Ever since film was invented, the entertainment industry has thrived. When it comes to movies, there are more than a few that get overlooked and are underrated simply based on a few factors, and there are others that don’t even get released outside of their own country. But even the hard-to-find ones are out there. Here’s a list of movies you may or may not know exist.
1. Road Games (1981)
Shot entirely on location in Australia back in 1981, this film stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach. The film is about a truck driver (Keach) who picks up a hitchhiker (Curtis) as they go on the trail hunting down a murderer of women. Sounds heroic enough, right? Two humble Americans tracking down a serial killer in an attempt at saving the lives of women everywhere? Let’s go behind the scenes for this one.
With its tension toward Curtis and Keach, with them being, in Jamie’s words, “token Americans,” you can imagine the hostility between the two countries. So if you add the behind-the-scenes racism onto the screen with the intended plot, Americans hunting down an Australian killer; an Australian Dingo whose American name was changed to one that was anything but American; and finally the Aussie to American ratio, you end up with a pretty chilling cocktail.
2. The Stuff (1985)
What’s the first thing you do when you see something bubbling up from the ground? Eat it, right? The oh-so-sweet taste, all-natural ingredients, and not to mention the zero calories in every pint-sized container. Well, have a taste of something called ‘The Stuff.’
While a human’s first instinct with anything dangerous is to “burn it!”, it doesn’t work with everything, but in this case of a parasitic alien that seeps up through the earth in a form as viscous as shaving cream, fire DOES work. Armed with the famous tagline, “Are you eating it… or is it eating you?”, “The Stuff” delivers the horror, the nightmares, and the sheer stomach-churning regurgitation. But as they always say: Enough is never enough.
3. The Boy Who Cried Bitch (1991)
You may be looking at this title and wondering what’s up with it. You’ll find in the film that the title is literally what it sounds like.
Dan Love (Harley Cross) is a 13-year-old boy who suffers from a severe psychosis. His behavior was so disturbing to his mother (Candice Young) that she couldn’t take anymore of it, and he ended up being institutionalized. You may be thinking how horrible it must be for his mother to do that, but keep reading.
Dan can’t handle his own mental instability. He deals with it by drinking, partying, and all this other stuff. But he suffers so badly that he handles bad situations in a positive way. Kooky, right? From outsmarting a sexual predator to making sure his mother doesn’t go to jail for murder in the original ending of the movie, you will find the sheer horror of it all from Dan’s point of view. That’s enough to add this to your movie collection.
4. Mikey (1992)
Every child wants to be loved. Michael Holt is no different. When it comes right down to it, 9-year-old Mikey was taken from his birth parents because he was abused. The viewer doesn’t know to which extent, but that’s part of the horror. He was adopted by the Kelvin family and then the Trenton family. So Mikey Kelvin-Trenton was hoping this was it. Such a good boy, a smart boy… a killer boy.
In the end, only one thing is certain: For Mikey or Joshua, or no matter what his name is, psychopathy and the desire to kill doesn’t go away. It can’t be cured. There’s no pill for that.
5. Leprechaun (1993)
Next time you spot a rainbow and want that pot of gold at the end of it, remember this film. It may have spawned a franchise that turned from scary to interesting to a B-movie that ended up turning to a less than D-movie by the end, but the first film is what this is about.
Warwick Davis plays the lead role of an ancient leprechaun who’s forced to go along with this age-old bargain: If he gets caught, he gives up his gold. But this leprechaun won’t give it up without a fight to the death. And considering he’s kind of immortal… well, you know. When a new family, led by Jennifer Aniston in her acting debut, buys the O’Grady house where he’s locked up, blood is shed. Not just at home. With the biggest inside joke of the ‘90s, this movie is sure to earn the viewer’s appreciation.
The end of the film says it all: “F— you, Lucky Charms.”