There is no feature that I look forward to completing more than my annual list of cult discoveries, and we’re finally here! Over the entire course of 2024, I’ve been keeping track of particular flicks that really impressed me and honestly deserve your patronage. So if you’re looking for underrated gems, I’ve got 15 new suggestions to fill up your cult movie library.

Before we get to the countdown, how about a bonus list? Here are some honorable mentions that didn’t make the cut: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, The Return of Captain Invincible, Trojan War, Remote Control, It Takes Two, Lone Star, Overnight Delivery, Wolfcop, The Night Stalker, Parent Trap, Cyborg, Highway 61, The Fare, Brain Smasher… A Love Story, Haunted Mansion, and Mutilations.

Now without further ado… my absolute favorite movie discoveries from this past year’s reviewing!

All I Wanna Do (1998)

If we can lay yet another pile of blame at Harvey Weinstein’s feet, it’s that the movie mogul intentionally buried this pro-woman indie flick and prevented a wide release that might’ve put it on a lot of people’s radars. I was astonished how good, funny, and even touching this tale is of a group of women (including Kirsten Dunst and Rachael Leigh Cook) in the ’50s who fight back against an imminent invasion of boys into their all-girls school. It’s just the best, and if we can bring justice to this movie today, it’s to tell everyone about how great it is.

Big Man on Campus (1989)

This far into my movie reviewing career, I’m a little afraid that I’ve run out of good stuff from the ’80s and ’90s. That’s when I stumble over flicks like Big Man on Campus that remind me that, yes, there are still many great undiscovered stories out there. I had a blast with this goofy retelling of Hunchback of Notre Dame on a college campus with a pseudo-Neanderthal and immediately bought a copy for myself. It’s so wonderfully ’80s in its format and style, and I don’t think I laughed harder at a movie all year.

The Creator (2023)

The sole entry on this list not in the ’80s or ’90s, The Creator really impressed me with its bigger-than-its-budget design and worldbuilding. Sure, the story is a basic escort quest, but everything around it was a feast for the senses. A war with robots never seemed as terrifying as we got here.

Evolver (1995)

Ethan Embry battling a homicidally evolving robot which just so happens to be voiced by a sarcastic William H. Macy? Say no more, friend, for I am there! I called Evolver “cheap scifi schlock,” but I meant it in the best of ways. It’s entertaining cheap scifi schlock with some light slasher elements and the deadliest robot since the Terminator.

My Boyfriend’s Back (1993)

Easily the best zombie romance (zomrom) that I’ve ever seen, My Boyfriend’s Back captured the quirky, fantastical humor of Better Off Dead and channeled it into a story of a guy who comes back from the dead because he really, really wants to go to the prom with his crush. Comic book interstitials, zany characters, and rampant absurdity endeared this one to my rotting heart.

Alien Nation (1988)

I consider Alien Nation to be a sadly forgotten classic scifi franchise, even though it ended up spanning a TV show, several TV movies, and other media. But the original movie is where it all began, and I thoroughly enjoyed the imaginative worldbuilding (and thinly veiled commentary on immigration) of an alien culture trying to assimilate into America. It’s kind of a terrific flick.

Runaway Train (1985)

Love Speed? Then you got to see Runaway Train, no excuses. This neglected ’80s thriller is a powerhouse of tension, machine, and wounded humanity barreling nonstop down an Alaskan track during a winter storm. Everyone seems to have forgotten this came out, which is a true shame.

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

This HBO movie took a fresh-feeling premise — an alternate USA where magic and fantasy creatures are commonplace — and combined it with film noir and horror. Fred Ward crushes it as a dogged private eye who refuses to use magic himself but seems to know a lot more about this world than most. The sequel was “meh,” but I adored the first.

Down Periscope (1996)

The ’90s had so many fun comedies with silly premises, and having a slightly anarchistic Kelsey Grammer take charge of a submarine full of misfits during war exercises is right up there with the best. This simply hit the spot for a feel-good, laugh-a-minute, highly quotable outing.

Trial and Error (1997)

Trial and Error is the forgotten companion piece to My Cousin Vinny — made by the same director with a similar back country courthouse setting. The leads are fantastic, and there is plenty of fun to be had as Michael Richards pretends to be a lawyer and Jeff Daniels finds himself head-over-heels for Charlize Theron. I mean, wouldn’t you?

Alien Private Eye (1989)

You’re not going to get weirder or more ’80s than this romp featuring an alien detective with the worst fashion sense imaginable — and a laser arm canon. It’s flat-out ridiculous in a way that gives plenty of opportunities for a viewing party (or a lonely watcher) to endlessly mock its campy tone.

Love and Other Catastrophes (1996)

Mentally, I dub this as the Australian answer to Clerks or Empire Records. It’s a single-day story of a group of college friends trying to sort out various issues and challenges in their lives. It has a raw genuineness to it that can only be the product of a daring indie filmmaker with no pretentions.

There’s Nothing Out There (1991)

Years before Scream made the meta commentary on horror fashionable, There’s Nothing Out There was crushing it with razor-sharp observations about the tropes and traps of this genre. Plus, it has a giant frog-monster that’s thwarted with shaving cream.

Taxi (1998)

Ditch the terrible American remake and indulge in the Luc Besson original, I say. Taxi is a whole lot of goofy French humor layered on top of insane driving stunt sequences. This kicked off a five (!) movie series, all about a taxi driver with dreams of being something far greater.

The Night Flier (1997)

Who would’ve thought that one of Stephen King’s best adaptations would be some HBO flick that barely got a theater release? But once you see this, you’ll agree that there’s some excellent storytelling and genuine horror in a tale of a vampire with a small pilot license.

Special Mention: The last 1/3rd of Tales from the Third Dimension (1984)

I give you full permission to skip over the first two stories from this independent horror anthology and bask in the batpoop lunacy of its final installment. Trust me, you’ll never look at Christmas visits to relatives’ houses the same ever again!

That’s this year’s list! Catch up on my previous years’ cult discoveries from 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and then prepare for another amazing year of exploration and eurekas in 2025!