stoudman t1_j26ki7v wrote on December 30, 2022 at 12:45 AM

Reply to comment by Miklonario in is it true movies cant become cult films anymore due to constant opinion change? by bonghive

I wouldn't classify Blair Witch a cult classic, to be honest.

The Last Broadcast. The Poughkeepsie Tapes. The McPherson Tapes.

These are cult classic found footage horror films. Blair Witch was pretty much popular from the get go for reasons you yourself described.

These movies gained a cult following after the fact.

I feel like Lake Mungo is a good modern example that shows how it can be done today, but again...not popular upon release, only popular after the fact.

For sure some films develop a cult following in different ways from the traditional methods, but I feel like if we're going to define parameters for the genre, failure at first and success at last is the FUNDAMENTAL KEY that makes a film a cult classic.

To predict a movie already getting buzz will be a cult classic is a bold prediction as far as I'm concerned, but I could be wrong.

Miklonario t1_j26ntbr wrote on December 30, 2022 at 1:09 AM

Thanks for the thoughtful response! I should clarify that I've seen Skinamarink, and while I loved it personally, I think the average viewer, even amongst horror films, is going to absolutely shit on it. And i can understand why -I anticipate there's going to be a lot of 1 and 5 star reviews with very little in between. As a genuine question, would this be the way to quantify success or failure for a film that's playing on a tiny amount of screens and then going straight to Shudder? Box office numbers aren't have the same measurement they used to be, and word-of-mouth is an entirely different beast. Interested in your opinion on how that works in a modern age.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, you got me on Blair Witch. By my own logic, it is not a cult film