Cult film

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A cult film is a movie that attracts a small but devoted group of fans, usually failing to achieve considerable success outside that group.

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Overview

Most movies considered "cult films" failed to achieve mainstream success upon original theatrical release, often grossing more money in video rentals and sales than in theater tickets. In many cases (but not all cases), the film hardly makes an impression with the general public and critics are often apathetic as well. However, a small, devoted group of viewers, often "film buffs" or film students, show an extreme appreciation of the film.

Image:Rocky Horror Picture Show Cover.jpg The Rocky Horror Picture Show is possibly the best-known and longest-running cult film in the U.S. The movie combines conventions from science fiction and horror films and includes elements of transvestitism, incest and homosexuality — all within the context of a musical. Rocky Horror received little attention when first released in 1975 but, a few years later, fans showed up at midnight screenings at repertoire theaters, dressed in costume and "participating" in the film by doing such things as throwing rice at the wedding scene.

Image:Eraserheadposter.jpg Like Rocky Horror, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, The Hills Have Eyes and Eraserhead achieved cult status through repeat screenings at independent repertory cinemas, usually during late night "midnight movie" screenings. Such films were cheaper for theaters to hire than current releases and thus were more sensible to screen during late night when attendance was lower. Night of the Living Dead, in particular, was free to screen, since it had accidentally fallen into the public domain. In the early 1990s many repertory cinemas went out of business due to changes in cinema ownership and distribution.

Network television, cable television and pay-per-view stations have also changed the nature of cult films. Despite failing to meet box office expectations, Blade Runner was a favorite of early pay-per-view and HBO. Repeated showings on Comedy Central helped popularize Office Space and Half Baked.

In most cases, these films tend to enjoy long runs on video, thus being issued in more video "runs" with more copies than other movies. Image:Blade Runner poster.jpg The box office bomb Office Space managed to financially redeem itself when word-of-mouth made it a popular video rental, and Fight Club and Mulholland Drive have earned considerably more in DVD sales than they did in movie theatres. Also, cult movies are more likely to be issued on newer video technology in the technology's early days than other films.

Image:Office Space DVD.jpg Although films of all types of genres and plot conventions become cult films, the horror and science fiction genres produce a large number of cult films, perhaps due to the devoted nature of these genres' fan bases. Also films that have unconventional plotlines, strange senses of humor and which generally deviate from current trends in film are more likely to become cult films.

Many significant cult films are independently made and were not expected by their creators to have much mainstream success. These include Night of the Living Dead, Easy Rider, Pink Flamingos, Eraserhead, Assault on Precinct 13, and Slacker. Other cult films have the backing of major studios but did not initially meet with the financial success these studios typically enjoy. These include Blade Runner, Fight Club, and 1941, as well as such films as Legend and Dune.

In rare cases, a film is both a huge, major studio release and a cult film, because a small, devoted following exists within the film’s larger audience (i.e., 2001: A Space Odyssey, Taxi Driver and the Star Wars franchise.) With advances in web-based film distribution, films such as Life of a Tennis Ball can develop a cult following even without being commerically distributed.

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Cult films within a particular culture

Occasionally, a film can become the object of a cult following within a particular region or culture if it has some unusual significance to that region or culture.

An example is the cult status of British comedic actor Norman Wisdom’s films in Albania. Wisdom’s films, in which he usually played a family man worker who outsmarts his boss, were some of the few Western films considered acceptable by the country’s communist rulers, thus Albanians grew familiar and attached to Wisdom. Curiously, he and his films are now acquiring nostalgic cult status in Britain. Similarly, the American film It's a Wonderful Life, which features an exploitative capitalist as its villain, was allowed in the USSR, giving it a cult status in Russia.

Another example is the place of The Wizard of Oz in American gay culture. Although a widely viewed and historically important film in greater American culture, it has gained a special meaning to many gay men who see probably unintended gay themes in the film. Gay men sometimes refer to themselves as "friends of Dorothy". Image:Reefer Madness.jpg The 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness has become a cult film within stoner culture due to its humorously sensationalized, outdated and inaccurate descriptions of the effects of marijuana. 20th Century Fox and Legend Films released the film on DVD on April 20, 2004, an obvious reference to its ironic appeal (see 420 (cannabis culture)). The World War II-era Department of Agriculture film Hemp for Victory, encouraging the growing of hemp for war uses, has achieved a similar cult status.

British comedies have enjoyed a cult status in America. These films include the Black Adder and Monty Python series, most notably Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Asian cinema, specifically Hong Kong and Japanese films, also has a cult following in the Western Hemisphere. Asian Cult Cinema consists of Hong Kong Martial Arts films, such as wuxia, and Japanese tokusatsu, primarily from the Daikaiju Eiga, and most anime.

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So-bad-they're-good cult films

Image:SantaClausConquersMartians.jpg Many films enjoy cult status because they are seen as ridiculously awful. The critic Michael Medved characterized examples of the "so bad it's good" class of low-budget cult film through books such as The Golden Turkey Awards. These films include such financially fruitless and critically scorned films as Mommie Dearest, Cool as Ice, Boxing Helena, Showgirls, and Freddy Got Fingered, which have become inadvertent comedies to film buffs.

In other cases, little-known or forgotten films from the past are revived as cult films, largely because they are considered goofy and senseless by modern standards, with laughable special effects and corny plotlines. These include Eegah, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Creeping Terror, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Attack of the 50ft. Woman and the works of Edward D. Wood, Jr. See also: Mystery Science Theater 3000.

These films should not be confused with comedic cult movies like The Toxic Avenger, Bad Taste, Army of Darkness, and the films of John Waters, which purposely utilize elements from films "so bad they're good" for comedic effect. For further explanation, see camp (style).

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Cult film figures

Some actors and directors are primarily known for their work in cult films and often become cult figures because of that work. Some, such as Ridley Scott and Sam Raimi, eventually make successful, mainstream films while others continue to be known only to a small group of fans.

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Selected list of cult film actors

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Selected list of cult film directors

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See also

de:Kultfilm es:Película de culto eo:Kulta filmo fr:Film culte he:סרט פולחן lt:Kultinis filmas nl:Cultfilm ja:カルト映画 pl:Film kultowy pt:Filme cult sl:Kultni film sv:Kultfilm zh:邪典电影

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