Word Counts Suck.

Alex here, just finished my article. And to be honest ive no idea how it'll fit on a double page spread, its 1488 words on cult films as a whole and a few cult classics.

Enjoy, constructive criticism is always welcome.

If you were to drive past a movie theatre at midnight in America in the late 1970s you could be fooled into thinking you were passing a rather unsubtle prostitute convention. When infact you would be passing the que of people waiting to buy their ticket to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ dressed from head to toe (in a way) with PVC leather and spandex in homage to the films characters. This is because this film gained ‘cult’ status. The word cult refers to a social group who all follow the same ideologies of something out side of the mainstream and which deviates from the norm. Slap the word film on to the end of it and you get ‘cult film’. Cult films are particularly known to of failed commercially at the cinemas (bar a few exceptions such as Tarantino’s ‘Pulp fiction’) and out side of their relatively small fan bases. These fan bases over time become obsessive and slightly obscure as they transcend into the depths of fandom, hence why they are compared to ‘cults’. Simple. Cult Films can be identified thanks to the conventions with in them; they are usually eccentric, obscure, random and go against the traditional narratives found in the more generic genres such as action and drama. These are the ‘alternatives’ of cinema in a way as they at times can be called controversial as they turn their backs on the ‘Hollywood cinema’ that we all know and love and instead tell magnificent stories and highlight innovative exotic topics that no other film would dare touch upon such as space travelling transvestites from the planet Transsexual in the Galaxy of Transylvania!

Cult films have generally remained popular within their fan bases for a very long period of time. This is evident as ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ ran weekly in cinemas for over thirty years, but the majority of cult films have found their fame thanks to word of mouth and the introduction of home cinema such a video tapes and DVDs. But there are some films, some few films who have stepped out side the boundaries of their creepy erratic fan bases and appealed to larger audiences. These films are called, ‘Cult Classics’ and stand in stark contrast to the ‘so bad its good’ type of cult film. However my focus is on the classics and I am here to run you through some of the best, or worst, depends on the way you look at it, cult films.

The first film that as already been previously mentioned is ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ also known as the film in which Tim curry dresses as a woman. Before I watched this film I had spoken to a friend about it and she had told me “do not watch it and then try to figure out some sort of plausible story, you will not find one’. She could have not been more right. It is regarded as one of the most well known cult films (that is quite an oxymoron of sorts) and one of the longest running and it is built on the foundations of old sci-fi b-movies and horrors with elements of homosexuality, gender bending, incest all the while churning out song after song, the famous of which is most probably ‘The Time Warp’. Although the film failed to receive any commercial or critical attention on its first release it managed to build up its fan base at small neighbourhood cinemas that showed the film every week at midnight (another common convention for a cult film is that it graces the ‘midnight movie screen’). It is easy to see why this film has the status and fan base it has, it takes into account all of the conventions’ of cult films to create a musical loosely (emphasis on loosely) tied together with the shoe laces of obscurity. My friend was right. At the end of the film I sat in silence, confused and bedazzled at what I had just watched. Needless to say I shall never look at Susan Sarandon in the same way again.

Quentin Tarantino is a very well known and respectable film maker, his first film ‘Reservoir Dogs’ was one that gained some commercial success and was voted one of the best independent films of all time. Tarantino was praised as an indy film maker who used various popular culture references within his films and his films such as ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Pulp fiction’ have gained cult status due to their slightly controversial nature such as the glorification of violence, stylish violence that is and the contempary nonlinear story lines that keep the viewer guessing at every turn. ‘Reservoir Dogs’ was released in 1992 and the film revolves around the aftermath of a botched heist through the 6 colour coded criminals. The film was criticised for its excessive violence and the most memorable of which being the ‘ear cutting scene’. The film was made popular by video tapes as people saw it after seeing Tarantino’s later film, ‘Pulp fiction’. A crime drama famed for its a-list cast and ironic mix of humour and violence coupled with its non linear story make this classic Tarantino and classic cult. Fifth on IMDBs top 250 films, “a combination of gritty violence and wonderful dialogue makes this film stand out and forever will”.

A favourite film of mine is ‘Donnie Darko’. The story we've heard a million times before, boy meets psychotic bunny (which may or may not be a metaphor for his own actions), bunny tells boys time of the worlds destruction, wackiness ensues. The film is considered a cult film amongst many as it is essentially a film about time travel, a demonic bunny, and a screwed up adolescent in the mix of it, relate we cannot, never the less people loved it as “it draws you in, chews you up, then spits you out in a severe state of confusion”. These plots are ones you would never find in your average film. It played weekend midnights at New York's Two Boots Pioneer Theatre for 28 straight months and developed cult classic status among its audiences, although not a financial hit in the cinema it is one of the highest selling DVDs.

We get a lot of cool things from Japan, ‘Final Fantasy’, Godzilla and crazy gadgets but things that Japan are not too famous for over her is films. However there are two that have come over here and won hearts with their violent futuristic nature. These films are ‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Akira’. ‘Battle Royale’ managed to appeal to the anarchic youth of our country with its violent storyline where classes of children are ordered to kill each other and ‘Akira’ did for anime what ‘Blade Runner’ did for sci-fi, it was the first great anime film that western society took too making it cult film with a large fan base panned over continents with its youth delinquency, social unrest and bleak out look on the future made it “a film In a class of its own”.

Director Tim Burton released ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ in 1993 and thanks to its dark nature not found in typical Disney films it failed to attract any attention. A few years later and the film had sparked, and adopted as a cult film by the youth. A decade later and the film is practically mainstream as it is so well known, this is to the dismay of ‘real fans’ as “people walk around with Jack Skellington shirts with out even seeing the film” as merchandise for the film sells better now than it ever did upon release as it is linked to the ‘emo’ sub genre. If TNBC was a band they would be branded sell outs.

Many cult films come out of America, but no one does them quite like Kevin Smith. As his films are renowned for their clever dialogue and original plot ideas they have found their feet as cult classics quickly with the likes of ‘Clerks’, ‘Mallrats’ and the o so controversial ‘Dogma’. All his films have been produced at a relatively low production cost which is one of the factors why the fans love them. “More films should be like Kevin’s” is a quote I hear from film buffs everywhere. Another American cult film is ‘Fight Club’, a film that’s storyline takes twists and turns that I for one never expected, with a hard hitting cast of Edward Norton and Brad Pitt it is a film that stands out amongst many with its dark take on cults them self. Finally our own home grown cult film; ‘Trainspotting’. It reignited British film in the nineties and people loved it with its bizarre blend of surrealism and realism. It is a feast for the eyes and the ears as its sound track is above exceptional for the time. A film that changed the face of cinema.

Eccentric, obscure, awesome.

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