The 1990s spawned some of the greatest movies in pop culture history. But while many were instant classics, some were always a bit under the radar.
At the time, the booming business of VHS as a format popularized not only renting movies as a weekend ritual, but an interest in indie and foreign language features as well. All of these factors and more spawned one of the greatest decades in the history of movies, with hits like Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Pretty Woman, Fight Club, Seven, and more.
But what about ‘90s movies with a more underground following? Below we list 32 cult classics from the 1990s you might have forgotten about.
32. Flirting With Disaster (1996)
In his sophomore feature as a director, David O. Russell demonstrates early promise of what would eventually be his signature hallmarks: Neurotic characters expressing anxieties through whip-smart dialogue and plots involving awful (and sometimes hilarious) mishaps. In Flirting With Disaster, a married man named Mel (Ben Stiller) embarks on a journey to finally meet his biological parents, with the help of a hot but incompetent adoption agent Tina (Téa Leoni). Not only do Mel and Tina begin to develop feelings for one another, but so does Mel’s wife Nancy (Patricia Arquette) with other men. Flirting With Disaster is a road trip comedy unlike any other, one that posits that the roads not taken are just as hilarious as the ones you’re on.
31. Varsity Blues (1999)
At the height of his Dawson’s Creek powers, James Van Der Beek goes long in the coming-of-age teen comedy Varsity Blues. Tonally between the hard-hitting Friday Night Lights and the raunchy American Pie, Van Der Beek plays a backup quarterback of a small-town Texas high school football team who is thrust into the spotlight after their star player (Paul Walker) is badly injured. While Varsity Blues is unavoidably a raunchy teen comedy from the 1990s - evidenced by its overstuffed soundtrack of alt-rock hits, due to the movie’s producer being MTV - it is surprisingly dramatic and heartfelt, with everyone’s tough exteriors masking pain beneath their sweat-stained jerseys.
30. Empire Records (1995)
Happy Rex Manning Day. In this 1995 young adult classic, an eccentric group of record store employees endure one particularly harsh day as their personal lives collide with the looming possibility of being swallowed up by a bigger chain. It doesn’t help that a has-been 1980s pop star, Rex Manning (played by Maxwell Caufield), who appears for his new album signing, is a total blowhard. While the movie was critically panned upon release, its preoccupation around music, not to mention launching the careers of actors like Liv Tyler and Renee Zellwegger, has enabled it to attract a legion of dedicated die-hards who still celebrate “Rex Manning Day” every April 8.
29. The Hard Way (1991)
Fresh from the Back to the Future trilogy, Michael J. Fox underwent some hilarious self-reflection in almost meta fashion with John Badham’s 1991 comedy The Hard Way. Michael J. Fox plays a young, spoiled Hollywood actor who seeks real credibility. In his mission to get the lead role of a hard boiled cop drama, he forcibly makes himself a partner to a fiery NYPD lieutenant (James Woods), who is in the midst of tracking down an elusive serial killer. Sandwiched between Fox’s blockbuster sci-fi trilogy and his later stardom as a sitcom lead, The Hard Way is virtually forgotten. But The Hard Way is surprisingly easy to vibe with.
28. Higher Learning (1995)
While its messaging may come off awkwardly to modern eyes, Higher Learning still has something to teach. From the late director John Singleton, Higher Learning is a contemporary exploration of the uncomfortable co-existence between the white and Black American experiences, all of it contained in the pressure cooker environment of academia. The movie follows three incoming freshmen - friendly but naive white girl Kristen (Kristy Swanson), Black athlete Malik (Omar Epps), and alienated small town white male Remy (Michael Rapapor) - as they navigate their first year at fictional Columbus University. While all of Higher Learning is instructive, one of its most powerful story arcs belongs to Remy, whose (spoilers!) radicalization into white supremacy is chilling as it is prescient.
27. Mystery Men (1999)
Before The Avengers, there were… well, these guys. Before superhero movies really evolved (at least for characters who weren’t Batman and Superman), there were a slew of offbeat superhero films that arose in the 1990s. Strangest of them all was Mystery Men, from commercial director Kinka Usher in his one and only film project. Loosely based on Bob Burden’s satirical Flaming Carrot Comics, Mystery Men tells of superhero rejects who must save Champion City when the heroic Captain Amazing is captured. Despite its large ensemble including Ben Stiller (who nearly directed the movie), Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Paul Reubens, Kel Mitchell, Eddize Izzard, and more, Mystery Men was kryptonite to critics and bombed at the box office. But its true legacy lies in its soundtrack, which introduced none other than Smash Mouth’s “All Star” to the world. It really is true that not all heroes wear capes.
26. 3 Ninjas (1992)
For ‘90s kids who grew up a little too late for The Karate Kid, they had 3 Ninjas to kick back with. From director Jon Turtletaub, 3 Ninjas tells of three brothers who spend every summer studying martial arts under the tutelage of their Japanese grandfather (Victor Wong). But right as they begin middle school, they are kidnapped by a black market arms dealer who wants to punish their father, an FBI agent seeking to apprehend him. Good thing the kids know how to knuckle up. While 3 Ninjas is a lesser film than The Karate Kid series, let alone anything Jackie Chan made during this time, it’s still a snapshot of early ‘90s youths and the chokehold that karate had over suburban America.
25. The Net (1995)
If You’ve Got Mail makes dial-up era internet a wholesome place to find love, The Net makes it out to be a scary underworld where you lose your identity. Sandra Bullock stars in this mid-90s techno-thriller as a systems analyst who finds her entire personal record wiped completely. These days we willingly put too much about ourselves online, but in these primitive days of the world wide web, movies like The Net warned us about hinging our entire existence in binary code. If nothing else, The Net is a great movie that shows Sandra Bullock at her best when she’s not driving runaway buses.
24. Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion (1997)
At the height of her fame on Friends, Lisa Kudrow co-starred in this delightful comedy about trying to maintain status even when everyone else has stopped trying. In Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, best friends Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michelle (Kudrow) hatch a scheme to appear more successful than they actually are at their tenth high school reunion. While social media has made people’s curiosity around people’s lives after high school a bit obsolete, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion maintains a cult fandom after its endless replays on cable television throughout the 2000s.
23. Twilight (1998)
Long before the word “twilight” became synonymous with teenage vampires, there was Robert Benton’s Twilight, a 1998 neo-noir crime drama set in modern Los Angeles. The movie tells of two aging movie stars, played by Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman, in the “twilight” of their careers, who invite a private detective, Harry (Paul Newman) to stay in their lavish L.A. home after he returns home their daughter (Reese Witherspoon in a minor role). Soon, Harry is dragged into solving a two decade old mystery involving Sarandon’s character Catherine and her ex-husband. Arriving at the very end of Newman’s career, Twilight is eclipsed by the incredible works of all of its major stars, but the movie still glows with intrigue and suspense.
22. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
The third film from brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, Miller’s Crossing is widely regarded as a fine film, ranked as such by outlets like Time, Total Film, and The Guardian. Critic David Thomson described it as “a superb, languid fantasia” that “repays endless viewing” in his review. However, Miller’s Crossing is still buried by the towering neo-classics the Coens would follow it up with, like Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, and Inside Llewyn Davis, to name just a few. But Miller’s Crossing deserves a place in the canon of gangster films, in its story about two rival factions in the Prohibition era and a single man, played by Gabriel Byrne, playing both sides. Miller’s Crossing is also renowned for featuring the finest work ever by actor John Turturro, who stars in the movie as a bookie who is skimming some fixed winnings.
21. The Joy Luck Club (1993)
It is technically impossible to forget The Joy Luck Club. In 2020, the film was chosen by the United States National Film Registry for preservation, on the basis of it being deemed culturally significant. Still, The Joy Luck Club from Wayne Wang is often overlooked by mainstream eyes. While it focuses on two generations of Chinese Americans - between four Chinese immigrants in San Francisco and their adult daughters whom they raised in the states - its story about culture, generational, and value clashing is resonant to all whose stories trace back to another place. When Crazy Rich Asians was making history at the box office in 2018, critics and audiences encouraged all who would listen to seek out The Joy Luck Club for paving the way.
20. The Craft (1996)
If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that teenagers love spooky stuff. In 1996, Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True teamed up for The Craft, about four outcasts at a religious high school who practice witchcraft only to suffer dire consequences. While critics weren’t too fond of The Craft, the movie quickly found a loyal audience of youths who vibed to its moody art direction and feminist messaging. The Craft is a huge part of the ‘90s teen movie canon, but it stands apart with its story of friendship that woefully falls apart.
19. Strange Days (1995)
Inspired by several high-profile cases of civil unrest in the 1990s, from Lorena Bobbit to Rodney King, screenwriters James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Jay Cocks cooked up a speculative sci-fi that feels all too real. Set in the then-future year of 1999, Strange Days, directed by eventual Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, takes place in near-apocalyptic Los Angeles. A black market device allows the user to experience memories and even physical sensations recorded by other people. A marketeer for the device, played by Ralph Fiennes, teams up with a bodyguard and driver (Angela Bassett) who are drawn to a conspiracy involving the seller’s ex-girlfriend (Juliette Lewis). Polarizing with critics, Strange Days bombed hard at the box office, though it has subsequently earned favorable reappraisal for its prescient storytelling and still-relevant themes.
18. The Ref (1994)
Around Christmas time, virtually everyone gets talking about the same old movies, like Die Hard. But no one ever seems to remember The Ref. Directed by Ted Demme, The Ref stars Denis Leary as a burglar who winds up holding a bickering married couple (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis) hostage. Before long, it’s Leary’s burglar who feels tortured, and reluctantly becomes their “counselor” as all their lives unravel. Darkly funny with an incendiary Leary at the center of this Christmas comedy, The Ref proves the holidays aren’t always merry and bright.
17. The Game (1997)
In between shocking audiences with his dark psychological detective thriller Se7en and demonstrating an erudite grasp on late 20th century male malaise with Fight Club, director David Fincher invited moviegoers to play The Game. Starring Michael Douglas, the picture follows a wealthy banker (Douglas) who is challenged by his brother on his birthday by participating in a strange and immersive “game” that leads him puzzling over his everyday life. Coming across like a chess match between its director and his audience, The Game has Fincher at his most clever. It may be overshadowed by Fincher’s later movies, like Zodiac, The Social Network, and Gone Girl, but The Game still knows how to toy with viewers over what’s real and what’s fun.
16. Porco Rosso (1992)
Hayao Miyazaki is an auteur brimming with imagination, with films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle helping popularize anime as an artform of prestige. But of all his movies, Proco Rosso is one of his most overlooked. Released in 1992, the movie follows a World War I ace turned freelance bounty hunter who hunts down air pirates in Italy. He notably cursed, forced to live life as an anthropomorphic pig. Nevertheless, the curse doesn’t stop him from taking over the skies. Indicative of Miyazako’s love for aviation, Proco Rosso shows that fighting facism doesn’t mean you can’t have attitude.
15. The Fifth Element (1997)
Conceived by writer/director Luc Besson when he was a teenager, The Fifth Element centers around a taxicab driver in the 23rd century (played by Bruce Willis) who must save humanity by helping a strange young woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), who happens to be the “fifth” of four other elements. A late ‘90s sci-fi classic brimming with imagination, The Fifth Element was divisive among critics who either loved it or hated it. Ultimately, time was on its side, as The Fifth Element has grown into a beloved classic.
14. Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
A dark coming-of-age comedy about adolescent isolation, Welcome to the Dollhouse stars Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener, a seventh grade girl who lives a life largely ignored in suburban New Jersey. Left to wallow in the shallow existence of suburbia, Dawn tries to earn attention and stand out, only to be met with cruel indifference. Illustrative of ‘90s-era malaise, Welcome to the Dollhouse from writer/director Todd Solondz harshly reinforces the idea that the world isn’t necessarily mean, it’s just uncaring.
13. Lone Star (1996)
One look at its creepy poster should tell you everything about the vibe Lone Star is going for. Directed by John Sayles, Lone Star takes place in a small Texas town - one divided by racial tensions between its Tejano, Native, white, and Black communities - driven mad over the murder of a sheriff. Sayles puts a dark spin on Western film conventions, channeling the thick air of history felt in border towns as a microcosm for all of America. Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Kris Kristofferson, and Matthew McConaughey all star, with Frances McDormand in a memorable supporting role as Cooper’s wife and Dallas Cowboys superfan.
12. Lost Highway (1997)
David Lynch is a unparalleled craftsman of psychologically troubling works, with the likes of Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive defining his artistry. (To say nothing of his television masterwork, Twin Peaks.) But oft forgotten is Lost Highway, an unintelligible but unforgettable thriller starring Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Balthazar Getty. Pullman plays a musician who is disturbed by VHS tapes containing footage of him and his wife (Arquette) at home. Lost Highway was initially unpopular with critics, who found the movie opaque and incoherent. But in the years since its 1997 release, Lost Highway has enjoyed reappraisal. You might even say it’s finally been found.
11. Singles (1992)
Cameron Crowe was a music journalist for Rolling Stone before he became a filmmaker. In his second directorial feature Singles, Crowe wears that heritage on his sleeves in this dramatic snapshot of the nascent grunge rock scene emerging out of Seattle. Bridget Fonda leads this jagged rom-com, alongside Matt Dillon, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, and more, in this tale of twentysomething Gen X’ers navigating love and early adulthood. While Singles was praised by critics during its release, it slowly fell by the wayside as flannel and leather fell out of fashion. But because everything old is new again, Singles proves more everlasting than ripped jeans.
10. Dark City (1998)
When The Matrix hit it big in 1999, hipsters on vBulletin movie forums were quick to point others to Alex Proyas’ Dark City. William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly star in this neo-noir sci-fi, in which an amnesiac finds himself suspected of murder and becomes desperate to clear his name while finding out his true identity. Despite positive reviews, Dark City bombed hard at the box office. All these years after its release however, Dark City is now recognized for its arresting designs and moody atmosphere that feels just as plugged-in and anxious about our technological future as The Matrix was.
9. Bottle Rocket (1996)
A favorite of Martin Scorsese, Bottle Rocket was the cinematic debut of Wes Anderson and both Wilson brothers (Luke and Owen), putting them all on the map. So it’s ironic how their individual fame afterward has rendered Bottle Rocket overlooked by comparison. In telling its story about three hapless Texans who aspire to become professional criminals, Bottle Rocket is unexpectedly warm and affectionate in its themes about misplaced aspirations. Funny enough, Bottle Rocket’s box office failure almost compelled Owen Wilson to quit acting entirely and consider a career in the military instead.
8. Reality Bites (1994)
Working from a screenplay by Helen Childress, Ben Stiller made his directorial debut with Reality Bites, about an aspiring filmmaker (played by Winona Ryder) who chronicles the lives of her friends and roommates for a documentary. While contemporary critics were lukewarm on Reality Bites, it has since enjoyed reappraisal as both a snapshot of Gen X culture and a timeless portrait of young adult experiences. With Stiller later at the forefront of outrageous comedies like Meet the Parents, Zoolander, and Dodgeball, it’s hard to remember a time when Stiller had stripped his artistry down to a DIY aesthetic, but Reality Bites is still present to reveal the artist that has been here all along.
7. Jawbreaker (1995)
Before Mean Girls, there was Jawbreaker. From writer/director Darren Stein, Jawbreaker tells of popular high school girls - played by Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, and Julie Benz - who accidentally murder one of their own (Charlotte Ayanna) in a prank gone wrong. While covering up their crime from a police detective (Pam Grier), they take in a nerdy girl (Judy Greer) and groom her to join their ranks. While often compared to the dark teen comedy Heathers, Jawbreaker stands out with its own take on how much high school can be sweet until its harshness breaks your jaw. (It has a killer soundtrack too, as all good ‘90s teen movies do.)
6. Drive (1997)
Not to be confused with Nicholas Winding Refn’s haunted noir of the same name, Drive comes from Steve Wang (Guyver: Dark Hero) and action choreographer Koichi Sakamoto, known for his work on Power Rangers. Predating Rush Hour and its own depiction of butt-kicking Asian guy and fast-talking Black American co-star, Drive stars Mark Dacascos as a Hong Kong agent who teams up with a songwriter (Kadeem Hardison) on a mission to get a cutting-edge device to a Los Angeles corporation. (Along the way they meet a lively motel manager named Deliverance, played by a young Brittany Murphy.) Boasting gravity-defying martial arts action that still hits hard, Drive takes viewers for a real joyride. It simply never lets go of the wheel.
5. The Cable Guy (1996)
If you ever caught The Cable Guy, there’s a chance you’ve never forgotten it. Jim Carrey is so magnetic and unstoppable as a socially awkward electrician whose overwhelming reach for friendship terrifies newly-single architect Steven (Matthew Broderick). But its ingenious spin on slasher thrillers has largely been obscured by other like-minded movies. Modern audiences familiar with pictures that bend genre so much they almost snap should go out of their way to check out The Cable Guy. You won’t regret the subscription. Promise.
4. Shopping For Fangs (1997)
Way before Fast & Furious and Star Trek Beyond, way before Harold & Kumar, there was Shopping For Fangs. Co-directed by Quentin Lee and Fast & Furious’ Justin Lin and starring John Cho in his movie debut, Shopping For Fangs is a mega low-budget black comedy thriller that defies description. Its cast of characters include a lesbian waitress who stalks a housewife with sexually suggestive messages, and a hapless clerk who believes he’s becoming a werewolf. Raw and grimy but bursting with imagination, it’s almost inconceivable that there’s a direct line between Shopping For Fangs and billion-dollar blockbusters like Fast & Furious 6.
3. Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Before he hacked into The Matrix as Neo, Keanu Reeves was Johnny Mnemonic. Set in the then-futuristic year of 2021, Johnny Mnemonic follows a data courier (Reeves) who overwrites his own childhood memories to transport sensitive data for corporations via brain implants. While the movie was originally going to be a low-budget satire, Reeves’ stardom after Speed encouraged Sony to reanimate Johnny Mnemonic into a summer crowd pleaser, much of it after dramatic reshoots without director Robert Longo involved. While Johnny Mnemonic pales in comparison to The Matrix, it is still a mighty instance of mainstream cyberpunk artistry, and its overall paranoia over corporations brutally erasing our sense of selves eerily relevant years later.
2. Ninja Scroll (1993)
Akira and Ghost in the Shell are two of the biggest ‘80s/early ‘90s anime films that made a splash overseas, especially in the west. Deserving of recognition alongside them is Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s 1993 classic Ninja Scroll, about a ninja assassin who confronts a demonic order that seeks to take power in government. Violent but exciting, Ninja Scroll was many people’s introduction to anime in the 1990s, with none other than the Wachowskis citing influence from it as they crafted The Matrix. Although anime is bigger than it has ever been all around the world, Ninja Scroll is strangely unheard of by just about everyone hanging out at Anime Expo.
1. Event Horizon (1997)
Paul W.S. Anderson is synonymous, painfully so, with middling video game movies like Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and the sci-fi crossover franchise Alien vs. Predator. But in 1997, Anderson struck out with his own original feature with Event Horizon. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, and Sam Neill, Event Horizon takes place in 2047 to follow astronauts on a rescue mission to investigate the spaceship Event Horizon that has mysteriously reappeared near Neptune. A moody sci-fi horror in the spirit of Alien, Event Horizon has stood on its own to become a cult classic that is still generally, and woefully, overlooked in the canon of sci-fi. Fittingly though, Event Horizon is one of those movies that blips back into memory, waiting for you to rediscover it and find what’s contained inside.
