We've all been there, wandering the video store late at night, looking for a title that will jump out and say "watch me". Problem is, unless we're there with a specific agenda to pick up the latest new release, most of us walk through those doors unprepared for the struggle that is about to ensue. But what if you were armed with a little extra knowledge, something that helped you get over the hump and make an educated decision on a movie that may slipped through your viewing cracks. While not an all inclusive list of the great titles that fall under the mixed sub-culture of movies known as Cult Films, the following may mean the difference between a night with a great film or an empty handed return home.

A Clockwork Orange
Forget The Shining, A Clockwork Orange is Kubrick's crowning achievement. Set against the backdrop of a not so distant future, Kubrick's tale of violence, government control, and eventually retribution is a testament to just how good a filmmaker he really was. Unfortunately, this film was made about 20 before its time, with society still a little too buttoned up to really appreciate the subtleties of the topics approached and the craft that went into the making of the film.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Terry Gilliam (formerly of Monty Python) has always been thought of as a visionary film maker. With films like Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, and Time Bandits already under his belt, Gilliam decided to tackle Hunter S. Thompson's infamous true story of self discovery and drug abuse. An unbelievable cast that included Johnny Depp as the over the top main character and support him with an equally insane Benicio Del Toro, not to mention Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz, and others, pulled the viewer through a madhouse romp of drug sequences and overindulgence. If you are a Depp fan in any way, this is definitely worth a gander.

Clerks
The film that started it all for Writer/Director Kevin Smith. Pull yourself away from the fact that movie was filmed entirely in black and white, and that it cost less to make than you put out at the pump in a year, Clerks is the epitome of the momentum an Indie film can gain with positive word of mouth and rhetoric that easily makes the characters identifiable in the eyes of the viewers. Smith's heavy use of dialog and crude humor to give life to his characters and makes every viewer who ever worked in a convenience store, fast food restaurant, or any other menial job stand up and say "dude, I've so been there." Well, maybe not to the point where you've discussed cleaning the glass at the nudie booths, but you get the point. If you want to launch yourself into the ViewAskewniverse, this is definitely you're starting point.

Office Space
Speaking of films that put you in the shoes of the characters, Office Space, perhaps more so than Clerks, really sums up what it is to be a Cult Movie. Mike Judge's retrospective film on being a cubicle drone was panned when it hit theatres, mostly due to the fact that the studio tried to ride the coattails of Judge's success with Beavis and Butthead. Thanks to massive television exposure and video rentals, Office Space may have actually surpassed the dimwitted morons as Judge's greatest work. Forget about The Office, Dilbert, or any other comedic attempt at trying to poke fun at life chained to a desk, Office Space nailed the emotion and irrelevance of office life to a tee, with just the perfect amount of humor and quotable lines needed to make a movie memorable.

Napolean Dynamite
Now here is a curious title. I'll be honest, I watched it more for the hype around it than actual interest, and at first, I wasn't overly impressed. However, after viewing it numerous times after, just looking for what got people's attention, the film has grown on me. John Heder's performance as Napolean manages to latch onto the viewer's attention by showing just how irreverent and ignorant he truly is, but also displays the complexities an outsider has to deal with in the world of popularity and alienation. Take away the thought that this movie is tagged as a comedy and look at the cultural perspective it tried to portray and I'll guarantee it moves higher on your must watch list.

Dark City
Alright, enough of this comedy and drama crap, let's try a little bit of Sci Fi. Alex Proyas is most known for his work on The Crow and I, Robot, Proyas perhaps deserves his most acclaim for Dark City, a film about self discovery set in a future where humans are nothing more than guniea pigs in alien experiments. The plot line is so completely twisted that the viewer is never quite certain as to what is real and what isn't, leaving a lot to the interpretation and debate. Not a film of immense special effects, Proyas uses his expertise to instead develop his characters and mood, something that is often lost on many of today's current film makers.

Army Of Darkness
Many film experts will point to Sam Raimi's first installment in this series as the true ..err..gem, but for me, it was always Army Of Darkness. Filmed almost as a parody of the horror genre, Raimi mixes in just the right amount of absurdity, schlock, and sarcasm to totally move away from the path he started down with the original Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell's continued performance as Ash has made him a cult icon in his own right, not to mention helped him to secure bit parts in almost every other Raimi film ever made. Want to add a bit of fun to the film, make it a drinking game. Every time Ash has to fire off a round with his shotgun, take a shot. His ammunition may last forever, but eventually your tolerance for alcohol will run out. Easily one of those films that can be filed under the "so bad, its good" label.

Have a few more titles you think are worth viewing that may have been passed on before? Feel free to comment with any of your own picks. Above all else though, enjoy the movies.