TCM Underground

Starred review from December 2, 2022

De Chirico, chief programmer for TCM Underground, and film critic Murry have compiled a supremely knowledgeable, thoughtfully astute, and good-humored guide to 50 campy, bizarre and weird movies. Celebrating movies that critics have often dismissed as "bad," the authors cast a very wide net, from popular cult directors including John Waters (Polyester), William Castle (I Saw What You Did), David Cronenberg (The Brood), and Roger Corman (The Trip), to the more obscure auteurs like Andy Milligan (Fleshpot on 42nd Street), Lizzie Borden (Born in Flames), and Jamaa Fanaka (Emma Mae). Genres include Blaxploitation (Blacula), film noir (Shack Out on 101), dark comedies (Eating Raoul), teen sex comedies (Little Darlings), musicals (Xanadu), slasher films (Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker), foreign horror (Japan's Hausu; Italy's The House By the Cemetery), and documentaries (Penelope Spheeris's Decline of Western Civilization trilogy). These are films the authors are passionate about, and although they lampoon the camp aspects of some of the films (one of their best summations is "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is like an episode of The Monkees with boobs."), they are never dismissive. VERDICT Adventurous film buffs will enjoy the keen-eyed observations and backstories about these obscure, odd, and underappreciated films.--Kevin Howell

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2022
It is both a blessing and a curse that ever-more evolving video-streaming technology can bring an audience to lesser-known and irreverent works of cinematic art. TCM opened up a late-night slot to air such films. Now two TCM staffers in on that ingenious programming decision, De Chirico and Murry, have further delved into the cult-film archive to assemble this idiosyncratic list of pure cinematic astonishment. As a fan and proponent of cult films, comedian Patton Oswalt perfectly encapsulates the strange attraction of these offbeat titles in his enthusiastic foreword. The list of 50 films is lovingly categorized into their creative subjects, ""It's Crime Time,"" ""Domestic Disturbances,"" ""Fright Club,"" ""Rebellion & Youth Movement,"" and ""Visual Delights and Other Strange Mind Melters."" The usual suspects are included, with John Waters' Polyester given its due and detailed praise along with seminal cult favorites Eating Raoul and Xanadu. Surprising inclusions, such as Across 110th Street and Mac and Me ensure that this is a fresh look at the cult genre. Tangential asides abound and run the gamut from ""OMG Moments"" to ""Genre-ly Speaking,"" and readers will feel free to flip through the pages wantonly. This is a wonderful addition to any film enthusiasts' must-read list and is bound to create new cult-film fans.

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