The Michigan Times

Issue date: 11/7/03 Section: Arts & Entertainment

A cult classic is hard to find, hence the status of it being an underground movie that has reached popularity through the general public. Whether people act out the movie dressed in their underwear ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show") or a group of guys robbing a bank with only colors as their names ("Reservoir Dogs"), a cult film has the following needed to keep it from fading into obscurity.

The cult film can be traced to its birth at any film festival around the globe, such as the Sundance Film Festival, or the Cannes Film Festival. "Pulp Fiction" got its great start in Cannes in 1994 where it won Best Picture. You know where the film has gone from there. A lot of movies can get their start at these festivals, with awards highlighting the most artistic and brilliant works of that year.

Obviously, the cream of the crop are picked up by word of mouth, and that word is distributed by the cult classic followers themselves. Of course I am talking about the college student. It's hard to go a day without referencing something from Mike Judge's "Office Space," and I know I can easily get tired of Samuel L. Jackson quotes from any Quentin Tarantino movie. But not all cult classics are based on action and comedy that excels at a Film Festival.

The "Evil Dead" trilogy is a prime example of a horror movie gaining cult status as a favorite for fake blood and overexposed gore. Films like this in the 70's have also become popular in public and underground, such as "The Exorcist." It's films like these that have given way for "Cabin Fever" and "The House of the Dead" this year, and will continue to birth "old school" type horror movies later on. Is it the terrible acting and overly, and sometimes unnecessary, violence that brings a new life into these films, or is it just want the population of America wants?

It's hard to tell what movies will become cult classics. While "Fight Club" bombed at theatres and has become a craze around the nation, "Gigli" also did poorly in box office sales, yet probably won't be a best-seller on DVD. It's at those times we reflect on the movies that make our life worthwhile. You can find them in the video store, with one copy shoved in the back.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools