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...

[Boosh]

Originally Posted by AYBGerrardo

And Fight Club...

I seem to remember that being commercially
and critically well recieved.

[AYBGerrardo]

Originally Posted by Boosh

I seem to remember that being commercially
and critically well recieved.

When it came out on DVD, yes.
On theatrical release, Total Film was one of the few magazines to recognise it as the masterpiece that it is. Most were appalled by the apparent preaching of violence etc!
e.g. Entertainment Weekly in America despised it, then later named it as Must-Have DVD of the Year!
Roger Ebert's reversal is my favourite: not prepared to admit he was wrong with his first review, he weakly suggested the film was more concerned with style than meaning...
Anyway, I believe I read it was the same thing commercially - awful results on theatrical, great on DVD.

[Boosh]

I stand corrected.

[ray100]

AFAIK Pitch Black did not make a big splash with the critics or box office on initial release, but developed a cult following on dvd. This enabled the lavish but commercially unsuccessful Chronicles of Riddick to be made.