The A.V. Club's 50 most important American independent movies

The A.V. Club's 50 most important American independent movies's icon

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What makes an independent film? The question has never had a straightforward answer, and the cultural criteria that define an indie has changed over the decades. But by and large, it has always been something that couldn’t have been made within the Hollywood system. In our attempt to assemble a list of the most important American indies, we have included works by mavericks, film school grads, and true outsiders; productions with multimillion-dollar budgets and labors of love financed through part-time jobs; movies that played the arthouse, the grindhouse, or barely anywhere at all.

Some were massive box office hits, while others languished in obscurity for decades. Not all of our selections would rank among the best American independent movies ever made. Instead, the films on this list are the ones that broke new ground, created genres, or first introduced important artistic voices and subjects into American film.

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  1. 1 new

    Little Fugitive

    1953, in 4 top lists Check
  2. 2 new

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

    1957, in 6 top lists Check
  3. 3 new

    Shadows

    1958, in 12 top lists Check
  4. 4 new

    The Connection

    1961, in 2 top lists Check
  5. 5 new

    Blood Feast

    1963, in 4 top lists Check
  6. 6 new

    Nothing But a Man

    1964, in 5 top lists Check
  7. 7 new

    The Trip

    1967, in 3 top lists Check
  8. 8 new

    I Call First

    1967 — a.k.a. Who's That Knocking at My Door, in 0 top lists Check
  9. 9 new

    Night of the Living Dead

    1968, in 20 top lists Check
  10. 10 new

    Easy Rider

    1969, in 17 top lists Check
  11. 11 new

    Wanda

    1970, in 11 top lists Check
  12. 12 new

    Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

    1971, in 12 top lists Check
  13. 13 new

    Two-Lane Blacktop

    1971, in 13 top lists Check
  14. 14 new

    Pink Flamingos

    1972, in 13 top lists Check
  15. 15 new

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

    1974, in 15 top lists Check
  16. 16 new

    Eraserhead

    1977, in 20 top lists Check
  17. 17 new

    Killer of Sheep

    1978, in 14 top lists Check
  18. 18 new

    Halloween

    1978, in 17 top lists Check
  19. 19 new

    Return of the Secaucus Seven

    1980, in 3 top lists Check
  20. 20 new

    Losing Ground

    1982, in 4 top lists Check
  21. 21 new

    El Norte

    1983, in 5 top lists Check
  22. 22 new

    Stranger Than Paradise

    1984, in 14 top lists Check
  23. 23 new

    Blood Simple

    1984, in 10 top lists Check
  24. 24 new

    Desert Hearts

    1985, in 3 top lists Check
  25. 25 new

    She's Gotta Have It

    1986, in 6 top lists Check
  26. 26 new

    Dirty Dancing

    1987, in 10 top lists Check
  27. 27 new

    The Unbelievable Truth

    1989, in 3 top lists Check
  28. 28 new

    Sex, Lies, and Videotape

    1989, in 11 top lists Check
  29. 29 new

    Drugstore Cowboy

    1989, in 7 top lists Check
  30. 30 new

    Slacker

    1990, in 7 top lists Check
  31. 31 new

    Poison

    1991, in 4 top lists Check
  32. 32 new

    Daughters of the Dust

    1991, in 9 top lists Check
  33. 33 new

    El mariachi

    1992, in 4 top lists Check
  34. 34 new

    Pulp Fiction

    1994, in 38 top lists Check
  35. 35 new

    Clerks

    1994, in 9 top lists Check
  36. 36 new

    Kids

    1995, in 5 top lists Check
  37. 37 new

    Boogie Nights

    1997, in 12 top lists Check
  38. 38 new

    The Blair Witch Project

    1999, in 14 top lists Check
  39. 39 new

    Memento

    2000, in 27 top lists Check
  40. 40 new

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding

    2002, in 3 top lists Check
  41. 41 new

    Funny Ha Ha

    2002, in 1 top list Check
  42. 42 new

    Lost in Translation

    2003, in 19 top lists Check
  43. 43 new

    Garden State

    2004, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 44 new

    Primer

    2004, in 6 top lists Check
  45. 45 new

    The Passion of the Christ

    2004, in 4 top lists Check
  46. 46 new

    Little Miss Sunshine

    2006, in 7 top lists Check
  47. 47 new

    Paranormal Activity

    2007, in 3 top lists Check
  48. 48 new

    Frances Ha

    2012, in 5 top lists Check
  49. 49 new

    Moonlight

    2016, in 13 top lists Check
  50. 50 new

    Get Out

    2017, in 16 top lists Check
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Last updated on Sep 17, 2020 by Teproc; source