need to see.

In the pages of this book, you'll explore this unique order of films—primarily from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s—with insightful reviews, behind-the-scenes stories, subgenre sidebars, and full-color and black-and-white photography throughout. Go along for the ride with new takes on crime films, including The Honeymoon Killers and The Harder They Come. Witness one-of-a-kind horror in Bill Gunn's landmark vampire film Ganja and Hess and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s infamous and indescribable Hausu. Absorb the boundary-pushing documentary-style trilogy The Decline of Western Civilization, which throws you into indelible moments in the punk and metal music scenes. And marvel at pure '80s oddities like Mac and Me and The Garbage Pail Kids.

From Possession to Polyester and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls to Xanadu, no two films are alike in this compendium. Just sit back and prepare to be surprised, amused, and entertained by this celebration of the stars, filmmakers, and stories behind fifty of the most beguiling and unforgettable movies ever to hit the screen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762480005
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Series:	Turner Classic Movies
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	176,430
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Millie De Chirico is the chief programmer for TCM Underground, and hosts its companion YouTube series, TCM Slumberground. She is also one-half of the film podcast I Saw What You Did which spotlights unexpected, thematic double features. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Quatoyiah Murry is a film critic and writer who has worked with TCM and FilmStruck, as well as written under the moniker The Cinephiliac, with contributions to Time, Pretty Clever Films, and Movie Boozer. Her work often focuses on diversity, representation, and historical context in film. Born and raised in Georgia, she now resides in Paris, France.

Table of Contents

Foreword viii

Introduction 1

It's Crime Time 5

Across 110th Street 6

Friday Foster 12

I Saw What You Did 16

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka 20

The Harder they Come 26

The Honeymoon Killers 30

The Silent Partner 34

Shack Out on 101 38

Domestic Disturbances 43

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker 44

Eating Raoul 48

Polyester 52

Possession 58

Remember My Name 62

Secret Ceremony 66

Sometimes Aunt Martha does Dreadful Things 72

The Baby 78

Fleshpot on 42nd Street 82

Fright Club 87

Blacula 88

Ganja & Hess 92

Häxan 96

Jigoku 100

Let's Scare Jessica to Death 104

The Brood 108

The House by the Cemetery 112

Rebellion & Youth Movements 117

Five on the Black Hand Side 118

Born in Flames 122

Two-Lane Blacktop 126

Emma Mae (A.K.A. Black Sister's Revenge) 130

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains 134

Little Darlings 138

Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore 142

Roller Boogie 146

The Decline of Western Civilization 150

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years 154

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III 156

Wild Seed 158

Visual Delights and other Strange Mind Melters 163

Belladonna of Sadness 164

House (A.K.A. Hausu) 168

Mac and Me 172

Satanis: The Devil's Mass 176

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie 180

The World's Greatest Sinner 184

The Wormwood Star 188

Xanadu 192

The Pyramid 198

Thank God It's Friday 202

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 206

Head 210

The Trip 214

Funeral Parade of Roses 218

Index 223

Acknowledgments 229

Editorial Reviews

With knowledge, humor and an appropriately twisted perspective, [the authors] give readers a fuller realization of what late-night cinema offers. With a foreword by Patton Oswalt, this celebration of strangeness is well worth exploring.—PopCultureClassics

From the Publisher

★ 12/02/2022

De Chirico, chief programmer for TCM Underground, and film critic Murry have compiled a supremely knowledgeable, thoughtfully astute, and good-humored guide to 50 campy, bizarre and weird movies. Celebrating movies that critics have often dismissed as "bad," the authors cast a very wide net, from popular cult directors including John Waters (Polyester), William Castle (I Saw What You Did), David Cronenberg (The Brood), and Roger Corman (The Trip), to the more obscure auteurs like Andy Milligan (Fleshpot on 42nd Street), Lizzie Borden (Born in Flames), and Jamaa Fanaka (Emma Mae). Genres include Blaxploitation (Blacula), film noir (Shack Out on 101), dark comedies (Eating Raoul), teen sex comedies (Little Darlings), musicals (Xanadu), slasher films (Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker), foreign horror (Japan's Hausu; Italy's The House By the Cemetery), and documentaries (Penelope Spheeris's Decline of Western Civilization trilogy). These are films the authors are passionate about, and although they lampoon the camp aspects of some of the films (one of their best summations is "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is like an episode of The Monkees with boobs."), they are never dismissive. VERDICT Adventurous film buffs will enjoy the keen-eyed observations and backstories about these obscure, odd, and underappreciated films.—Kevin Howell

Library Journal