I’ve seen only about half of these, but The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai is the only one that stands out as a potential camp classic-to-be.
I’ve only seen half of the movies on this list, but I voted for “Let the Right One In.”
I voted for In Bruges. Easily my favorite out of what I’ve seen there.
There’s four legitimately great films in there (and a couple I haven’t seen I can’t comment on), but they are:
In Bruges
Let the Right One In
Primer
Once
A strange survey …. interesting though.
Of course, this list is incomplete without Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Until that film is added this is all really just academic.
I’d vote for Buckaroo if it were on the list.
@Blue K – great minds think alike. exactly my choice. I like some of the other films better but few of them have the cult credibility of Glamorous Life…
Strange survey indeed….why is the only Balkan film there a “torture porn”? Prejudiced poll BFI, way to go…I thought you were a mature publishing company, sigh…
*There’s four legitimately great films in there (and a couple I haven’t seen I can’t comment on), but they are:
In Bruges
Let the Right One In
Primer
Once*
Haven’t seen Primer (although I have a hard time liking “science” films) but I doubt In Bruges and Once will become “classics” even if I do admire them.
^ because it’s a survey on CULT cinema – films likely to become cult/midnight screeners
^ I know….and I’m all for a Let the Right One In and REC…..but it’s the first time I’m noticing a Serbian film of the past decade is considered “valid” in polls / lists / critics’ decisions…..and….well….it puts me off that a “highly acclaimed company” would want to promote a cinematic culture this way…
It’s not as if U.S. of A. needs a cinema promotion from anywhere and Japan is certainly an always flourishing country for the worldwide cinema fanatics…cult stuff indeed but I find that most will get to know the culture of some countries through……gore shit…
Does the idea of a cult film even mean the same thing anymore with the shift in the way people watch films? I mean, it used to be that a colt film was one that would draw an audience at a movie theater years after it was released, possibly even gaining in popularity over the years. That shifted when VHS arrived and cable tv started to play movies on a regular basis and more people had access to cable and therefore some films they may not have had a chance to see when they made their theatrical debut, if indeed they did play in local theaters. Films like Office Space or Spinal Tap developed an audience based on that sort of cable exposure whereas something like It’s a Wonderful Life developed a following via regular television and Rocky Horror did via “special” theatrical shows. Now, with dvds being as central to the viewing experience as theaters, possibly even more so for many films and with downloading also playing a part the communal experience has further devolved as everyone seeks ouot their own areas of interest.
Even in the VHS/cable era, there could be a possibly more significant community that developed as people would be exposed to things without necessarily seeking them out therefore gaining a different sort of concentration of fans who would be exposed to films via cable television without seeking anything in particular, now, it seems, it would be easier to develop a small following amongst certain groups of people, which would mean that pretty much any film on the list will have some cult that would value it, but those groups may not gain the sort of cultural force they may have previously as it will be harder for any one film to gain a place of greater significance beyond those that would be its assumed audience. I mean one could argue there are “cults” for films like You’ve Got Mail, Anchorman, Crash, or pretty much anything as those that care about the films will be able to access them anytime, and will therefore be a constant in a way that wasn’t as possible before. The internet can help make almost any film a cult film as people who have seen it are able to share their appreciation for it over vast spaces developing “groups” in a different way than before.
I watched the thirties movie Five Star Final the other night and after a quick internet check was able to find quite a few other people who’ve watched it and appreciate it. does this make it a cult film? Does there need to be something more to it, as certain groups of people, young twenty year olds maybe, who value the film and develop a sort of semi-underground set of references to it? It strikes me that the idea of a cult film often is based on this sort of latter concept where a film is accepted by “cool” kids or those connected to some sort of underground scene rather than being based on the actual love of the films outside of the larger culture as the groups of viewers who love old westerns are rarely signified as “cult” viewers in the same sense as those who adore Rockky Horror even though the former group is every bit as significant and devoted in their love and viewing of their particular favorites.
I don’t have any answers to any of those questions, but I’m just not sure where the boundaries are anymore or fi the term “cult classic” still has any real meaning since all of the movies on the list I’m familiar with will likely continue to have fans for the foreseeable future.
@Dim – that’s your anti-horror genre bias. Plenty of people including me don’t have any issue with “torture porn” – an unfortunate name for a horror subgenre and I certainly don’t think less of Serbian cinema for engaging in it. Does anyone think less of French cinema because of Haute Tension, Martyrs or Frontiers? It’s a ridiculous assumption.
@Greg X – the survey offers you some space to discuss those issues. I would refer you to work by Jeffrey Sconce on paracinema or Ernest’s work on cult cinema for more in depth answers to your questions. I didn’t intend for this thread to debate the category of cult cinema but I assure you the points you brought up are part of the reason they are doing this study! To figure out whether this category resonates any more and if it does, HOW are the cult audiences being formed in the era of new media.
that’s your anti-horror genre bias.
Check ALL of my favorite films and dare to say that again.
Does anyone think less of French cinema because of Haute Tension, Martyrs or Frontiers?
Nope, that’s because French cinema has MANY fans inside the mainstream and hardcore agenda…..can YOU name any other Serbian, Bulgarian, Balkan in general film of the past decade that has been AS commercialized AS in the case of Serbian Film?
French cinema doesn’t have to worry….its crop will always produce critical darlings like Denis and Ozon….how many care about Serbian cinema after watching A Serbian Film? 10, 20?
I can’t check the link right now since I’m at work, but I’ll look into it later, thanks PK.
In that list I think “Thirst” by Park Chang-wook is a good option, at least for me. The vampire story mixed with religion in that particular way, at certain point at least, irresistible.
@Post-Kyo,
Yeah, it seems like Sachiko Hanai is really the only thing that stands out to me as truly original, irreverent, outrageous, and so on while still capturing some aspect of the zeitgeist. I mean, something like In Bruges or Let the Right One in are pretty good films, but do they really meet the definitions of what cult films are supposed to be about?
_
@Dim – the alternative would be to leave that Serbian film off the list, deny its quality and abandon fans that may actually discover the film as a gateway into other Serbian works. Horror films have been my gateway into several national cinemas.
Again, the only Balkan film there is a “torture porn” because the survey is only about cult films – movies who have acquired a larger fan base or a critical reevaluation after their initial (usually unsuccessful) release and through word of mouth/internet talk – are there a bunch of other Serbian films that fit into this category? I’m not saying that other films have been unfairly neglected but I have no clue how these movies were picked. I personally would have left off stuff like Once and Juno.
are there a bunch of other Serbian films that fit into this category?
Hardly when one considers that the only Bulgarian film “everyone” knows from the previous decade is Zift: how come all these “violent” Balkan films get to have a larger fanbase and are considered as “cult classics” by any magazine, paper or online?
because the survey is only about cult films
So why not a Serbian comedy or a “teen romance” like Twilight is? Hell, you’ll say I complain about Serbian Film’s violence when 2-3 East Asian films writhe from violence but does Japan need to worry as a whole?
Zift could have easily been in the place of Serbian Film….two Balkan films that contain coarse reactions, Tarantino / Guy Richie-like essence and a brutality that most horror / adventure cult fans love to watch. Not all elements at once but boil them in a pot and you won’t have trouble spotting the gist of them both.
So I ask…..why are these 2 films, one that’s already in a list above MUST become “cult classics” when no one knows anything CINEMATIC about these two countries in the past decade…..so the next time a Serbian Film that will appear in a “mainstream” poll again, is it going to be yet another stylized Tarantino-like flick?
I’m going to have to do the annoying “define cult again kthxbai” post, because several of those movies are already cult classics in my understanding of the term—a movie that despite limited release or critical engagement, still gets a devoted fanbase or “cult” that continues to give it credence and audience for years to come. Thus, I already consider the following to be cult classics:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (SWE, 2009, Oplev)
Grindhouse (US, 2007, Tarantino/Rodriguez)
Hostel (US, 2005, Roth)
In Bruges (US, 2008, McDonagh)
JCVD (BEL, 2008, El Mechri)
Juno (US, 2007, Reitman)
Let the Right One In (SWE, 2009, Alfredson)
Nightwatch (RUS, 2004, Bekmambetov)
Once (IRL, 2006, Carney)
Paranormal Activity (US, 2007, Peli)
Primer (US, 2004, Carruth)
The Protector (THAI, 2005, Pinkaew)
[Rec] (SPA, 2007, Balaguero/Plaza)
A Serbian Film (SERB, 2010, Spasojevic)
Splice (CAN, 2010, Natali)
Thirst (KOR, 2009, Chan-wook)
The ones bolded especially so, since they are already treated as cult movies—by which I mean, if you enter a video store and hear a clerk giving a recommendation, it would not be considered too strange or uncommon to hear, “Oh you like science fiction movies? You should try Primer, it’s sort of this underground cult movie about…”
If we define it as “movies given cult midnight showings” or something like that, several of these movies have already hit that mark. When I saw Thirst it was a midnight movie. I have not seen [Rec] but I could have at a midnight showing. Let the Right One In was not at midnight, but at the same theatre that shows the midnight showings, and it came back for multiple runs after its initial via “audience request.” (By the way, so have many Guy Maddin films and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Eventually the director of Repo! The Genetic Opera visited because Ye Olde Locale Theatre showed it so often).
—PolarisDiB
If you get a chance Polaris, you might be amused by reading the Cineaste debate on what a cult movie is since it solves virtually nothing and ends up making the distinction, if anything, less sensible in today’s world.
(The Cineaste piece is linked on the page linked in the OP’s post.)
This list of movies just makes me realize how much someone’s definition of a cult film can vary from the way I’ve always defined them, and seen them defined by others.
Dim, although I agree with a lot of what you’re saying this is a prediction of what will become a cult film, not what should. You know how people are, so you know A Serbian Film is a fitting choice — controversy, bans, taboo topics. People are already eating it up. It’s valid in the same sense that ‘Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS’ would be valid.
…
In Bruges is a good film, but I doubt it’s distinctive enough to achieve cult status.
Outside maybe 3 or 4 of those movies every other one is either already widely known or too self conscious of their ‘b movie’ agenda. The latter of which very rarely actually becomes cult films, though there is an Army of Darkness every so often.
^ You just put that insight on the survey, Mister.
Splice would be the safest choice with those, a well cast B movie that everyone seems to at least like a bit and some people love
This was my response to which film [Paranormal Activity] least likely has a chance of becoming a cult classic.
It made near 200 million dollars at the box office and has an ‘82%’ score on RottenTomatoes out of 184 reviews. It is already ingrained as a mainstream film. Hell, the tides are shifting in mainstream horrordom, the low budget horrors are dominating at the box office while the traditional (since the mid-70s at least) films are floundering. Ironically enough, Scream 4 (and 20+ million horror films in general) has a better chance at becoming a cult films!
Post-Kyo
The BFI in concert with Cultographies a wonderful series edited by Ernest Mathijs (did the biggest reception based study on LOTR and with the biggest sample size EVER) and Xavier Mendik wants to know what YOU think will be the next cult classic.
Take the survey here
It will work better if you’ve seen at least some of these films already
Catwoman (US, 2004, Pitof)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (SWE, 2009, Oplev)
The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai (JAP, 2004, Meike)
Grindhouse (US, 2007, Tarantino/Rodriguez)
Hostel (US, 2005, Roth)
In Bruges (US, 2008, McDonagh)
JCVD (BEL, 2008, El Mechri)
Juno (US, 2007, Reitman)
Let the Right One In (SWE, 2009, Alfredson)
Monster X Strikes Back (JAP, 2008, Kawasaki)
Nightwatch (RUS, 2004, Bekmambetov)
Once (IRL, 2006, Carney)
Paranormal Activity (US, 2007, Peli)
Pontypool (CAN, 2004, McDonald)
Primer (US, 2004, Carruth)
The Protector (THAI, 2005, Pinkaew)
[Rec] (SPA, 2007, Balaguero/Plaza)
A Serbian Film (SERB, 2010, Spasojevic)
Splice (CAN, 2010, Natali)
Surveillance (US, 2008, Lynch)
Thirst (KOR, 2009, Chan-wook)
The Three Faces of Terror (ITA, 2004, Stivaletti)
Twilight (US, 2008, Hardwicke)
Viva! (US, 2007, Biller)
Zombie Virus on Mulberry Street (US, 2006, Mickle)