6. Near Dark (1987)
Kathryn Bigelow’s creative mojo has dried up rather noticeably ever since she decided to take the leap to the realm of prestige filmmaking to make capital S-Serious cinema and state-sanctioned agitprop. But the two-time Oscar winner was definitely cooking with gas circa 1987 when she won horror diehards over by swirling around genre conventions to put her personal stamp on the vampire movie canon with this cool slice of 1980s Americana.
It’s an impromptu “Aliens” reunion with James Cameron alumni Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, and Bill Paxson each bringing a degree of live-wire intensity to the proceedings as the sharp-tongued members of a ruthless gang of blood-sucking vampires who raise hell in their path of carnage through the American Southwest. Enter impressionable twenty-something cowboy Caleb Colton, who gets more than he bargained for after picking up a pretty gal at the local night bar.
Revolting, gruesome, stylish, and boasting off-the-charts sex appeal, something’s wrong with you if you don’t come out of this movie wanting to sport a black leather jacket 24/7. And while we’re at it, yes, Severin can get it any day of the week.
7. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
What if you put ’90s hip-hop, classic Samurai movies, ’70s Blaxploitation cinema, American gangster flicks, and Shaw Brothers martial arts bonanzas all into a wild cinematic blender, and then ran them through indie director Jim Jarmusch’ idiosyncratic gaze?
That’s the brilliant conceit at the core of “Ghost Dog” — an irresistible filmic alchemy led by the always-reliable Forest Whitaker as a modern-day samurai plying his trade as a hitman for New York City’s Italian mafia. In his downtime, he also likes to hone his katana-wielding skills, recite passages from the book of Hagakure, and get in touch with his employers via carrier pigeons. Talk about a cool guy, am I right?
In the off-chance the above plot synopsis somehow doesn’t make you drop everything and reach for the remote on the dot, it might help to know that the film was shot by legendary “Paris Texas” cinematographer Robby Müller and features an absolute fire playlist of hip-hop samples courtesy of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. And if you’re down for another gloriously offbeat Jarmusch session, try “Down by Law” or “Stranger than Paradise” next.
8. The Mission (1999)
Although he put himself on the map at the turn of the century with sleek snapshots of the codes of honor and long-standing rituals of Hong Kong’s criminal underworld, Western audiences are only now beginning to catch up to the intoxicating work of industry-wide trendsetter Johnnie To. In a just world, though, “The Mission” would rank alongside feted gung-ho classics in the vein of “Hard Boiled” and “Infernal Affairs” as a crossover hit from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema we revisit time and again.
Heroic bloodshed aficionados who already worship at the altar of John Woo are in for a treat with this irresistibly stylish and unexpectedly laid-back portrayal of masculinity, camaraderie, and conflicted loyalties, which focuses on five unshakably cool bodyguards hired to protect a triad kingpin with a target on his back.
Best described as a breezy hangout nothing-happens movie disguised as a hard-boiled shoot-’em-up, To’s off-kilter masterpiece paces itself leisurely being all the cooler for it, opting to linger on the unspoken bond of understanding between these suave triad henchmen rather than rushing from plot point to plot point. By the time the credits roll, don’t be surprised if you find yourself wishing you could spend just a little more time watching them kick back and idle the hours away together.
9. Repo Man (1984)
The antithesis to the sort of kid-friendly, feel-goodery sci-fi programming (“E.T.”, “Back to the Future”, et al.) that played like gangbusters and became hard currency throughout the Eighties, indie director Alex Cox’s $1.5 million debut earned a cult following and took a life of its own by dropping viewers right smack in the middle of the L.A. hardcore punk scene and into the shoes of disaffected young layabout Otto Maddox (Emilio Estévez), who takes up a gig riding shotgun and repossessing vehicles with Harry Dean Stanton while on the lookout for a mysterious 1964 Chevy Malibu.
Wall-to-wall punk needle drops by Iggy Pop, Black Flag, and the Plugz? Check. Reagan-era anti-authoritarian satire? You bet. Alien-slash-government cover-up conspiracies? That’s right. Pulse-pounding car chase sequences? Yup. Various cops getting gruesomely vaporized to ashes? Of course! Practically everything that made 1980s science fiction cool and uniquely gonzo is cranked up to eleven in “Repo Man”, the rare case of movie high both in style and substance. It may have been too hip and weird for mainstream audiences at the time, but this word-of-mouth hit continues to inspire deep obsession today as a perennial fixture in midnight screenings.
Now grab a beer, put your seatbelt on, and keep in mind: the life of a repo man is always intense.
10. True Romance (1993)
Before you fetch your pitchfork and join the angry mob, bear with me for a minute: You could make a strong case that all nine of Quentin Tarantino’s directing features to date could fit somewhere in here. But since we needed to make room for everybody else and couldn’t fit his entire catalog onto this list, impossible choices had to be made.
There’s simply no denying Pulp Fiction’s cultural footprint and stranglehold on dorm-room culture around the globe, but we’re partial to this considerably less ubiquitous ’90s staple that may not bear Tarantino’s directing credits but undoubtedly carries his unmistakable flair and swagger.
Proudly irreverent, fashionable, and devilishly fun, Tony Scott’s tongue-in-cheek riff on Bonnie & Clyde gifted Gen-X with a new pair of doomed lovers-on-the lam to obsess over in Christian Slater’s Elvis aficionado and Patricia Arquette’s rowdy call girl. The couple keep the pedal to the metal on their purple 1974 Cadillac Eldorado as they speed toward L.A. with a suitcase containing half a million dollars’ worth of stolen cocaine in the trunk. To top it all off, every supporting character — from Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, and Gary Oldman to James Gandolfini and Brad Pitt — amps up their performances to 11, making the most of their limited screen time.
Just sayin’, at one point Clarence and Alabama cuddle up together on their sofa to watch John Woo’s 1987 “A Better Tomorrow” after a hard day’s work, and that’s gotta count for something.