Selling DVDs, online or otherwise, can be a troubling affair for the small business. On the surface it looks like an ideal item for the small retail business. There is a huge demand, people love to watch and collect movies, as illustrated by the millions of DVDs sold each year. Supply isn’t a problem; there are countless excellent wholesale suppliers with lines of videos to match every taste and market niche.

The catch is budgeting; most DVD suppliers have large minimum orders and new releases are expensive. Cheaper titles usually have so small a demand that a retailer risks getting stuck with twenty copies of film no one wanted to see in the first place. In short a retailer must choose between copies of desirable new releases that offer a razor thin profit margin or dated, funky titles that while cheap to obtain are unlikely to sell at all.
However, there are cult films. Some peculiar old movies enjoy timeless appeal. Despite, or perhaps because of how terrible or strange they might be some movies reach a status that assures them of sales forever. Below is a list of some of the films that despite age and usually low purchase prices can be counted on to generate revenue for the small retailer.

Plan 9 From Outer Space. This 1959 science fiction movie as been called the worst movie ever made many times. The absolutely miserable production values conjoin seamlessly with the absolutely miserable acting and an even worse script. The film is most famous as the last screen appearance of a sad and hopelessly morphine addicted Bela Lugosi.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The most famous science fiction musical featuring cross dressing scientists, bodybuilders, and ice ax murders ever made. Since its release in 1975 this movie has defines the cult film. The term midnight movie was virtually created from the late night showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show where devoted fans dress up as characters, dance in the aisles, and yell back at the screen. The movie features Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry, and Meatloaf.

Faster, Faster Pussycat Kill! During the 1950s and 60s a man named Russ Meyer turned the camera skills he picked up filming World War II from carnage to cleavage. He made many spirited but vulgar low budget movies featuring actresses with few qualifications beyond substantial bust lines. Faster, Faster Pussycat Kill! is the tale of three murderous and unsafe driving vixens getting their comeuppance. To attest to the film’s counter culture appeal there is a popular rock music act using the film’s title as a band name.

Freaks. A touching black and white story about the trials and tribulations of circus freaks. Made in 1932 this is a very strange movie indeed. It avoids the explotation of its subjects by making them the reasonable and heroic characters while the “normal” people are manipulative, scheming, and mean. It has been over seventy years since Freaks release but it still captivates many movie lovers.

Harold and Maude. Starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, this 1971 film tells of the unusual love affair of a 20 year old man and a 79 year old woman. Harold and Maude is a black comedy featuring the transformation of Harold from a death-obsessed stick in the mud, including several hysterical mock suicides, into a life affirming and joyous character at the hands of an unsinkable Maude. Strange and charming, the movie still captivates the cult movie fan.

Repoman. Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton star in this 1984 release. Repoman tells the story of a directionless youth that falls in with a colorful car repossession agency. Nihilistic and very funny this movie tops many cult film lists.

Eraserhead. This is one very strange movie. The first film made independent film darling David Lynch back in 1977. The plot is too bizarre to do credit to but suffices to say that its main feature is vile infant that wails hideously throughout. This movie is an industrial nightmare of noise, grainy film, and isolation but has always struck a cord with the cult film fans.

Office Space. This 1999 film was the first step into non-animation by Mike Judge the creator of “Beevus and Butthead” and “King of the Hill”. It is a hilarious and thought provoking send up of modern office life. It stars Jennifer Aniston and Ron Livingston. Office Space will draw fans as long as there are cubicles and stupid bosses.

Trainspotting. What can you say for a movie where the heroes are heroin-addicted thieves? Trainspotting centers around a group of young Scotts trying to escape the hopeless unemployment and boredom of their lives through drugs and petty crime. Unromantic and realistic about the evils of addiction it is also funny and sympathetic to its too human characters.

Showgirls. Imagine the 1980s movie “Flashdance” only starring “Saved by the Bell” alumni Elizabeth Berkley and lacking “Flashdance’s” gritty reality and quality acting. An incredibly lurid plot, a large amount or exposed flesh, and Ms. Berkley chewing the scenery equal up to one hysterically bad movie. “Showgirls” has become a guilty pleasure for many hipsters who have built drinking games and theme parties around this stinker.

None of these movies won Academy Awards, none get much play on Turner Classic Movies, but all are loved and appreciated by legions of fans. Guilty or not, there are pleasures that a movie retailer can get a hold of cheap and most likely sell quickly.

Art Micklewraith is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Wholezilla. He can be reached at Content and Solutions or by email at artmicklewraith@gmail.com.