These go to eleven... number one cult movie

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2004)

Rob Reiner used to be a good director back in the day, and he made two of the all-time cult classics, This is Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride in the 80s. In a recent poll in some magazine or other, This is Spinal Tap was named the number one cult movie of all time, beating out Harold and Maude, The Shawshank Redemption, Rocky Horror Picture Show, even Freaks. This mockrockumentary is brilliantly funny. Christopher Guest liked the mockumentary style so much that he would use it three more times with Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind. It is filled with incredibly funny situations... The Stonehedge Concert, not finding their way onto the stage, the concert for veterans, and of course, the ever famous Amplifier going to 11. It is a quietly loud movie, and it is full of fascinating characters, from Rob Reiner's director to the band made up of Michael Mckeon, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest, the funniest out of them, who is secretly in love with Michael's character. I didn't really laugh much out loud in this one, but the brilliance of This is Spinal Tap is something special, that is frequently attempted but never equaled. It deserves its cult status, and deserves its status as a great movie.
My grade: 8/10