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Cult Films | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

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Cult Films

Cult films are motion pictures that are favored by individual groups of self-appointed connoisseurs who establish special meanings for the films of a particular director or star or those which deal with a particular theme. In practical terms, however, cult status can be conferred on almost any film. In fact, such an occurrence is particularly sought after by filmmakers to maintain interest in the film once its initial theatrical run has been completed. Thus cult films might be more accurately defined as those special films which, for one reason or another, "connect" with a hard-core group of fans who never tire of viewing them or discussing them.

Cult films, by their very nature, deal with extremes, eschewing, for the most part, middle of the road storylines and character stereotypes commonly seen in Hollywood studio products. These normally small movies present unusual if not totally outrageous protagonists involved in bizarre storylines that resolve themselves in totally unpredictable ways. According to Daniel Lopez's Films by Genre, cult films may be divided into three basic categories: popular cult, clique movies, and subculture films.

A prime example of the first type is George Lucas's 1977 Star Wars, which began as an evocation of the Saturday matinee serials of the 1940s and 1950s.

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Cult Films from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

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