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Cult films


  • Here are entered works on fiction or nonfiction films that acquire a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans after their release. Works on fiction films about a particular subculture in society are entered under the heading [Subculture films,] subdivided by the appropriate geographic, topical, and/or form subdivisions.
  • This heading is not used for individual cult films. Individual cult films are entered under headings appropriate to the content, genre, and/or form of the film.
  • URI(s)

  • Variants

    • Cult classics
    • Cult movies
  • Broader Terms

  • Closely Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

  • Sources

    • found: Work cat.: Donnie Darko [VR] c2004.
    • found: Lopez, D. Films by genre, c1993:p. 70 (Cult film: a film which is favored by a group of cognoscenti, the followers or admirers of a star, a film director or a theme which has popular appeal, or by a subcultural group whose members have elevated a particular film to the rank of a cult)
    • found: Konigsberg, I. Complete film dictionary, c1998(Cult film, cult movie: A film without wide popularity but that appeals primarily to a particular group or type of person)
    • found: Singleton, R. Filmmakers dictionary, c2000:p. 79 (Cult classic: old movie or tv series, it is adored by a devoted segment of the viewing public)
    • found: Schirmer encyc. of film, 2007:v. 2, p. 17 (Cult films: Though cult movies are often referred to as if they were a specific and particular genre, this is not the case: such films fall into an enormous variety of different formal and stylistic categories. Indeed, many cult movies are characterized as such precisely because of their cross- or multigenre narratives, or other offbeat qualities that take them outside the realm of genre completely. Films can develop cult followings in various ways: on the basis of their modes of production or exhibition, their internal textual features, or through acts of appropriation by specific audiences. [Includes] B-movies and trash, midnight movies, cult classics)
    • found: Wikipedia, Nov. 16, 2007(A cult film is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of this small group; however there have been many exceptions. The term cult film is used to describe a film that has had little success upon its initial release but has later spawned a small, but devoted and usually obsessive fanbase, however there are various exceptions.)
    • found: OCLC, Nov. 16, 2007(title: A-Z of cult films and film-makers; The cult film experience; Cult films and film cults; Defining cult movies; Mary Woronov, cult film star; Cult science fiction films)
  • General Notes

    • Here are entered works on fiction or nonfiction films that acquire a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans after their release. Works on fiction films about a particular subculture in society are entered under the heading [Subculture films,] subdivided by the appropriate geographic, topical, and/or form subdivisions.
    • This heading is not used for individual cult films. Individual cult films are entered under headings appropriate to the content, genre, and/or form of the film.
  • Example Notes

    • Note under [Subculture films]
  • Instance Of

  • Scheme Membership(s)

  • Collection Membership(s)

  • Change Notes

    • 2007-11-16: new
    • 2007-12-21: revised
  • Alternate Formats