Cult Movie

Often you hear people referring to certain movies as cult movies or cult classic. What does it signify, what are cult movies? Well there is no definite answer to this as this is largely debated for its classification. However there is a widely accepted definition for a cult movie which we can look at…

A cult movie is normally identified by the audience take on the movie. You would see there is a sub community of people who follow appreciate the movie, recite dialogues from it and watch the movie several times. Such a movie would be classified as a cult movie. Usually the cult movie may not do well at the box office but later through TV viewings it might become popular with a sect of people. However this is not a generalization. There are very popular cult movies in the mainstream cinema as well.

Another stark characteristic of a cult movie is its transgression. The movie does not follow the normal path between the good and the bad, but presents a entirely radical scenario in front of the audience that is beyond their imagination. Sometime the different scenario creates a very disturbing effect that it is difficult to accept for many people and appeals only to sect of people thus eventually becoming a cult classic. Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Shawsank Redemption,  Gods Must be Crazy are few examples of cult classics which made well in the mainstream cinema as well and appealed to a wider audience.

The 1990 Amitabh Bachchan’s  Agneepath is a cult classic. The Tamil movie Aranya Kaandam released in 2011 can also be classified as a cult classic. The movie was a flop at the box office but gained popularity among a set of people through TV and DVD viewing.