There are many classics that have been hailed as masterpieces over time, but there are plenty of movies that win a very specific audience over and are so brilliant that they gain a following of fans that just can't get enough. Eventually, these gain the title of a 'Cult Classic.' The term "cult film" or more commonly known as "cult classic" is used to describe a movie that has generated a significant and highly dedicated fanbase over time. These are the cool misfits, while regular 'classics' are the popular kids.
Updated August 15, 2023: This article has been updated to include new and fresh content for your enjoyment.
There's a plethora of extremely successful movies that have gained a loyal, cult-like following, such as basically every Harry Potter movie, likewise with all the Star Wars movies. Cult classics, however, specifically refer to movies that may be less successful financially or shunned by the mainstream. Nonetheless, they developed a fanbase that engages in things like repeat viewings, dialogue references, and audience participation.
Many agree that such favorites have led to the creation of an elaborate subculture, such as the iconic movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which has gained one of the most prominent cult followings in history. Few movies inspire such a following that when they do, it becomes legendary. The "cults" devoted to these films are worldwide and consider the movies to not just be must-sees, but as important parts of their lives. Here is what exactly makes a movie a cult classic.
The History of the Cult Classic
When a movie receives negative or impartial responses from critics and audiences or doesn't make much money at the box office, they usually fade away and are forgotten with time. However, some of these movies capture a very niche audience and go on to be considered a cult classic. The term came from the "cult-like" behavior from the small and peculiar audiences who became infatuated with such films, usually from midnight showings, though there is sometimes some confusion on what exactly a cult classic is.
Some extremely successful and popular movies may hold an array of quotable dialogue and frequent midnight showings, and some may be under-appreciated and were unable to be financially successful but are still appreciated by critics. Cult classics, though, are neither appreciated nor popular in the mainstream; they often run counter to traditional morals and cinematic conventions and occupy an often bizarre or unique space that is difficult to qualify by genre labels.
The 1932 horror movie Freaks was one of the first cult classics, a box-office bomb that most critics vehemently despised. Several reviews are collected in Angela Smith's landmark book Hideous Progeny: Disability, Eugenics, and Classic Horror Cinema; the motion picture trade journal Harrison's Reports wrote, "Anyone who considers this entertainment should be placed in the pathological ward in some hospital," and The Hollywood Reporter called it an "outrageous onslaught upon the feelings, the senses, the brains and the stomachs of an audience."
Not many films had the possibility to become cult classics at that time because of regular theater turnovers, the fact that movie theaters didn't stay open late enough for midnight screenings until the '60s, and obviously the lack of any home video. Years later, television began programming obscure horrors or simply the weirdest movies late at night, which became known as "midnight movies." This helped develop more regular viewings of less popular movies, some of which would go on to develop a cult following.
During the '70s, "midnight movies" became a more popular event, and it remained regular if ticket sales stayed consistent; for example, 1972's odd reggae crime drama The Harder They Come had a fairly lengthy run at New York City's Elgin Theater. Movies like this and the iconic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, helped make the 1970s not only a great decade for change but revolutionary for cinema, as it reshaped cinematic assumptions.
Watching a Cult Classic
Since then, cult classics have developed traditions that their devoted following participate in regularly. They are now best well known for the use of audience participation, usually by the form of props, callbacks, costumes, and film-based rituals. Fans dress up as their favorite characters and take props to viewings of the movie; this will typically be an item that is in relation to the film, which they will use or throw at the screen after a line or scene in the movie.
Similarly, audiences may shout at the screen to interact, which, according to 'cult' members, is called a callback. The main goal of a callback is to be creative and make the audience laugh. Although these traditions generally take place with cult classics as a whole (like drinking White Russians for The Big Lebowski, possibly at 'Lebowski Fest,' a festival for cult fans of the flick), there may be other, smaller traditions that are specific to that particular movie.
Cult Classic Characteristics
In most cases, cult classics will have been a low-budget movie or a big-budget release that failed to sell tickets during its theatrical run. Either way, they are still appreciated by their small but loyal fanbase. However, over time, movies that start as cult classics have become bigger and more well-known, even by audiences who overlooked them in the first place. Fight Club and Office Space are like this, showing how what may initially be a cult film becomes mainstream as culture changes.
Some cult movies, such as The Room (2003), are supported by fans purely based on the fact that they are terrible movies of the "so bad it's good" variety and have now become popular "midnight movies." On the other hand, a lot of cult classic fans enjoy these movies because they believe they didn't receive the recognition they deserved.
Many mainstream films fade from the public eye after they have been shown in the theater, but the popularity of cult classics keeps growing. The internet and digital streaming has increased this and has produced platforms where fans can share their thoughts and enthusiasm worldwide. There are few films that can have such an effect on film lovers and inspire such dedication from their fans. That is exactly what makes cult classics possibly the best kind of movies.
Cult Classic Vs. Classic
Movies tend to be considered cult classics if they break with what the mainstream deems a "proper" movie, but as mentioned previously, that changes. Back in director Alfred Hitchcock's day, it was considered improper and scandalous for an onscreen kiss to last more than about three seconds, as per the Hays code. He challenged that in every way he could, but he was still considered a great director, and his films a must-see. Disney's The Black Cauldron was disregarded as being too dark for a Disney animated film, but now many young adults are falling in love with the once-forgotten film.
Cult classics tend to bomb at the box office and find new life later down the line. This all begs the question of if a film that seems accepted at first can ever become a cult classic. Does calling a movie that was a massive box office hit a cult classic do a diservice to cult classics?
Take 2023's Barbie, for example. The movie has been widely accepted and praised. It is a box office sensation and will likely be the highest-grossing film of 2023 and even has a chance at becoming an Oscar-nominated film. Some fans are already starting to call it a cult classic, but can it be one if it is a bonafide box office hit?
Similarly to other cult classics, Barbie has already started some traditions. Beyond an obsession with pink, remixes of the Barbie theme song are playing all over social media, and women who see other women out and about wearing the color have been greeting each other by saying, "Hey, Barbie!" The film will likely have a long life after the box office and have a passionate fanbase which is all the makings of a cult classic in theory.
Yet Barbie, by its nature of being a beloved box office hit and a critical darling, would not be a cult classic. It would just be a classic. The same way that franchises like Star Wars or the MCU have. They also have passionate fanbases, but they are not cult classics, they are just classics because they have never been the underdogs. They were accepted as part of the cultural canon from the beginning.
Cult classics, much like indie films, can be hard to define. Sometimes, the lines can blur. But sometimes it is okay to recognize a movie like Barbie as just being a classic from the get-go, and movies like Speed Racer, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and The Big Lebowski were not widely loved at the time but found their audiences later. Cult classics are different than regular classics in that regard, but in the end, they all endure the test of time.