15 Cool Obscure Movie T-Shirts

In A Paddy

The Film: Shane Meadows' social-realist take on the slasher flick, Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

The Reference: A striking silhouette of Paddy Considine's Richard, the ex-army vet ♋who exacts brutal revenge on the Midlands gang who terrorised his mentally challenged brother.

Why It's Cool: An iconic im🧜age that chills and thrills ꦆin equal measure, it's a reminder that homegrown cinema can still compete with Hollywood.

Where?

Civic Duty

The Film: David Cronenberg's hallucinatory horror about the ultimate video nasty, Videodrome (1983)

The Reference: Civic TV is the name of the cable channel run by James Woods which, as he puts it, dispenses "everything from𓂃 softcore sex to hardcore vio🐷lence."

Why It's Cool: Cronenberg's a master of icy irony, and there's a delicious contrast between the banal name and the actual content behind it. Wear this, and those in the know will re🍎alise 𒅌it's really a case of "long live the new flesh."

Where?

Prepare To Die

The Film: Rob Reiner's witty post-modern pastiche of ye olde swashbucklers, The Princess Bride (1987)

The Reference: The film's most oft-quoted🀅 line (delivered by Mandy Patinkin's vengeful swordsman), albeit here in a more everyday context.

Why It's Cool: The playful dig at rubbish o꧅ffice-drone meet 'n' greets only reinforces Montoya's swaggering panache and romanticism. That said, if somebody actually tried this at a corporate away-day you'd beg them as a David༺ Brent-esque dickhead straight away.

Where?

Royale With Bleed

The Film: Japanese schoolkid slaughter fest Battle Royale (2000)

The Reference: One of the film's many, many bloodily balletic kill scenes.

Why It's Cool: It should꧙n't be cool at all, but graphic design whizzes Airside have turned clinical violence into a boldly beautiful statement for exploitation freaks everywhere.

Better still, Airside is an eq♛ual opportunities killer: there's another design o🥀f a male classmate getting KO'd, too.

Where? Usually, but it's currently being renovated so🍬 you might needꦯ to shop around.

Ker-Chang!

The Film: Ron Underwood's rip-roaring B-movie spoof about killer worms, Tremors (1990)

The Reference: It's the name of the shop in the be💯sieged town of Perfection, Nevada where Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward et al hole up.

Why It's Cool: Usually, the trend towards putting in-film logo🐻s ont꧑o a tee doesn't extend past the obvious classics.

Tremors , however, is the right side of obscure; it's familiar enough to wow retro-heads, but offbeat enough to score seri🉐ous nerd brownie points.

Where?

Vertical Frogger

The Film: Paul Thomas Anderson's epic urban singalong, Magnolia (1999)

The Reference: The film's lef𝄹tfield ending, as a Biblical plague of frogs descends to put an unlikely stop to the c𝓀haracters' stories.

Why It's Cool: The evocative design from Weadmire is an attention-🐭grabbing mix of nature and technology which remains as esoteric, eccentric and engaging as the film did wheꦗn we first saw it.

Where?

Playtime

The Film: David Fincher's playfully paranoid thriller, The Game (1997)

The Reference: Consumer Recreation Services is the company Sean Penn🙈 hires to give brother Michael Douglas a birthday he won't forg▨et.

Why It's Cool: Trying to out-gee𓆉k your mates by smuggling the most unlikely and unusual movie ref onto your torso is something of a game in itself. So this one's like w൲ell meta or something.

Where? The appropriately named

Under Your Wing

The Film: The Paul Rudd / Seann William Scott comedy about men behaving badly, Role Models (2008)

The Reference: Sturdy Wings is the mentoring programme Rudd and Scott are assigned to as community ser🔯vice.

Why It's Cool: It🐻 𓂃looks safe, comforting, a bit religious. To the outsider, it might look like you're a member of a cult.

Really, though, it's a🍌 secret handshake that you're prone to bad behavio🍸ur.

Where?

Worth A Million Bucks

The Film: Walter Hill's askew take on whether greed really is good, Brewster's Millions (1985)

The Reference: It's the baseball team that Richard Pryไor's Brewster pitches for when he's told he'll inherit a fortune if he can deliberately loseඣ $30 million in a month.

Why It's Cool: Wearওing a sporting t🐈eam's colours is a badge of tribal loyalty.

Here, it has a double meaning: a🌞 show of faith in 80s comedy, and a reminder that money𝓰 isn't everything.

Where?

Going Rogue

The Film: Walter Hill again, amazingly; this time his gangland chase movie The Warriors (1979).

The Reference: The Rogues are t🌼he ultimate bad-asses in the film's convention of bad-assery.

Why It's Cool: A typic🅠ally stylish take on a much-loved cult classi෴c from Dark Bunny Tees, this frames the Rogues' distinctive skeletal logo as a brand.

If this beer actually existed, we'd drink it.

Where?