Wikipedia's List of cult films
#1
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Wikipedia's List of cult films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cult_films
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
#4
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cult_films
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
#5
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
It's a cult film because it bombed and was forgotten, but then found a Rabid following when it aired on tv. The around the clock broadcasts are because of the cult-like popularity.
#6
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
Some ICM lists that I've been working on:
The New Cult Canon
My Duck is Dead
Badmovies.org
The Deuce
500 Essential Cult
The New Cult Canon
My Duck is Dead
Badmovies.org
The Deuce
500 Essential Cult
#7
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
There are differing opinions as to what constitutes a "cult movie." The Wiki list has a good number of movies and some that I wouldn't have on the list (ie Sound of Music). To me a cult movie should be out of the mainstream. An oddity.
#8
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
I think a big part of the "cult movie" status during the 80s and 90s was the fact these films were difficult to see. You had to catch a screening at an old rep theatre or an art gallery or a midnight showing of an old 16MM print at some dive club you'd never go to otherwise. Your "cult"-like devotion was proven by the fact you'd go out of your way just to see a dumb movie (not even for the first time). Now that pretty much everything is available on DVD and streaming (the top of this page has a Blu-Ray ad for THUNDERCRACK for God's sake!), the whole "cult movie" label feels to me like its lost much of its uniqueness.
#9
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
But then again, I also don't consider It's a Wonderful Life to be a cult classic. The Wizard of Oz is debatable.
#10
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
Finding success after theatrical release in and of itself doesn't make it cult. And ACS is about as mainstream as they come, it was just discovered later. I think the asian diner scene and the leg lamp give the "cult status" a little more weight, but it's well past that now.
But then again, I also don't consider It's a Wonderful Life to be a cult classic. The Wizard of Oz is debatable.
But then again, I also don't consider It's a Wonderful Life to be a cult classic. The Wizard of Oz is debatable.
It's a Wonderful Life and Wizard of Oz are simply "classics", not "cult classics".
#11
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
Both It's A Wonderful Life and Wizard of Oz tanked on release as well and gained massive followings thanks to airings on TV. It's a Wonderful Life wasn't revived until the 70s when the Copyright was allowed to lapse.
Last edited by RichC2; 01-02-16 at 07:13 PM.
#12
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
Wizard of Oz didn't tank. It underperformed because it was MGM's most expensive film ever made up to that point. It was nominated for best picture for goodness sake.
It's a Wonderful Life did genuinely meet with little interest from audiences and critics of the time.
It's a Wonderful Life did genuinely meet with little interest from audiences and critics of the time.
#13
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
I would say that sometimes a cult movie "graduates" to the mainstream, as A Christmas Story has done. Would you really consider something like The Princess Bride or Citizen Kane to be a cult movie, today?
#14
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cult_films
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
I'm planning to watch more cult films this year, and was wondering if wiki's list is a good source. Are there movies missing? or maybe someone can link to better sites?
I was a bit surprised to see Splice (2009) listed. I mean, I like the movie but I never thought it was a cult film. And shouldn't A Christmas Story (1983) be on the list?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_Movies_(book)
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
I think a big part of the "cult movie" status during the 80s and 90s was the fact these films were difficult to see. You had to catch a screening at an old rep theatre or an art gallery or a midnight showing of an old 16MM print at some dive club you'd never go to otherwise. Your "cult"-like devotion was proven by the fact you'd go out of your way just to see a dumb movie (not even for the first time). Now that pretty much everything is available on DVD and streaming (the top of this page has a Blu-Ray ad for THUNDERCRACK for God's sake!), the whole "cult movie" label feels to me like its lost much of its uniqueness.
#17
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
That list relies on way too broad a definition of "cult film." To call CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE, WIZARD OF OZ and WUTHERING HEIGHTS "cult films" is absurd by any standard. Although, to be fair, Danny Peary's book, "Cult Movies," a seminal work on the subject, includes the first three of those. When I was a film student 40 years ago, the reigning cult films were things like EL TOPO, PINK FLAMINGOS, ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, REEFER MADNESS, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. And, a little later, the Ed Wood films, particularly GLEN OR GLENDA and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Edgar G. Ulmer's DETOUR was the first noir that became a cult film that I can recall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_Movies_(book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_Movies_(book)
#18
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
My definition would eliminate mainstream hit movies, which would shorten this list iconsideately. What exactly, for instance, is the "cult" audience for The Sound of Music? Mainstream movies may indeed have cults, but that doesn't make the film a cult film. If so, the the term "cult film" is rendered meaningless, since any movie with a passionate following could be considered a cult film. I hope the term continues to be used to showcase movies that have been overlooked or forgotten since they were released. And not for films that get whole days on TV to be repeatedly shown over and over again.
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
Cult Film can mean many things. There is a "cult" of Sound of Music fans. Subtitled sing a long events are frequently held at revival theaters.
Casablanca is a cult film in the sense that the "Bogart Cult" was a real thing that started at Harvard and spread nationwide in the '60s and '70s. You might not realize it, but the Bogart Cult is the reason he is a household name today. There was a huge revival wave of his work and he became more famous in death than he was while alive.
Casablanca is a cult film in the sense that the "Bogart Cult" was a real thing that started at Harvard and spread nationwide in the '60s and '70s. You might not realize it, but the Bogart Cult is the reason he is a household name today. There was a huge revival wave of his work and he became more famous in death than he was while alive.
Last edited by Mabuse; 01-05-16 at 12:44 PM.
#20
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
To me, a cult film is one that has been generally dismissed by most everyone, both critically and popularly, but there exists a small but extremely devoted core audience for the film. Night of the Living Dead started as a cult film, since it was mostly neglected by critics (for those who chose to review it, they were almost unanimous in reviling it) and was never a high-profile release, but there was that small, loyal group of supporters who championed it. It's no longer a cult film, as it's broken out into the mainstream, helped tremendously by its public domain status and the advent of home video.
A more recent example would be Gummo. The average moviegoer has never heard of it, and it has a 33% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has a group of hardcore fans who are quite adamant in their appreciation of it. I'm not one of them, but there's no denying that it's a cult film.
DVD Josh's assertion that home video has killed the concept of cult movies seems wrong to me. I can see his point as far as access to films goes, but I think that home video has actually boosted the number of cult movies. For instance, twenty years ago, Make Way for Tomorrow was practically unknown, but Criterion's release of the film has created a cult for it. The average person has still never heard of the film, and it has very few reviews listed at Rotten Tomatoes, but Criterion's discs have won the film a small but very devoted group of fans.
So, just because Thundercrack has been released on DVD and Blu-ray doesn't mean that it can't still be a cult film. The audience that will appreciate it (its cult) will grow due to the heightened exposure the new release brings, but it's not going to EVER be enough in line with mainstream sensibilities to break out from being a cult film into being a "classic," nor will the average Redbox user ever even hear of its release.
A more recent example would be Gummo. The average moviegoer has never heard of it, and it has a 33% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has a group of hardcore fans who are quite adamant in their appreciation of it. I'm not one of them, but there's no denying that it's a cult film.
DVD Josh's assertion that home video has killed the concept of cult movies seems wrong to me. I can see his point as far as access to films goes, but I think that home video has actually boosted the number of cult movies. For instance, twenty years ago, Make Way for Tomorrow was practically unknown, but Criterion's release of the film has created a cult for it. The average person has still never heard of the film, and it has very few reviews listed at Rotten Tomatoes, but Criterion's discs have won the film a small but very devoted group of fans.
So, just because Thundercrack has been released on DVD and Blu-ray doesn't mean that it can't still be a cult film. The audience that will appreciate it (its cult) will grow due to the heightened exposure the new release brings, but it's not going to EVER be enough in line with mainstream sensibilities to break out from being a cult film into being a "classic," nor will the average Redbox user ever even hear of its release.
#22
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
For a while I used that Wikipedia article for a checklist. Their definition may be too broad, but was as good a list as any. (It's gotten a lot longer since then.) People are going to agree on a definitive list of cult movies right after they settle on the definitive list of films noir.
Last edited by Nick Danger; 01-05-16 at 08:20 PM.
#23
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Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
A cult film is like a secret. A select few know the secret. Some may accidently stumble across the secret, or someone who knows the secret will let someone in on it. If the secret gets out and everybody knows it, the cult film is no longer a cult film.
The midnight showings of Rocky Horror, with the dress up, props, etc., went on for quite a while without anyone knowing about it. The only way to find out about it was for someone you knew to turn you on to it. Eventually the media heard about it and the secret was out. TV news, newspapers and magazines ran stories about it and then everybody knew about it and would go check it out.
The midnight showings of Rocky Horror, with the dress up, props, etc., went on for quite a while without anyone knowing about it. The only way to find out about it was for someone you knew to turn you on to it. Eventually the media heard about it and the secret was out. TV news, newspapers and magazines ran stories about it and then everybody knew about it and would go check it out.
#24
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
By that definition, there are very few cult movies. I saw Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story in a theater. That was a secret, because Mattel's lawyers are trying to suppress it. No one was ever keeping Pink Flamingos a secret, and I think everybody considers that a cult film.
#25
Re: Wikipedia's List of cult films
You got a point there. John Woo was a cult director and then suddenly everybody heard of him and it wasn't a cult anymore. As one colleague of mine put it after a New York Times article on Woo in 1993: "He's not our dirty little secret anymore."