Subgenre Sampler
Cult > Youth: 70 Films to Buy & Rent
- Cromartie High School (TV Series) (Sakigake!! Kuromati Kôkô) (2003)
- Dir. Hiroaki Sakurai
- The zany and hilarious episodes in the life of a teenage boy who ends up at a rough public school, peopled by an array of thugs, robots, a gorilla…
- Zero Day (2003)
- Dir. Ben Coccio
Feat. Andre Keuck, Calvin Robertson
- A confronting, fictionalized insight into the nihilistic mind–set of two alienated students who plotted and carried out a violent massacre at…
- Backyard, The (2002)
- Dir. Paul Hough
- A cringe–inducing glimpse into the American subculture of backyard amateur wrestling, in which contestants up the ante with barbed wire,…
- Spun (2002)
- Dir. Jonas Akerlund
Feat. Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo…
- A cinematically exhilarating depiction of existence among a group of methamphetamine (P) addicts in Los Angeles, that is sure to divide audiences as…
- Teenage Caveman (2001)
- Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Andrew Keegan, Tara Subkoff, Richard Hillman
- The highlight of a ‘Creature Feature’ series that updates drive–in fare of yesteryear, this delirious slab of camp set in a…
- Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
- Dir. David Wain
Feat. Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Marguerite Moreau…
- Set in the charmingly unhip summer–camp 'Camp Firewood', this wettingly hilarious satire of 1970s and 80s culture, mores and cliches is…
- Attack the Gas Station (1999)
- Dir. Sang-Jin Kim
Feat. Sung-jae Lee, Oh-seong Yu, Seong-jin Kang…
- Four disaffected youths take hostage an entire gas station in this subversive, blackly–comic masterpiece from Korea.
Gleefully tearing apart…
- Tribe, The (TV Series) (1999-2003)
- Set in an post–apocalyptic future where all adults have been wiped out by a virus and children must fend for themselves by ganging up together,…
- Acid House, The (1998)
- Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Stephen McCole, Maurice Roeves, Garry Sweeney
- Those with a taste for undiluted Irvine Welsh (author of TRAINSPOTTING) will find warts–and–all satisfaction in this portmanteau of three…
- Nowhere (1997)
- Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton…
- Final installment of Gregg Araki's teen apocalypse' trilogy, trawling the teenage shallowlands of L.A. in a kind of R–rated flip to Beverly…
- Beavis and Butthead Do America (1996)
- Dir. Mike Judge
- The flagrantly antisocial, hormonally over–charged MTV duo embark on a fea ture–length odyssey to recover their all–important TV…
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) - Season 1 (1996)
- Dir. Bruce Seth Green, Joss Whedon
Feat. Sarah Michelle Gellar
- The TV followup to the 1992 movie, that slays its predecessor in wit and cult–appeal. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the high–school teen…
- Doom Generation, The (1995)
- Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. James Duval, Rose McGowan, Johnathon Schaech
- The boundaries of good taste are demolished in this white–trash road movie obsessed with teenage sex and scatology. The joke turns cruel in the…
- Kids (1995)
- Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Leo Fitzpatrick, Sarah Henderson, Justin Pierce…
- Cult photographer Larry Clark's debut, 24hrs of New York streetkid life, attracted immediate controversy. The unblinking depictions of sex, drugs and…
- Metal Skin (1994)
- Dir. Geoffrey Wright
Feat. Aiden Young, Tara Morice, Ben Mendelsohn
- A petrol–soaked, despairing love story from the director of ROMPER STOMPER, who takes another look at Australian youth counter–culture…
- My So-Called Life (TV Series) (1994-1995)
- Dir. Scott Winant
Feat. Claire Danes, Jared Leto, Bess Armstrong…
- Hard–hitting drama series starring a young Claire Danes in her breakout role as a 15 year–old dealing with angst–ridden teen…
- Beavis and Butthead (TV Series) (1993-1997)
- Dir. Mike Judge
- Once rejected by our television networks on moral grounds, this might've been your only chance to catch America's favourite miscreants in animated…
- Totally F***ed Up (1993)
- Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. James Duval, Roko Belic, Susan Behshid…
- A corrosive portrait of a group of alienated gay comrades, and the first (and perhaps best) part of dir. Araki's 'teen apocalypse trilogy' (completed…
- Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
- Dir. Peter Hewitt
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler…
- Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as a couple of crazed teenagers who are sent on a Bogus Journey through a round trip to heaven and hell in this…
- Pump Up the Volume (1990)
- Dir. Allan Moyle
Feat. Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Annie Ross…
- Christian Slater is Hard Harry, maverick pirate radio DJ by night, anonymous and shy student by day. His anarchic commentaries earn a loyal band of…
- River's Edge (1986)
- Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye…
- Terrifying drama about a group of school friends who discover that one of them has murdered a classmate. Major cult film from the '80s with its lurid…
- Boys Next Door, The (1985)
- Dir. Penelope Spheeris
Feat. Charlie Sheen, Maxwell Caulfield
- Early feature film by celebrated underground film maker Penelope Spheeris (DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION), with Charlie Sheen Maxwell Caulfield…
- Beat Street (1984)
- Dir. Stan Lathan
Feat. Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis
- Key film in the history of hip–hop culture, this urban musical may show its age and derivation (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER), but still comprises an…
- Suburbia (Rebel Street's aka: Wild Side) (1983)
- Dir. Penelope Spheeris
Feat. Flea
- Low key yet definitive dramatic portrait of the American punk scene, staged with non–actors as the "T.R. gang" who set up camp in a scuzzy L.A.…
- Porky's (1981)
- Dir. Bob Clark
Feat. Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier
- ANIMAL HOUSE retread with juvenile male high–jinx on college campus. Massive hit is testament to the adage that no–one ever went broke…
- Out of the Blue (1980)
- Dir. Dennis Hopper
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Linda Manz, Sharon Farrell…
- Dennis Hopper transposes the themes from his EASY RIDER into a punk aesthetic in this downbeat yet compelling dissertation on teenage rebellion and…
- Rude Boy (1980)
- Dir. Hazan, Mingay
Feat. Jimmy Pursey, Johnny Green
- Semi–doco in which a teenage punk is forced to choose political allegiances while scamming a roadie job with the Clash. Features nine Clash…
- Over the Edge (1979)
- Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Matt Dillon, Harry Northrup
- One of the best portraits of delinquency yet committed to the screen, Matt Dillon, in his acting debut, is just one of the aimless youths who erupt…
- Quadrophenia (1979)
- Dir. Franc Roddam
Feat. Phil Daniels, Michael Elphick, Ray Winstone…
- Brilliant portrait of alienated youth, inspired by The Who's concept album, focuses on a young Mod's personal crises and his gang's violent agenda…
- Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
- Dir. Alan Arkush
Feat. P.J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard…
- Pop–crazy student and 'Ramones' no. 1 fan, Riff Randell (PJ Soles) fights for her right to party against dragonlady principal Togar (Mary…
- Wanderers, The (1979)
- Dir. Philip Kaufman
Feat. Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, Linda Manz
- Bittersweet throw back to life in a Bronx high school in 1963, focused on Italian gang 'The Wanderers', who fumble their way through romance and…
- Big Wednesday (1978)
- Dir. John Milius
Feat. Jan-Michael Vincent, Gary Busey, William Katt
- Resonant, underrated youth movie about three red–blooded American boys who catch waves in mid–60s California but face the winds of change…
- FJ Holden, The (1977)
- Dir. Michael Thornhill
Feat. Paul Couzens, Carl Stever, Sigrid Thornton
- Low–budget youth drama that follows the travails of two smalltime Holden–driving hoons in the West Sydney suburb of Bankstown.
Both…
- Massacre at Central High (1976)
- Dir. Renee Daalder
Feat. Andrew Stevens, Robert Carradine
- An estranged new student uses his homicidal tendencies for the public good, by eliminating trouble–makers in imaginative ways. The superior…
- Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
- Dir. Stanley Kubrick
Feat. Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates…
- From Anthony Burgess' novel, Stanley Kubrick flexes his genius with this electrifying satire about an ultra–violent gang of 'droogs' whose…
- Zabriskie Point (1970)
- Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
Feat. Rod Taylor, Paul Fix, G.D. Spradlin…
- Antonioni explores the psyche of young radicals who try to find the meaning of life after fleeing from riotous protests. Engaging hippie fare.
- Alice's Restaurant (1969)
- Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. Arlo Guthrie, Patricia Quinn, James Broderick…
- Loosely built around the adventures of hippie troubadour Arlo Guthrie (son of Woody and star of WOODSTOCK), as he wanders rural America asking…
- All the Right Noises (1969)
- Dir. Gerry O'Hara
Feat. Olivia Hussey, Tom Bell, John Standing…
- The story of a young married man who has an affair with a teenage girl, this forms part of a peculiarly 1960s British wave of films exploring such…
- If.... (1968)
- Dir. Lindsay Anderson
Feat. Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, Mona Washbourne…
- An angry yet sublimely poetic counter–cultural work in which events both real and imagined culminate in a violent revolt at a repressive public…
- Just for the Hell of it / Blast Off Girls (1967-1968)
- Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis
Feat. Ray Sager
- A Drive–In Double Bill of delinquency dramas from gore–king Herschell Gordon Lewis, who here keeps a lid on the red paint.
JUST FOR…
- Riot On Sunset Strip (1967)
- Dir. Arthur Dreifuss
Feat. Aldo Ray, Mimsy Farmer
- Restless hippy kids cause headaches for parents and police as violence and recreational drugs take root in affluent Hollywood. The fashions and…
- Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
- Dir. William Asher
Feat. Paul Lynde, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello…
- Most successful and best known of the ‘Beach Party’ movies, though it shows signs of being fifth in a series by straying quite a way from the…
- Village of the Giants (1965)
- Dir. Bert I. Gordon
Feat. Ron Howard, Beau Bridges
- From the brainchild of Bert I. Gordon, an atomic monster and ‘giant’ movie specialist who did a lot of his own special effects, comes this gaudy…
- Leather Boys, The (1964)
- Dir. Sidney J. Furie
Feat. Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton
- Gritty study of an impulsive young woman's incompatible marriage to motorcycle–loving mechanic, and his subsequent 'close' relationship with a…
- Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
- Dir. Don Taylor
Feat. Fabian, Tab Hunter, Barbara Eden…
- Clean–cut teenage beach party movie with Fabian, Tab Hunter and Barbara Eden looking splendid in their swimming trunks.
- That Kind of Girl (1963)
- Dir. Gerry O'Hara
Feat. Margaret Rose Keil, David Weston, Linda Marlowe
- Another gem rescued from obscurity by the BFI's Flipside label, this one deals with the hush–hush topic of venereal disease against a backdrop…
- Yellow Teddybears, The (Gutter Girls) (1963)
- Dir. Robert Hartford-Davies
Feat. Annette Whiteley
- Packaged as a sexploitation movie, this is actually an earnest message movie about illicit teenage sex, set in a girl's school where those that have…
- Young Racers, The (1963)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Mark Damon, Patrick Magee
- Teensploitation melodrama from the king of the drive–in cheapie about motor–racing rivalry. Some great racing footage and bratty…
- Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)
- Dir. Paul Wendkos
Feat. Deborah Walley, James Darren
- Deborah Walley as teenage Gidget #3 says ‘aloha’ in this superfluous sequel.
- Young Ones, The / Summer Holiday (1961-1962)
- Dir. Sidney J. Furie, Peter Yates
Feat. Cliff Richard, Robert Morley, The Shadows
- A pairing of delightfully dated musical vehicles for Brit pop sensation of the day, Cliff Richard. THE YOUNG ONES has Cliff organising a fundraising…
- Beat Girl (1960)
- Dir. Edmond T. Greville
Feat. Gillian Hills, Adam Faith, Christopher Lee…
- Providing a rare peek into the British 'beat scene', this groovy juvenile delinquency drama proves there was teenage wildlife before the Beatles, and…
- High School Caesar (1960)
- Dir. O'Dale Ireland
Feat. John Ashley
- John Ashley plays a budding crime–lord in this racy wee B–movie, with his own high school proving a rich source of revenue, via exam…
- Sex Kittens Go to College (1960)
- Dir. Albert Zugsmith
Feat. Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld
- Despite having thirteen diplomas, Mamie Van Doren (the B–Movie's Marilyn Monroe) has trouble being taken seriously as a college professor!…
- Gidget (1959)
- Dir. Paul Wendkos
Feat. Sandra Dee, James Darren, Cliff Robertson
- Cute–as–a–button Sandra Dee goes all out to prove she can hang with surf bums James Darren and Cliff Robertson, in the first and…
- Teenage Zombies (1959)
- Dir. Jerry Warren
- A group of teenagers fall prey to a mad female scientist whose island they happen upon. Here, other prisoners and a variety of creatures are being…
- Cool and the Crazy, The (1958)
- Dir. William Witney
Feat. Scott Marlowe, Dick Bakalyan, Gigi Perreau
- Dick Bakalyan is impressively cool and crazy in this over–the–top 50s B–movie that cautions teenagers about getting mixed up with…
- High School Confidential (1958)
- Dir. Jack Arnold
Feat. Russ Tamblyn, Mamie Van Doren, Jerry Lee Lewis
- When not gathering dirt on local marijuana dealers, 'student' narc Russ Tamblyn is clinching it with Mamie Van Doren. This hard–biting 'JD'…
- Reform School Girl (1958)
- Dir. Edward Bernds
Feat. Gloria Castillo, Sally Kellerman
- A “shocking true story”, this cheapie concerns the rough–ride of 17 year–old Gloria Castillo, who gets mixed up with a…
- Teenage Caveman (1958)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Robert Vaughn, Sarah Marshall, Leslie Bradley
- Prehistoric drive–in fare boosted by Roger Corman's knack for never letting action drag, and a baby–faced Robert Vaughn (Man from Uncle)…
- Delinquents, The (1957)
- Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Dick Bakalyan
- Future luminary Robert Altman's debut feature, an "expose" of juvenile delinquency in the rock'n'roll era.
Filmed in Kansas City in a…
- Dragstrip Girl (1957)
- Dir. Edward L. Cahn
Feat. Fay Spain, Steve Terrell, John Ashley…
- For the thrill of it, young blonde thing Fay Spain sets up a race between her two boyfriends, one being a good–guy garage mechanic, and the…
- I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
- Dir. Herbert Strock
Feat. Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton
- Campy drive–in classic about a mad scientist who pulls a teen from a car wreck and 'repairs' him. Best seen as a double feature with 'Teenage…
- I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
- Dir. Gene Fowler Jnr.
Feat. Michael Landon
- A cool Michael Landon scored a big hit in his film debut – a hilarious mishmash of horror and juvenile delinquency dramas.
- Rock All Night (1957)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Dick Miller, Abby Dalton
- Two fugitive killers take refuge in a rock'n'roll hotspot and terrorize the customers. Less compelling than dir. Corman's usual B–grade…
- Sorority Girl (The Bad One) (1957)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Susan Cabot, Fay Baker, Dick Miller
- Nastily excellent early Corman has Susan Cabot play an evil–minded college student who blackmails, teases and dominates various social…
- Rock Rock Rock (1956)
- Dir. Will Price
Feat. Tuesday Weld
- Tuesday Weld (at 13) schemes to get herself a strapless gown for the prom, surrounded by an impressive array of rock'n'rollers both black and white,…
- Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1956)
- Dir. Edward L. Cahn
Feat. Michael Connors, Lisa Gaye, Douglas Dumbrille…
- Shaky but endearing pop relic in which a group of concerned adults try to ban rock 'n' roll music in their town believing that it promotes juvenile…
- Violent Years, The (1956)
- Dir. William J Morgan
Feat. Mamie Van Doren
- Scripted by Ed Wood Jnr (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) this tawdry 50s juvenile–delinquent pic features Mamie Van Doren leading a gang of…
- Assassin of Youth (1937)
- Dir. Elmer Clifton
Feat. Luana Walters, Arthur Gardner
- Marijuana scare–movie from the 30s is an above–par exercise in hilarious establishment uptightness, following the sorry fate of several…
- Marihuana (1936)
- Dir. Dwain Esper
Feat. Harlene Wood
- Perhaps second only to REEFER MADNESS in demonstrating the perils of dope with laughably straight–faced paranoia, this sees some unsuspecting…