Back in the late eighties here in Britain we only had four TV channels & if you didn't own a VCR, like the majority of my village, this meant movie consumption was limited & mainstream. We'd get the odd late night Universal or Hammer flick, and if you could get watchable reception for the new 'edgy' Channel 4 there was some action or comedy films on every now n then, but basically anything genre or cult was rare.
One of my mate's family had a video player, i remember very well a gang of us gathering to watch ANOES 3 Dream Warriors which one of the boys had procured from underneath his older brother's bed. The nurse scene was great, but the Jennifer Rubin gaping hole arms is the image i always recall first.
Anyway, all this changed in 1988 when BBC2 showed a series called Moviedrome, where a cult (what is cult?) movie would be introduced before being shown. Alex Cox (Repo Man 1984) was the original host up until 1994. The show returned for a couple of seasons in the late 90s when it was hosted by Mark Cousins.
Below is a list of all the films shown on Moviedrome - how many have you seen? which is your fave? why bother?
The brackets will explain the reason those movies were presented as a double bill. If there are no brackets explaining the double bill that means the BBC just showed them one after the other (or the person who's site i lifted this list from didn't figure out the link & i can't be bothered trying).
1988
The Wicker Man
Electra Glide in Blue
Diva
Razorback
Big Wednesday
Fat City
The Last Picture Show
Barbarella
The Hired Hand
Johnny Guitar
The Parallax View
The Long Hair of Death
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Fly (1958)
One From The Heart
The Man Who Fell To Earth
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
One-Eyed Jacks
1989
The Man With The X-Ray Eyes
Jabberwocky
D.O.A.
The Thing From Another World
The Incredible Shrinking Man
California Dolls
THX 1138
Stardust Memories
Night of the Comet
The Grissom Gang
The Big Carnival (Ace in the Hole)
Alphaville
Two-Lane Blacktop
Trancers
The Buddy Holly Story
Five Easy Pieces
Sweet Smell of Success
Sunset Boulevard
1990
Assault on Precinct 13
Brazil
Get Carter
Goin' South
Dead of Night
The Terminator
The Honeymoon Killers
Ulzana's Raid
The Loved One
An American Werewolf in London
Yojimbo
A Wedding
The Phenix City Story
Walk on the Wild Side
Il Grande Silenzio
Quien sabe?
1991
The Beguiled
Vamp
Knightriders
Something Wild
Carnival of Souls
Badlands / The Prowler
Performance
At Close Range
The Duellists / Cape Fear (duels)
The Music Lovers
Manhunter
Hells Angels on Wheels / Rumble Fish (gangs)
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
Solaris
Mishima
1992
Mad Max II / F for Fake
Dead Ringers / Rabid (Cronenberg)
Inserts
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Les Diaboliques
La Strategia del Ragno
Escape from New York
Alligator / Q - The Winged Serpent
Wise Blood / The Witchfinder General
Lolita
Play Misty For Me
Walker
Tracks
The Day of the Locust / The Big Knife (Hollywood satires)
1993
Darkman
House of Games
Escape from Alcatraz / Un condamné à mort s'est échappé (prison)
The Hill
Cry-Baby / Lenny
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) / Romance of a Horsethief
Gothic/ The Navigator
The Terminator
Get Carter / Week-end
Rebel Without A Cause / 200 Motels
Django / Grim Prairie Tales
Run of the Arrow / Verboten! (Fuller)
The Long Riders
The Big Combo
Face to Face
Requiescant
Qué he heche yo para merecer esto?
Carrie
1994
The Andromeda Strain / Fiend Without A Face
Talk Radio
Carnal Knowledge
Coogan's Bluff / The Narrow Margin
The Harder They Come
Salvador
The People Under the Stairs
Halloween / The Baby
Carny
Girl on a Motorcycle / Psychomania (motorcycles)
Race with the Devil / Detour (keep death on the road)
Rope / 84 Charlie Mopic (experimental filming)
To Sleep with Anger / Le Mépris
Excalibur / Nothing Lasts Forever
Naked Tango / Apartment Zero (Buenos Aires)
Major Dundee / Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah)
Kiss Me Deadly
1997-1998
Scarface
Westworld / Demon Seed (futuristic)
The Fly / Society
Exotica
Blue Collar / American Gigolo (Paul Schrader)
Dazed and Confused / La Vie Sexuelle des Belges (growing up)
The Girl Can't Help it / Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (music)
The Warriors / La Haine (gangs)
Spanking the Monkey
Logan's Run / Fahrenheit 451 (future)
The Fog / Darkness in Tallinn
Storyville / Ruthless
Vanishing Point / The Devil Thumbs a Ride (road movies)
Targets
Liebestraum
Bad Timing
The Conversation
All That Heaven Allows / The Reckless Moment
1998
Trespass
Shaft / Force of Evil
Funny Bones
Cat People
The Killers (1946)
Caged Heat
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Carrie
Léon / Le Samourai
El Patrullero
1999
Clockers
Ed Wood / The Body Snatcher (B-film)
Prêt-Ã -porter
Videodrome / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Carlito's Way
The Osterman Weekend
Mommie Dearest
Johnny Guitar
Branded to Kill
The List of Adrian Messenger
One-Eyed Jacks
2000
Blood and Wine / Plein Soleil (nouvelle vague directors)
Rumble in the Bronx / Clubbed to Death ("guilty pleasures")
The Killers (1964) / On Dangerous Ground
The Underneath / The Hitch-Hiker (film noir)
Walkabout / Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg)
White of the Eye
The Last American Hero