The movie industry continues to evolve in exciting ways and cater towards different trends that take into consideration pop culture’s growing interests. There’s been an increasingly homogenized output of cinema as superhero films and multi-tier franchises become the most successful way to dominate at the box office.

RELATED: 10 Underrated '80s Anime Movies Worth Re-Watching

The spectacle that accompanies blockbusters is hard to replicate, but there’s just as much excitement and enjoyment to be found in the smaller cult classics that slip through the cracks. The concept of “midnight movies” has helped films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show build a dedicated audience through the communal eccentric experience that midnight movies can cultivate. Rocky Horror has become emblematic of the midnight movie, but there are even crazier films out there.

10 Eraserhead Is The World’s Introduction To The Weird Cinema Of David Lynch

Movies Eraserhead

David Lynch has become such an essential voice in film that the term “Lynchian” has even been designated for stories that skew towards stranger extremes. Each of Lynch’s projects are uniquely fascinating and they feel like true expressions of art, but Eraserhead is Lynch’s first feature film and an incredible look into the enigmatic director’s style.

The movie is a twisted parable for the stresses of parenthood, but Lynch explores this in a sufficiently surreal manner. Understandably, a bizarre movie like this struggled to connect with a mainstream audience, but it started to thrive in the midnight movie circuit.

9 El Topo Creates A Colorful, Surreal Western That Could Only Be Done By Jodorowsky

Movies El Topo Duel

Alejandro Jodorowsky is a filmmaker like no other and it's a shame that the creative mind has only directed a small number of films, albeit all of them cinematic gems. Jodorowsky's distinct and uncompromising style contributes to the director's legend and movies like El Topo excellently illustrate that he's on such a different wavelength.

At its core, El Topo is a simple story about a gunslinger's journey for love and the crisis of faith that it brings out in him. All of Jodorowsky's work is perfect midnight movie fare, but El Topo really blazed trails in this area.

8 The Room’s Stunning Incompetence Turns It Into The Perfect Midnight Movie Experience

Movies The Room Tommy Wiseau Greg Sestero

Midnight movies basically fall into two camps: Those that are exceptionally weird or movies that are so-bad-they’re-good and thrive in a group setting. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room is such lightning-in-a-bottle madness. It’s a vanity project with an inconsequential story where Wiseau exhibits practically the opposite impulse of what a director and actor should do at every turn.

RELATED: 10 Ways The Incredible Hulk Is The Most Underrated Movie In The MCU

The Room is a film that should have been buried into obscurity, but it’s infectiously campy nature turned it into a major midnight movie hit. There’s even a major studio comedy that’s all about the insane production behind this movie.

7 The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert Is A Passionate Ode To Acceptance

Movies The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert Bus

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is pure midnight movie bliss, right down to the film's exaggerated title. The movie is an eccentric hybrid of a road trip story with a passionate musical and there are many elements in the movie that bring Rocky Horror to mind.

Priscilla stars Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp, all of whom play roles that are incredibly against type yet showcase some of the actors' best work. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a movie about friendship, acceptance, and art, but presented in such a unique and inclusive manner. 1995's To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar all but ripped off Priscilla's plot, and is sadly the one that more people have likely seen (or even heard of), but it doesn't have nearly as devoted of a following all these years later.

6 Phantom Of The Paradise Is A Haunting Rock Opera That Beats Rocky Horror At Its Own Game

Winslow and Swan's confrontation in Phantom of the Paradise

Brian De Palma made his biggest mark in the 1970s and ‘80s, albeit typically with thrillers. Phantom of the Paradise, a brightly colored rock opera that’s based upon the story of Faust, is a considerable change of pace for De Palma, yet it’s also a movie that feels so purely representative of the director’s style.

Phantom of the Paradise plays like a more ambitious and demented version of Rocky Horror. Phantom of the Paradise still receives a lot of underground credibility as a midnight movie, but it actually predates Rocky Horror by a year and should receive even greater attention.

5 Pink Flamingos Is John Waters’ Love Letter To The Beauty Of Sleaziness

Movies Pink Flamingos Trailer

If there's any director that feels like they're meant to thrive in the subversive community of the midnight movie circuit then it's definitely John Waters. Waters' name was practically synonymous with lurid, fearless filmmaking throughout the 1970s and '80s.

RELATED: Treasure Planet & 9 Other Underrated Disney Movies

Pink Flamingos is Waters at his most undiluted and the movie centers around a close-knit makeshift family of misfits who take pride in their ability to be the filthiest creatures in existence. Pink Flamingos is shocking and needs to be seen to be believed, which is exactly why it has built a strong name for itself through midnight screenings.

4 Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space Makes Waves As “The Worst Movie Ever Made”

ed wood's movie

Another iconic piece of cinema that falls into the so-bad-it’s-good camp, Plan 9 From Outer Space routinely receives the honor of being “the worst movie ever made.” Passionate schlock filmmaker, Ed Wood, has a slew of embarrassing B-movies to his name. However, Plan 9 is such a messy misfire that it’s gained a legendary reputation.

The story, acting, props and set design are so slap-dash that it’s hard to not laugh at every frame in Plan 9, but that’s precisely why the 1950s science fiction movie has remained in conversations and still receives midnight screenings.

3 Reefer Madness & Its Heightened Virtue Signaling Turn It Into A Fascinating Product Of Its Time

Movies Reefer Madness Partying Adults

The story behind 1936's Reefer Madness is part of what made the movie acquire such a legacy. Sometimes the messages in movies are incredibly forced and feel like blatant advertisements or mouthpieces for causes. However, Reefer Madness is explicitly made by church advocacy groups in an effort to highlight the dangers and doom that can follow the smoking of marijuana.

Reefer Madness is barely over an hour long and its campy, transparent nature has turned it into an entertaining relic, despite itself. There's even a modern remake that attempts to update the original's unique brand of crazy.

2 Freaks Is A Disturbing Examination Of Normalcy That Doesn’t Hold Back

Movies Freaks Tod Browning 1932 Dinner Scene

1932’s Freaks by Tod Browning is set within the “oddity and freak show” circuit of travelling circuses and carnivals, but it feels like a glimpse into a nightmare. Browning’s movie doesn’t shy away from the unique nature of this circus’ “entertainment,” which results in hypnotic visuals that seem like they shouldn’t be seen.

There’s an inherent level of spectacle behind Freaks that helped it find wide success as a midnight movie. There’s so much within this movie that becomes clear inspiration for Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Freak Show, decades later. The “one of us” scene is still a classic and has been parodied countless times throughout pop culture.

1 Hedwig And The Angry Inch Is A Touching Love Story In Midnight Movie Packaging

Movies hedwig and the angry inch

John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a deeply powerful musical that doubles as a gutting love story. It shines a light on people who have been rejected by society and placed into boxes in which they don't belong.

There's a lot of pain and honesty in Hedwig, but its message is thoroughly beautiful and contextualized through a filter that’s reminiscent of Rocky Horror. Hedwig and the Angry Inch has recently experienced a massive revival thanks to the success of its Broadway adaptation, but its roots still go back to its humble origins as a niche, inspirational midnight movie.

NEXT: 10 Cult Hit Anime You've Never Heard Of (That Are Way Better Than You Could Imagine)