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The New Wave of Cult Movies

As mentioned in the last newsletter, and as readers of Daily Grindhouse are all painfully aware—The Deuce is dead.

Thanks to 90’s Rudy Giuliani, what was once the world’s mecca for anything goes big-screen cinema—42^nd Street in New York City—is now a tourist trap. Instead of choosing between chopsocky at the Apollo or Cannibal Holocaust at the Lyric, you can choose between Applebee’s and Dave & Buster’s. Uh, no.

Of course, that’s why we exist, to keep the spirit of the Deuce alive.

But what if I told you there is a motherload of new cult-like movies that, in many cases, are just as bonkers as the sleazy, slimy sinema classics that used to play nonstop, grinding twenty-four hours a day on the Deuce?

I’m not talking about a treasure trove of ‘lost’ films recently unearthed. (Although, would be very cool.) I’m talking movies being produced right now, available globally, and growing in popularity.

And they’re sitting right inside of your phone.

I’m talking about micro-dramas.

Welcome to the real-time evolution of cult movies.

Micro-dramas are about to become the absolutely insane movies you can’t wait to tell your friends about are vertical, roughly an hour long, and chopped up into 1-minute episodes. Each episode starts with a whiplash hook, ends with a whopper cliffhanger, and sucks you into the next episode before you can catch your breath.

No wonder they can be utterly addictive.

Micro-dramas don’t just go for the jugular. They rip it out, chew on it, and strangle your evil sister with it.

I know that sounds like hype, like I’m trying to sell you something. I’m not. It’s just that, holy shit…

If you’ve ever loved a move that was so bad it’s good…you’re ready for micro-dramas.

If you’ve love extreme over the top acting…you’re ready for micro-dramas.

If you love the raw, in-your-face conflict of grindhouse exploitation, movies like Fight For Your Life, Combat Shock, and just about all of Russ Meyer’s oeuvre…you’re ready for micro-dramas.

They’re like telenovelas on Red Bull. Hell, these are like cult move fentanyl. It’s the crass look-at-the-car-crash-honey captivation of reality TV fictionalized and amplified to the Jerry Springernth degree. These are made for the Attention Economy we’re living in today, where the brashest, boldest, and shameless rise to the top. Put another way:

The movies of the modern day Idiocracy have arrived.

It’s interesting…

Micro-drama production values vary widely. Some are just downright terrible. They don’t necessarily care about prestige—it’s all about maxing drama into the red.

It’s not about style; it’s about force. Grabbing the viewers’ emotions and slamming them into the ceiling then down to the floor. The plot twists go beyond absurd. They don’t wait for you to suspend your disbelief. They just explode in your face then escalate.

Cult movie fans are used to that.

You’re not supposed to size up cult/grindhouse movies as being good or bad. The real rule of thumb is: are they entertaining? The cardinal sin is to be boring. Micro-dramas are just about the furthest thing from boring.

Could be why they’re spreading like wildfire across the globe.

Micro-drama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox have, at times, surpassed TikTok in the App Store’s entertainment rankings. It’s reported that ReelShort is pulling in $10 million a month in revenue. DramaBox is racking up over 15 million downloads globally. Then you have TikTok’s “Series” feature and YouTube Shorts Originals each generating millions of views and shares.

Does this mean cult movies are going mainstream? Perhaps. What’s reassuring is that cult movies aren’t going away anytime soon.

Thank goodness. Because they’re serving up titles like The CEO’s Baby Is a Vampire and Cursed to Be Hot Every Tuesday. Titles like that get this fan’s attention. Then you watch one and find out the movie actually delivers the goods.

(Yes, it does kind of feel like it’s rotting your brain. But that’s probably what your parents thought when you brought home a copy of Bloodsucking Freaks.)

Just like cult movies many micro-dramas generate unintentional laughs, gasps, and pure what-the-hell-were-they-thinking disbelief. They’re not pretentious or polished. Like the best “cult” movies, they’re fun specifically because they are not polished.

The secret to their charm is their audacity.

If grindhouse movies are the punk rock of cinema then micro-dramas might be its grindcore. The stories are fast and furious, all while breaking just about every rule of modern-day cinema storytelling and pacing. And, of course, taste goes right out the window. But they tap into something primal. It’s their raw, unfiltered emotion that resonates.

More happens in one micro-drama episode than in entire 90-minute feature films. The action, drama, the conflict, the character arcs swing wildly, and at the most accelerated pace you’ve ever seen.

If you spend any time on social media, you may already be familiar with micro-dramas. They’re starting to populate Tik Tok and in Facebook, Instagram Reels, and Youtube Shorts. They’re celebrated on Snapchat. That’s no surprise considering this is cinema shot specifically for the phone. Vertical, mobile-first, in order to bring the cinema to where you are.

How will theaters ever compete? They won’t. And while streaming is dominating these days, they’ll need to adapt or die. Micro-dramas are simply too potent, and like any high…once you’ve tried the good stuff, the regular junk just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Right on cue: Netflix just announced they’re bringing vertical storytelling to their platform.

The world of micro-dramas and vertical storytelling is insane. And it’s just getting started. I share this so you can witness the future of B-movie madness as it happens, one mind melting episode at a time.

Want to learn about micro-dramas? Subscribe to our brand-new, almost ready totally FREE sister newsletter Vert Dirt - the everything Micro Drama newsletter here.

And don’t forget to reply to this email and let us know what you think about this madness. Do you agree? Are we nuts? Is the world of cinema doomed? Let us know!