The first objective of a film when it’s released in the cinema is to make money. When it doesn’t, it’s mostly forgotten about and deemed to have flopped. However there are some instances where a film, despite flopping, has managed to gather a small number of fans, and while it may still be called a flop, now it has a new title – it has become a cult film.
When people think of cult films they tend to think of films that have little to no chance of being successful in mainstream cinema due to their being: unsettling, unappealing, twisted, shocking, extreme, often hard to define, or just plain odd. This is the way most cult films are, but there are a lucky few that manage one way or another to maintain their cult status while embracing the kind of popularity that much more conventional films enjoy.
While there are many I could choose from, in the end we’re here to discuss successful cult films… without covering The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Here is a film that’s both the definition of a cult film and an acquired taste. It may have roots in the theatre as well as sci-fi and horror, but it’s dominated by outrageousness and bad taste. Also, of course, its camp and transgressive nature and how it portrays its ideas of identity and sexuality, all spearheaded by a screen debut performance by Tim Curry. Safe to say that audiences didn’t think highly of it at all at the time, but that didn’t stop it from taking off through other means like word of mouth and midnight screenings in places such as New York and London. Another part of its impact was the idea of audience participation, where fans would turn up to late-night screenings dressed head to toe as their favourite characters, yell at the screen at the top of their lungs at key moments, and sometimes throw things at the screen.
Films don’t have to be bizarre to become cult films. It may sound unbelievable now, but decades ago there was another flop called It’s A Wonderful Life. When it was first released in 1946 it flopped due to an inflated budget and a saccharine plot that was believed to have pushed old-fashioned values. It’s hard not to think of this as an interesting case of a flop turned success. Saccharine is the right for what this film is, but what stands out to me is the timing. It came out the year after World War II ended. It would be easy to think that in a time like that, a film like this would be welcomed with open arms and could expect the warmest reception possible. Well, that’s not what happened, at least not initially. Its fortunes began to change in the 1970s when the copyright lapsed, which meant TV channels could show it for free every Christmas without fail, and in doing so set it on the course to become the classic that many people enjoy it as today. It may take sentimentality to extremes but there are people who simply can’t envision Christmas without it.
It’s a classic in its genre now, but like the two films I’ve already mentioned Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner flopped when it first came out in 1982. I suspect one of the reasons it flopped was because of what was meant to work in its favour. Having Ridley Scott directing and Harrison Ford in the lead guaranteed interest, but at the time they were only well known for the action and horror-heavy Star Wars and Alien. It’s easy to see why audiences expecting more of the same with these two at the helm were left disappointed when what they got was a slow-paced marriage of sci-fi and film noir, with complex ideas and striking visuals. I don’t think it helped that it came out in the same year as many other sci-fi films like The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and of course E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It may be thought of in a better light now but I don’t think it had an easy time getting there. The sequel Blade Runner 2049 flopped as well, but those who went to see it, myself included, hopefully had a better idea of what they were in for.
So far all the films I’ve mentioned here were all called flops yet were able to find a way to become both popular and successful by their own means. I know I just talked about how they got there but I do think there are other factors that are worth considering.
These films all failed when they first came out due to the majority of audiences not finding much to appreciate about them. With time films have no choice but to age and if some films get worse with age, why shouldn’t some get better? When these films first came out perhaps people had preconceived notions of what they were going to get and were disappointed with what they got. Over time, films are known for finding new audiences, especially those who weren’t able to see it or weren’t even alive when the films first came out. I do think there are times when a new audiences can help, an audience that’s able to look it with fresh eyes and perspective, seeing it as it is, not what they think it should be. Where one part of a film didn’t work for one person when it came out, someone a lot younger could actually end up being fond of it. Fresh perspective applies not just to films but to just about any work of artistic effort like paintings, books and music. I’m sure I’ve had instances where I saw or heard something that I didn’t think too much of at first, but with time and the feeling that I should give it a second chance, ended up liking it more than I originally did.
Something else that comes with a cult film is its fanbase. They spread their affection of the film wherever they can and will try to push into onto friends, family or whoever they think will have even the smallest chance of liking it (or finding it baffling and wondering what the fans see in it).
I know a lot of the cult films I’ve talked about all came out in the 20th century. Don’t get me wrong, the 21st century has plenty of cult films to offer up like Rian Johnson’s Brick. But when I think of cult films from 2000 onwards, there is one that always comes to mind and that’s Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Everything about this film is wrong, the acting, writing, and directing. Despite any real merit or what is meant to pass for merit, it just doesn’t work. But it may have been made by an enigmatic man who thought he was on par with the likes of James Dean and Tennessee Willams with a tragic story about betrayal and human behaviour. That may have been the intention, but Wiseau ended up making something that may be terrible filmmaking, but is also hilarious and it’s impossible to not to find it intriguing how a film like this even saw the light of day. Much like Rocky Horror before it, people heard about The Room through word of mouth and flocked to midnight screenings. Audience participation rituals followed, the best-known one being to throw a spoon whenever one is shown on screen. Scenes from the film were turned into memes on the internet, and on top of all that a book about the making of the film called The Disaster Artist was written by The Room’s Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. That in turn was made into an Oscar-winning film in 2017 with James Franco directing and starring as Wiseau while his brother Dave played Greg Sestero. Make no mistake, The Room is bad, but it’s an enjoyable kind of bad.
It may sound odd to some now but another way cult films became better known was through VHS and DVD sales. It worked with the likes of Rocky Horror and Blade Runner, but the same goes for films like Fight Club, The Big Lebowski and even Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. I’ve only known these films as popular classics – the idea that they were once though of flops seems unthinkable to me, yet that’s what they were.
In the end I think of cult films as a kind of happy accident. They didn’t work out at first but did after some time. Some may remain obscure, while others go on to stand alongside works of cinematic legend with pride. I don’t know if cult films are still out there, but it’s probably only because I haven’t heard of them yet.