Cult film

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Harold and Maude, 1971

Cult film is a colloquial term for a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of this small group (however, there are a few exceptions.) Some cult movies have gone on to transcend their original cult status and have become recognized as classics, others are of the "so bad it's good" variety, and are destined to remain in obscurity. Cult films often become the source of a thriving, obsessive, and elaborate subculture of fandom, hence the analogy to cults. However, not every film with a rabid fanbase is necessarily a cult film. The term cult film implies a certain level of obscurity, and widely popular, mainstream movies are not considered to be cult films.

Overview

The term itself came into usage during the late 1970s and was popularized in a series of three books by Danny Peary, beginning in 1981 with Cult Movies.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and other films by Edward D. Wood, Jr. were among the earliest to be considered cult classics, attracting devotees who revelled in his incompetence. Other low-budget science fiction and horror films of the 1950s (for example Robot Monster), along with exploitation films of the 1930s, which resurfaced in the home video market of the 1980s (including the infamous Reefer Madness), were accorded that status.

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Plan 9 from Outer Space

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

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Blade Runner (1982)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is possibly the best-known and longest-running cult film in the U.S. The movie satirizes conventions of science fiction and horror films of its time, and includes elements of transvestism, incest and homosexuality — all within the context of a musical film. Rocky Horror (as its fans casually refer to it) received little critical attention or mainstream cinema exhibition when first released in 1975, but built up a base of fans who repeatedly showed up at midnight screenings at inexpensive neighborhood cinemas, dressed in costume and "participating" in the film by doing such things as throwing rice during its wedding scene. In this case, the film intentionally ridiculed its own subject matter, thereby entering into the spirit of sarcastic fun often surrounding the attainment of cult status. Rocky Horror can be seen as a standard to help determine if a movie is indeed a cult film, as it is likely the most famous cult film. If a movie is more widely known than Rocky Horror, it is not likely to be considered a cult film.

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 some cases, these films tend to enjoy long runs on video, thus being issued in video "runs" with more copies than other movies. The box office bomb Office Space managed to financially redeem itself when word-of-mouth made it a popular video rental. Harold and Maude was not successful financially at the time of its original release in 1971, but has since nevertheless earned a huge cult-following and has become successful following it's video\DVD release. This has also happened with films such as The Big Lebowski, Spaceballs and many others.

Many cult films were independently made and were not expected by their creators to have much mainstream success. Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos, Basket Case, The Evil Dead and Eraserhead have all been commonly acknowledged as having become cult films. Many of directors of these kinds of films such as David Lynch, Lloyd Kaufman and John Waters have managed to gain followings even after achieving financial and mainstream success.

A film can be both a major studio release and a cult film, particularly if despite its affiliation with a major studio, it failed to achieve broad success on either the theatrical or home video markets but was championed by a small number of dedicated film fanatics who seek out lesser-known gems. It is also true that the content of certain films (such as dark subjects, alienation, transgressive content, or other controversial subject matter) can also decide whether or not a film is a "cult film," regardless of the film's budget or studio affiliations.

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.

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. Gay men sometimes refer to themselves as "friends of Dorothy". Singin' in the Rain is another film adopted by the American gay subculture which used to regularly be shown during the 1980s and early 1990s for extended runs.

The 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness has become a cult film within the stoner subculture due to its humorously sensationalized, outdated and inaccurate descriptions of the effects of marijuana. 20th Century Fox and Legend Films released a colorized version of 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.

Lower IT workers and white-collar American workers alike have given Mike Judge's 1999 comedy film Office Space a cult following because of its heroic portrayal of ordinary office employees who become fed up with their jobs, make a stand, and try to overthrow the very corporation they work for.

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

Asian cinema, particularly Hong Kong martial arts films, such as wuxia, and Japanese tokusatsu, primarily from the Daikaiju Eiga, and anime, also has a cult following in the Western hemisphere. The Kaiju genre of films, most famously the Godzilla films, while enjoying much mainstream popularity in Japan, has a large following in the U.S.. Battle Royale has gained cult status in Britain due to the resonance the film has with the disaffected youth of that country.

In India, Bollywood action movies like Sholay, Shaan and Shalimar achieved cult-status.

So-bad-they're-good cult films

Many films enjoy cult status because they are seen as ridiculously awful, for example Plan 9 from Outer Space. 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 and Manos: The Hands of Fate, which have become inadvertent comedies to film buffs. Movies have even achieved cult status by successfully imitating the awfulnesses of so-bad-it's-good movies (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and Amazon Women on the Moon being just two examples.)

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 Breakin', Road House, The Beastmaster, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Creeping Terror, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and the works of Edward D. Wood, Jr. See also: Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Beastmaster is an example of the strange vectors which can lead to cult filmdom, as its reputation stems as much from ubiquitous cable-TV overplay as anything in the film itself.

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. This can be seen as related to the artistic style known as "camp".

A cult classic called Gunda was produced in Bollywood. Starring Mithun Chakraborty and directed by Kanti Shah, the movie is mostly remembered for its poetic dialogue.

The most recent film to gain widespread acclaim under this jurisdiction is Samuel L. Jackson's 2006 film Snakes on a Plane, but this movie has been cited as trying for "so-bad-it's-good" status.

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, Sam Raimi, and Peter Jackson, eventually make successful, mainstream films while others continue to be known only to a small group of fans.

See also

• B-movie
• Cult classic
• Cult following
• Cult television

• Cult radio
• Cult figure
• List of counterculture films
• Midnight movies
• Underground film

External links

• Cult Caretakers An organization that lists, reviews and promotes cult films
• The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre
• The Cult Film Archive
• Razor Reel A Belgian non profit organisation website.
• Subterranean Cinema a site devoted to the study of rare cult films
• Nanarland.com a French site about "So-bad-they're-good cult films"
• The Spinning Image a UK site featuring the internet's Cult Movie Database