When we hear your typical ‘film bro’s’ talk about how much they love cult classics, do we ever really question what they are? Are fandoms of these films gatekeeping something that should be shared with everyone? Cult classics have been a thing globally for many years, and some may argue that it will be an ongoing thing until movies stop being made.  

 Some prominent characteristics of a cult classic film is that they’re usually small budget films, of any genre. They failed to make money at the box office during their release; perhaps because of their controversial nature or the way that they take risks. But they’re greatly appreciated by dedicated fan bases for many, many years afterwards.  

 Classic examples of cult films that have made names for itself over the years includes a British film, starring Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann and produced by Handmade Films, name Withnail and I. The humorous film follows two substance-abusing actors who retreat to the countryside for a ‘well-earned break’ which proves to be chaotic and down-right disastrous. During its release in 2007, the film earned a measly $82,429 worldwide and internationally in the box office. However, it cost a whopping £1.1M to create and then grossed $1.5M in its lifetime gross. Therefore, following the ‘rules’ of making a cult classic.  

 However as great as this is, it could also be argued that many cult classics films are ‘gatekept’ by their fanbases. On an online forum, members of a community following the famous movie-rating app Letterboxd, talked about how they “Saw someone trying to gatekeep certain types of films that are more niche and obscure because a YouTuber talked about those films.” and many others agreed that they’d seen other examples of gatekeeping around films created by Swiss film director Godard. Director of Xaverian’s Film Studies Department Phil Drinkwater explained that he has “I have within my circle of close friends, little subsections where we are completely in love with certain films that probably fall within the Cult Classic range.” But also claims that he has “Friends with whom I speak only in quotes from Spinal Tap, and friends who I can talk to for hours about old crime B-Movies from the 40’s that everyone else has forgotten.” This goes to prove that most gatekeeping of these films is almost exclusively online.  

Some may like to argue that gatekeeping cult classics is okay, and that opening the film to a wider fan base may mean that it loses its ‘cult classic’ title. But sometimes I’m surprised that some fandoms don’t have rules such as “Rule No1, don’t talk about the film to outsiders. No2, don’t talk about the film to outsiders. Phil also shared his opinion on the gatekeeping, claiming that: “It feels snobby and elitist, which are kind of the complete antithesis of the very idea of cult cinema.” All these words are often thrown around social media and it’s harrowing to see beautiful cult classic films such as Possession, a personal favorite of mine, and Pulp Fiction to be painted with such negative feedback based on the fact they want to keep the film a secret? It seems that people are split with the debate of cult classics.  

So, has this swayed you to think about your perception of films in the industry? Or are you still on the side that these films should be kept a secret from the rest of the film world? That’s for you to decide. But make sure you have an open mind. Is that nicheness some people crave so much really so superior?