ENGL 4200
Cult Film
Syllabus
Cult cinema by definition has a transgressive
quality to it. As such, many of the films
screened and discussed in this class contain
drug references, violence, nudity, frank
depictions
of
sexuality
(including
homosexuality/ bisexuality), and language
that you may consider objectionable. If you
cannot tolerate material of this kind, you
should consider dropping this course now.
Students will be expected to behave in an
adult manner that is sensitive to the various
views of your classmates. You are not
required to like or approve of everything we
watch or discuss, but you are expected to
contribute to the discussion in a constructive
and respectful manner.
What is Cult Film?
“Cult Films have limited but very special appeal.
Cult films are usually strange, quirky, offbeat,
eccentric, oddball, or surreal, with outrageous,
weird, unique and cartoony characters or plots,
and garish sets. They are often considered
controversial because they step outside
standard narrative and technical conventions.
They can be very stylized, and they are often
flawed or unusual in some striking way.”
-from filmsite.org
“A cult film refers to a movie that has a
devoted following, perhaps undeserved by
the movie’s quality, box office performance,
or critical reviews. The cult film is often
measured by its continued popularity in DVD
sales or rentals, long after other popular
films have lost their steam and are marked
down for quick sale or remain collecting dust
on the shelves of video stores.”
-from wisegeek.org
“Cult films are usually identified and valorized in
far too vague a manner, precisely because they
seem marginalized or eccentric in some way. Yet
they are what they are--and they are valuable-because they are peculiar.”
-from “Film and the Culture of Cult” by Timothy Corrigan, in
The Cult Film Experience: Beyond All Reason
“A cult film is a film with an active and lively communal
following. Highly committed and rebellious in its
appreciation, its audience regularly finds itself at odds with
the prevailing cultural mores, displaying a preference for
strange topics and allegorical themes that rub against
cultural sensitivities and resist dominant politics. Cult films
transgress common notions of good and bad taste, and
they challenge genre conventions and coherent
storytelling, often using intertextual references, gore,
leaving loose ends, or creating a sense of nostalgia. They
frequently have troublesome production histories,
coloured by accidents, failures, legends, and mysteries
that involve their stars and directors, and in spite of oftenlimited accessibility, they have a continuous market value
and a long-lasting public presence.”
-from The Cult Film Reader (p11)
Cult film can typically be defined/ identified
through four major elements:
•Anatomy
•Consumption
•Political Economy
•Cultural Status
from The Cult Film Reader
Anatomy
elements and features of the film itself, such as
content, style, format, and generic modes
•innovation
•badness
•transgression
•genre
•intertextuality
•loose ends
•nostalgia
•gore
from The Cult Film Reader
Consumption
the way a film is received--by audiences, fans, and
critics
•active celebration
•communion and community
•liveness
•commitment
•rebellion
•alternative canonization
(paracinema)
from The Cult Film Reader
Political
Economy
physical/ financial conditions of the film’s presence-ownerships, intentions, promotions, channels of
presentation, manner of exhibition
•production
•promotion
•reception
from The Cult Film Reader
Cultural
Status
cultural context (ethical and political landscape, laws
and regulations) and the manner in which a film
interacts with/ counters this context
•strangeness
•allegory
•cultural sensitivities
•politics/ political atmosphere
from The Cult Film Reader
A selection of cult films:
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
A Clockwork Orange
Reefer Madness
Casablanca
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Repo Man
Rocky Horror Picture Show Glen or Glenda
Eraserhead
Showgirls
The Wicker Man
Blade Runner
Dazed and Confused
Star Trek franchise
American Graffiti
Evil Dead I & II
El Topo
Army of Darkness
Night of the Living Dead
Heathers
Repo: The Genetic Opera Barbarella
Rock N’ Roll High School Times Square
This is Spinal Tap
The Warriors
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Superfly
Jubilee
The Big Lebowski
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Pink Flamingos
What do these films have in common?
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
for next week:
Read: Havis Chpaters 1 & 2
Cult Film Reader Editorial Intro, Introduction, and 1.2
“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction,”
and the Midnight Movies handout on “Drugs”