What is a “cult film”?

Wiki defines it in 3 key points

1. highly devoted but specific group of fans2. usually explore topics not considered in any way mainstream3. they step outside standard narrative and technical conventions

1st point is mandatory,2nd and 3rd,need to have one.

Why you can’t define a cult film only by its fanbase

Because… some early works of cinema masters are much less known then the major

works,but they surely got their fans,do you call them cult films?

Certaintly not!!

What cult films are like??

These “genres” all belong to the big cult family

Camp

Pink films

Indie

Giallo

Mocumentary

Avant-garde

B-movies

“Too bad it’s good” films

Some questions raised

Question 1:

Is “cult” a permanent adjective?what if a film gets its fame,and

becomes well known?Can it still be called “cult film”?

For example,this

And this

And … this

Question 2

How do you define the fanbase of cult films?

It’s obvious you can’t define it in numbers.Like if a film has 1000

fans,and it’s cult,but 10000 it’s not?? It’s ridiculous!!

Oh,so you are saying the fan group is outside the mainstream,then how

do you define mainstream? Can’t mainstream audience love cult

films?

What if I made a horror film with my DV and my family members and

friends all loved it but nobody else?Did I make a cult film?

Question 3

Is cult a label of film or it can be also used to describe a director?

Like we say.. Quentin Tarantino is a cult director

Or even… Monty Python is a cult group

Question 4

Are cult films getting less and less these days?

I never know,but I’ve got the feelings

If you think you fully understand what a cult film is,help me judge if

the following films are cult films,they are included in lists from

some famous sites

The 50 Greatest Cult Movies of All Time

The 34 Greatest Cult Movies Of All Time

And this one,it’s not in the Criterion cult film list

Ok,Guys,Thoughts??

Produced by David Zou

Visit My Blog: Taste of Cinema

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