Part of the attraction with films designated with cult status is that they are decidedly different and much more provocative than mainstream populist fare.

The cult film experience differs from conventional cinema by appealing to unique sensibilities, be it the counterculture, genre films, or niche audiences that joyfully zero in on taboo content and proscribed subject matter that deliriously upends convention while offering added zip via razor-sharp satire, exploitation, and/or legitimate ideological dangers or controversial content.

The following list looks at films from the 1970s, an outstanding decade for film all around, that foster unhealthy obsession, stylish strangeness, and offer feelings of connection for the bravest or most eccentric viewers amongst us. If you’ve ever just clicked with a crazy movie or seen something so weird and so wonderful that it seemed somehow tailor made just for you and you alone, then you may well want to join a cult or at the very least get familiar with the odd-lot novelty that’s catalogued here.