This month’s roundtable question is, “If you had a friend who normally watched mainstream flicks but was interested in getting into cult, what cult films would you suggest as a ‘starter pack’ that wouldn’t scare them off?”

Justin: I think the two operative words here are “fun” and “creative.” A good cult film gives you this great buzz afterward and makes you want to share them with others. So while hewing to those guidelines and not trying to scare anyone away too fast, here is a pretty solid six-pack of starter flicks:

• Miami Connection: All-around goofiness, quotes, ninja fights, ’80s music, and more!
• Empire Records: Loads of memorable characters and witty dialogue featuring a day in the life of the coolest record store ever.
• Hudson Hawk: A cult classic for general insanity, slapstick, and non sequiturs.
• Grosse Point Blank: Assassins, comedy, high school reunion, and a romance — with a dose of ’80s nostalgia.
• The Cabin in the Woods: If you only have to see one horror movie that encapsulates all of the others, this is it.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 the Movie: A decent sample platter of MST3K’s style with riffs on top of a classic scifi B-movie.

Sitting Duck: There are two components in addressing this challenge. First, we need a mainstream hook to draw our cult initiate into the madness. Then we add a cult director/writer/producer to the mix. A decent choice for a hook would be Edgar Allan Poe. He’s got some mainstream cred from being taught in high school English classes (unless you have the sort of teacher who would assign James Joyce to build character in students). Meanwhile, his association with Gothic horror makes his writings well suited for the schlock treatment. And I can easily direct you to the ideal Poe film to watch.

No, not the Stuart Gordon adaptation of The Pit and the Pendulum. Dear Gawd! We want to attract new cult film fans, not scare them off while possibly getting yourself put on some government watchlist.

For a proper culty Poe-based film, you should first consult the Schlock Emperor himself, Roger Corman. His Poe films are among the strongest in his repertoire, and a significant factor in this is the presence of Vincent Price (except in The Premature Burial, which starred Ray Milland instead), who is good in anything. He was even good in Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, a significant miracle in its own right. As for which one to start with, I would go with Fall of the House of Usher, as it was my first Corman film of any sort. Or you could try The Masque of the Red Death, which is the best-looking of the lot. You should probably hold off on The Raven though, as it is perhaps a bit too goofy for its own good and thus an iffy selection for first timers.

Drake: Finding a set of cult movies is the easy part. Not scaring your friend off with your initial picks is just a wee bit harder. I mean, way to limit my choices here! We probably want to steer clear of the Italian giallo films then, as well as the related poliziotteschi crime dramas from the ‘60s and ‘70s. No Jess Franco, obviously, and we’ll want to avoid Paul Walker as well. Their films are not entry-level viewing. A Hammer film might be a possibility, but then again they can look dated at times, and not everyone enjoys Gothic horror.

So where does that leave us? Well, how about starting off with a simple comedy? Or at least something that looks like your standard comedy from the outside, starring a large cast of familiar faces? And if we want to go that route, then the best place to begin is Wet Hot American Summer. Just tell your friend that it’s a summer camp comedy with Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, and they’ll no doubt nod happily and watch along, and slowly be drawn into the antics of Gene and his can of vegetables, Gail’s wildly inappropriate use of her arts & crafts class as a therapy session, and Coop’s seemingly futile pursuit of Katie. And of course there’s the counselors’ drug-fueled rampage through town and the little matter of Skylab crashing down from space towards the camp.

And here we’ll going to switch it up and go the action route, with Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic The Warriors. Gaudy, violent and endlessly quotable, The Warriors is a simple tale that surrounds itself with outlandish characters. Whether it’s the pathetic Orphans, who scatter at the first sign of trouble, or the Baseball Furies, who combine their love of baseball and KISS into the most memorable street gang in cinematic history, the Warriors have to overcome some long odds to escape the city and make it back home to Coney Island. It’s a very comic booky flick, but also very approachable as an action film. You’ll just have to live with your friend discovering and using the phrase, “Can you dig it?” for the next six months or so.

So we’ve done comedy, we’ve done action, and now it’s time for some good old-fashioned horror. And when it comes to horror, it doesn’t get any better than John Carpenter’s The Thing. A remote and unpleasant location combined with a monster that could literally be anyone makes for a creepy good time. Carpenter made a perfect flick here, combining desperation, paranoia and an impressive amount of gore (courtesy of FX guru Rob Bottin) to keep audiences alternating between holding their collective breath and jumping out of their seats. This is going to be the toughest of the three films to get through, but it’s also a cult masterpiece that should seal your friendship forever.

Or, if you prefer, you could throw them in the deep end and show them Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls. Then accept that your friendship is over, and don’t be surprised if you’re hit with a restraining order the next day.

ZombieDog: If you come to that point in your life when you decide that maybe you want to start taking some chances movie wise to explore some subculture or B-movie films, then the only thing I would suggest is to prepare yourself mentally for intentional suspension of disbelief. In short, sit back, relax and just have fun with the film.

The very first movie that I would recommend is 1994’s biopic Ed Wood. This movie kills three birds with one stone. First, it’s a movie about a historic B-movie, perhaps the first B-movie ever. Second, the movie shows the passion around the creation of these B movies. Yes, they’re not high and cinema but that doesn’t mean the people creating them are no less artistic or motivated in their right. Finally, a fair chunk of the films cast appear in multiple B movies. You get a true sense of what it’s like to watch these actors on screen and take pleasure in their efforts.

The second movie I would suggest is the sci-fi B-movie gem 1992’s Nemesis. Nemesis was directed by the late great Albert Pyun. Truly a B-movie legend. Nemesis is a kind of Terminator rip-off, but not really. Pyun is one of those directors that has no problem recycling even his own ideas. With Nemesis though we get pulled into this vicious post-apocalyptic, steam punk, cyberpunk, insert futuristic concept here movie, while all at the same time being amazingly entertaining and captivating.

Pyun knew how to stretch a dollar and didn’t care if the special effects looked cheesy. In fact, they only serve to make the movie better. Nemesis is the kind of B-movie that shows you what the genres about. If you can make it past the cheap special effects and allow yourself just to go along for the ride, then there is no doubt in my mind you will see why we’ve dedicated an entire website to the enjoyment of these kinds of films.

Without a doubt I saved the best for last. Return of the Living Dead is the next in the sequence of a classical B-movie itself and unapologetic raw filmmaking. It is the classic zombies rise from the grave but was the first movie to give us the running or quick moving zombies. The movie has so much more than that though. This is one of the few movies where I think the less you know the better. You already know it’s a zombie movie and that’s enough. Not only is this movie pure ’80s goodness, but it still holds up even to this day. If you made it this far down the list of starter B-movies, then you are truly in for a treat with this film.

Anthony: Surprisingly hard question to answer. A good friend of mine tried, way back when, to get me into horror cult by making me watch Peter Jackson’s Braindead, which I thought was hilarious but much, much too gross for my sensitive stomach. Much. Much much.

But it DID intrigue me about horror-comedy cult enough to eventually give me a lifelong man crush on Bruce Campbell. So MY go-to when this hypothetical, quasi mystical thing called a “friend” asks me for advice on how to get into cult, is Don Coscarelli’s no-budget wonder Bubba Ho-Tep.

It’s not gory at all and the scares are more like chuckles, the very practical effects are so simple even Homer Simpson could have pulled them off, yet you have two amazing actors biting into the most ludicrous of roles so wholeheartedly you can’t help wilfully chucking your own disbelief right out the window. I actually DID watch it with a friend to introduce her to it, and she fell asleep after telling me repeatedly how weird that movie is. If your friend can’t get into THAT one like mine did, then there’s no point for them even considering Braindead’s level of cult-moviedom.