Cult films? Which ones are cult?

People always tell me I should watch more cult films.

How am i supposed to know which ones are cult films. I think the studios or maybe government agencies should deign certain films to be 'Cult', so that maybe those of us without a deep interest in films can stay in the loop.

Perhaps there could be some sort of random system, where a film is given 'Cult Status' based on random selection, then there could be a 'Cult Films' section in rental venues and on video cases.

[Buried At Sea]

i always thought cult films were just werid indie films.

[whereistheline]

I think of cult films that are just very popular, possibly indie films.
But it's generally films like Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Psycho, Kill Bill, that sort of thing I would class as cult.

[fortunesfool]

A Cult movie is a film which the studio no longer makes money from but is kept alive by a loyal fanbase.

Star Wars is not a cult film because its still a license to print money. The Blues Brothers, The Ninth Configuration, The Keep are all 'cult' movies but the line gets a little blurred nowadays because studios realise they're 'cult' movies and rerelease them on dvd.

It's overused to the point that movies are called 'cult' before anyone's seen them. Donnie Darko for example was sold as a 'cult' movie because the studio didn't know what to make of it.

I'm sure most people on here could recommend a few 'cult' movies but it's really about movies you love dearly for whatever reason.

I love William Peter Blatty so I can recommend The Ninth Configuration and Exorcist 3 as a double bill. I'm sure you won't be lost for other suggestions around here.

[Boosh]

The Wikipedia definition of cult film is: a film that has had little or no success commercially and/or critically upon its initial release but has later spawned a small, but devoted and usually obsessive fanbase.

So The Shawshank Redemption is a shining example of a cult film.

[AYBGerrardo]

And Fight Club...

[BobAlmighty]

What genre do you think produces the most cult classics? Cult films can be any genre, but the usual genres are science fiction, fantasy and horror, which do you think is the most prolific?

[ellaphant34]

I think its horror and particularly zombie films, there are so many in the zombie-style!

[BobAlmighty]

Yeah horror seems to be a big one, but what about the likes of LOTR, or old school classics like Legend? The nscience fiction seems to dominate a large portion nwith things like Star Wars, Star Trek, Solaris, etc.

[BatSteve]

I think horror gets the bulk of cult movies simply because the audience is somewhat more willing to embrace something a little silly and unusual in that setting. I mean Sci-Fi has it's own cult following but you could almost argue that horror is a different thing entirely. To answer the question I'd agree that horror has the largest number of films that could be considered cult but that may be because so many horror movies are made per year.