Maybe there is no other category that is more prestigious to a film. And it is to be considered within cult films.
There is no standard parameter to define tapes with this status. Sometimes they are at odds with quality. At other times, despite the praise they receive, they are ignored at the big awards (mainly the Oscar).
A cult film transcends fashion and time. It is much more than a movie with a fan club.
Cult Movies and the Box Office
In theory, are incompatible with the great successes of the "box office”. However, with the popularization of the term, there are now Cult Directors, whose films raise significant sums of money.
Of the most notable: Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton. We must also name George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Pedro Almodóvar, among many others.
Citizen Kaneby Orson Welles (1941)
At the time of its premiere, it was ignored by the public and hardly considered by critics. He won the Oscar only as Best Original Screenplay, despite accumulating 8 nominations. That year it would win for Best Film How green was my valley, by John Ford, a film that few remember, despite the legend of its director. For many, it is the best film in the history of cinema.
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most iconic cult directors of the last 20 years. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It revitalized John Travolta's career and brought in more than $ 200 million at the box office.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacreby Tobe Hoper (1974)
If there is a film genre with several cult films, it is horror. Low-budget and dubious quality productions stand out (Cinema Series B), but with a legion of admirers that surprises many.
Mementoby Christopher Nolan (2000)
He is the highest grossing Director of Cult today, thanks mainly to his Dark Knight trilogy. His latest film, Dunkirk, has served to further enhance its prestige. Before fame, he filmed Memento on a low budget and semi-independently. It was one of the most talked about films of the beginning of the new millennium.
Mars Attack!by Tim Burton (1996)
Another cult director whose prestige is based on his cinematic vision of Batman. Mars Attack! It is one of his most misunderstood films, according to his loyal fans. It was released two years after Ed Wood (1994), his tribute to who is considered the worst director of all time.
Donnie Darkoby Richard Kelly (2001)
It's from the last 20 years, the quintessential cult movie. Released in a limited way in the United States, just days after the attack on the Twin Towers. It went almost directly to home video, but it generated such an expansive wave that in 2004 it returned to theaters.
The Wizard of Ozby Victor Fleming (1939)
Su high budget and practically zero reception by the public, almost dragged its production house, Metro Goldwin-Mayer, into bankruptcy. It has always been considered a work of art, especially by film directors.
Star Wars: Episode IV-A New Hopeby George Lucas (1977)
Many are reluctant to consider this film within the category of Cult Movies. It is preferred to include American Grafiti, Lucas's previous production. The contributions of the Star Wars the development of cinema as art and as spectacle are unquantifiable. In addition to the film itself, the soundtrack composed by John Williams, is another product with a tireless legion of fans.
Infernal possessionby Sam Raimi (1981)
Before venturing out with Spiderman, Sam Raimi made fame as a supernatural-diabolical horror film director, with Series B films. His production, conceived as a student project, is an iconic chapter in American commercial cinema.
The Crowby Alex Proyas (1994)
The notoriety of this film, beyond its gothic and diabolical elements, is due solely to the death of its protagonist during filming. Brandon Lee (son of the legendary martial arts actor Bruce Lee), died of a gunshot wound in the middle of the set. On this fact, officially declared as a "terrible work accident", the most varied conspiracy theories have been woven.
Requiem for a dreamby Darren Aronofsky (2000)
The cult of the works of the New York director Darren Aronofsky would begin with this film. It hardly generated interest in the “general public”. Almost instantaneously, it would become part of the subjects of cinematographic analysis in universities in much of the world.
Oldboyby Pak Chan-uk (2003)
South Korean production, this film managed to cultivate a legion of fans in Europe and America. He received the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Night of the Living Dead, by George A. Romero (1968)
More B Series cinema, now with the undead as protagonists. It's to the zombie apocalypse movies that Star Wars it's to space movies. The simplicity of its plot and its production, in addition to its abundant graphic violence, would mark the genre from now on.
Blade Runnerby Ridley Scott (1981)
Scott came from directing Alien, the eighth passenger. Harrinson Ford began to cement his legend, after achieving notoriety as Han Solo and becoming a star thanks to Indiana Jones. Despite these ingredients (it also promised to be a futuristic story with great special effects), the film would turn into a fiasco. Many criticized its slow pace and plot complexity.
However, as the years passed, the myth around this pessimistic story grew gradually. So much so that 35 years later its sequel is released.
Cannibal holocaust, by Roggero Deodato (1980)
Gore cinema at its finest. Almost 40 decades later, it continues to be a difficult tape for many people to process. Around its enormous visual violence, a group of worshipers has settled, who see in this Italian-Colombian production, a satire of human civilization.
Image sources: