Movies - Cult Movies

The Verbi · 04-26-2005, 12:24 AM

What was you fav Cult movie of all time, come in and tell us

Talk about all cults like the worlds big cult fan club Ed wood Jr with his "worst movie ever made" Plan 9 form outer Space

And everyone, remember NO LISTS

**ROCKSTAR** · 04-27-2005, 02:50 PM

I don't have many favorite cult movies because I haven't had the chance to see many of them. But I will read this once a few more people reply so I can use the titles are recommendations.

mh67511 · 04-27-2005, 10:06 PM

What exactly is a cult movie?

I remember working at a theatre a few years ago and they showed this horrible movie "House of 10,000 Corpses." I saw a few minutes and it was horrible; sick and satanic. Is that like a cult movie?

Hybrid-Angel · 04-27-2005, 11:29 PM

A cult movie is a movie with a large fellowing of fans, mh. Like Pulp Fiction, that was a cult hit.

I don't know what mine is.

The Verbi · 04-27-2005, 11:32 PM

Quote:

A cult movie is a movie with a large fellowing of fans. Like Pulp Fiction, that was a cult hit.

Yeah that but its more a movie that didnt do well at the cinemas aswell and did well afterwards like in sales, like Donnie Darko is a cult movie, and some mel Brookes films are cults.

My favourite at the moment would have to be Donnie Darko i love that film

Hybrid-Angel · 04-27-2005, 11:37 PM

Yeah, yeah. Thats it!

Hmm i'd have to say Donnie Darko too.

The Verbi · 04-27-2005, 11:54 PM

Yeah that was such a good movie, very strange and something i still dont understand but i still thought it was great.
My friends allways say how can you like a movie you dont understand but i guess you would have to watch it to understand what im talking about.

xallyx · 04-28-2005, 03:28 AM

Definition: A cult film is a movie that attracts a small but devoted group of obsessive fans or one that has remained popular over successive years amongst a small group of followers. Often the film failed to achieve mainstream success on its original release, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the audience response to a cult film is somewhat different to what was intended by the filmmakers, although usually a film that becomes "cult" started out with unusual elements or subject matter.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_movies

I guess its definition is fairly broad. It spans most genres, but I usually associate it with horror/sci-fi films...

If anyone is interested, here's an article debating whether Kill Bill can be considered a 'cult' film...Also mentions other movies as well.

Quote:

When a cult film's not a cult film

By Stephen Dowling
BBC News Online entertainment staff

Kill Bill Volume 1, which has just gone on release across the UK, has all the hallmarks of 1970s cult films. But is it a cult film itself? BBC News Online delves into the murky world of what makes films cult - or just plain commercial.

Quentin Tarantino arguably became the coolest director of the 1990s, responsible for the iconic failed-heist film Reservoir Dogs and its follow-up, the circuitous Pulp Fiction.

Both were steeped in references to an earlier, less sophisticated era of movie-making - funky, contemporary soundtracks, sudden outbreaks of violence, sharp, hip dialogue - that pointed to the days of 1970s B-movies.

Plus - they were both films that inspired critical adulation, but did not do so well at the box office - only becoming truly popular through video and DVD. It was the stuff cult movies are made of.

Cool and cult

Except - and welcome to the minefield that is delineating cult from just plain cool - they were not themselves cult films. And neither, by association, is Kill Bill.

Confused? Then welcome to the worryingly complex rules of what makes a film cult. Or not, as the case may be.

Colin Kennedy, editor of UK film magazine Empire, argues that if Kill Bill is considered cult "we've moved so far from my understanding of what a cult film to be".

He says: "Kill Bill is a tribute to cult films, and influenced by cult films. Quentin Tarantino references cult films more than any other acknowledged movie-maker working today."

Tarantino's film pays tribute to grindhouse films - the B-movies, Blaxploitation and Hong Kong martial arts films that used to play in scruffy cinemas in rundown areas.

But Mr Kennedy says: "Calling Kill Bill a cult film is like referring to a major band like Radiohead as an 'indie' band."

Indie is a tag which originally denoted a band was signed to an independent record label.

But because the film is produced by Miramax - a major studio - and stars well-known names such as Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and Daryl Hannah, the film is too high profile for the 'cult' label, he argues.

The Italian Job
The original Italian Job - a cult in the US, but not in the UK
Michael Bonner, the film editor for music and film magazine Uncut, agrees.

"You can't count a film if it just happens to be a leftfield movie that has crossover appeal," he says.

"So you can't call Usual Suspects a cult film. That's film noir."

Word of mouth

Also, the two critics agree, a movie can be called be a cult depending on where you were.

"In the US, the original Italian Job was something that you had to seek out," Mr Kennedy says.

"Even in the UK at the start it was a sizeable hit but not huge. And then it became this huge Bank Holiday staple."

So still a cult, but not in the UK.

But it works the other way around as well.

"Blair Witch was a cult hit in the US because of the way it was built up over the internet, and it had no marketing budget, so it was really word of mouth," Mr Kennedy says.

"By the time it came to the UK, there was none of that, because it had made $100m and people were going to see it with a different expectation.

"And they were disappointed."

Successful cults

There are successful films that can still be viewed as cult classics, he says.

28 Days Later has become one of the biggest British films in the US, but could still be regarded as a cult film, thanks to its slender budget, its gloomy worldview and the fact that in the US it showed a different, bleaker ending after 29 days on release.

These are the things that can help a film go cult.

Mr Kennedy's vote for the latest cult film is Donnie Darko - a darkly inventive teen drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and released last year - or Secretary, starring another Gyllenhaal, Maggie.

Maybe the simple formula in years to come to decipher whether a film is cult or not is whether there's a Gyllenhaal in the credits.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...lm/3152596.stm

UnsilentMajorty · 04-28-2005, 06:49 AM

Here is another thread that is related to this discussion and that talks about what the article is asking about cult and independent films these days.

The big factor that may be "destroying" the cult-film is the DVD market.

This seems counter-intuitive since DVD and home-video is where a lot of films gain their cult followings... But like the article says and like I ask on the other thread... The fact that there are so many "indie" films that go directly to DVD these days and that are specifically made to cater to a specific (aka smaller) audience is taking away the status of what used to be reserved for truly cult-style films and is allowing any film -- good or bad -- To become an "instant" cult hit just because of the availability of DVD and home video technology versus the early years when this technology wasn't widely available to the masses and a cult film really had to earn its status.

I think the most recent cult films in my mind are "Garden State" and "Before Sunset".

BUT are these really cult-films because they have big name stars and were produced by mainstream studios (Warner Brothers did BS and Jersey Films/Miramax did GS)?

The Verbi · 04-28-2005, 07:32 AM

Yeah i guess thats all true but also most cults are independent films not usualy by mainstream studios

OThFreak.Lauren · 04-28-2005, 08:27 AM

Fight Club ...And Lord of the Rings of course

Dark Half Undine · 04-28-2005, 08:31 AM

The whole thing about popularity is true but I also think that cult has become more about the audience than the films successes and failures.

I mean look at Star Wars, those movies are in no way the definition of cult yet it is considered a cult film because of the obsessive following of its fans.

I think fans make a cult movie personally. When a movie has people who go beyond the normal love of a film that is cult, because what is cult but an obsessive underground following? The movie doesn't have to be underground for the fans to be.

**ROCKSTAR** · 04-28-2005, 03:12 PM

Wow, this has developed into a wonderful topic!

Some of the movies mentioned here are popular cult movies which I also love. There are lesser known cult movies which I haven't seen.

One of my favorites has always been The Lost Boys. Oh and one I forgot to mention in my first post was Go, it's a wonderful film, daughter of pulp fiction. It's one of the best teenage/young adult comdies, American Pie has nothing on Go.

Dark Half Undine · 04-28-2005, 04:16 PM

I think one of my favorite cult movies is the 5th Element. I love that movie so much! Bruce Willis is hot!

**ROCKSTAR** · 04-28-2005, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Half Undine

I think one of my favorite cult movies is the 5th Element. I love that movie so much! Bruce Willis is hot!

I saw that one in the theater but I was with a big group so I never found out what the heck it was all about!

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