A cult film is a movie that attracts a small but devoted group of obsessive fans or one that has remained popular over successive years amongst a small group of followers. Often the film failed to achieve mainstream success on its original release, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the audience response to a cult film is somewhat different to what was intended by the filmmakers, although usually a film that becomes "cult" started out with unusual elements or subject matter.

A film reaches cult status due to an audience's relationship to the film. This makes the designation of cult status to a film difficult, however continued success amongst a subset of moviegoers many years after the film's original release is a key defining factor. A hint of cult status is a sequence of midnight showings over a period of many weeks.

In most cases, these films tend to enjoy long runs on video, thus being issued in more video "runs" with more copies than other movies. Also, they are more likely to be the films that will be issued on any newer video technology in the technology's early days on the market. If allowable, these films may also enjoy more repeat screenings on cable, pay-per-view or network TV channels.

Many cult films are from such genres as horror, science fiction and world cinema. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which combines the elements of science fiction, horror—not to mention transvestitism, incest and homosexuality—and, amazingly, is a musical, is considered by many the first true and seminal cult film.

The construction of meaning within the cult film text, the nature and epistemology of cult film and its audiences is now studied academically.

An instance of how cults differ between societies include the elevation of the British comedy film actor Norman Wisdom into a cult icon in Albania during the years of Communism under Enver Hoxha, at a time when his family-friendly style almost certainly ensured that 'cult' would be the last term on earth to be applied to him in the West. Curiously he and his films are now acquiring nostalgic cult status in Britain.

See also: cult television, cult radio, cult figure

Selected list of cult films

2001 - A Space Odyssey Abba - The Movie A Clockwork Orange The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Akira Alien Army of Darkness Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Bad Taste Barbarella Batman (1966) Battle Royale Beetlejuice Being John Malkovich Beyond the Valley of the Dolls The Big Lebowski Blade Runner The Blues Brothers Blue Velvet The Boondock Saints Boxing Helena Braindead Brazil The Breakfast Club Carnival of Souls Carrie Clerks Clue The Crow The Day The Earth Stood Still Dark Star Dawn of the Dead Day of the Dead Dazed And Confused Deep Throat Donnie Darko The Draughtsman's Contract Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Drowning by Numbers Dune Easy Rider Edward Scissorhands El Mariachi El Topo Eraserhead Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Evil Dead (and its sequel, Evil Dead II ) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Fight Club Forbidden Zone From Dusk Till Dawn Gayniggers From Outer Space The Grand Illusion The Gods Must Be Crazy Harold and Maude Harry Knuckles series Heathers Hedwig and the Angry Inch Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Highlander If.... Incubus The Italian Job It's a Wonderful Life James Bond series Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter Kids Koyaanisqatsi Léon

Liquid Sky Little Shop of Horrors Lord of the Rings Mad Max Manos: The Hands of Fate The Man Who Fell To Earth Mars Attacks! MASH Mean Combat Mommie Dearest Monty Python and the Holy Grail Monty Python's Life of Brian Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Motel Hell Meet The Feebles Napoleon Dynamite The Naked Gun trilogy Night of the Living Dead The Ninth Congfiguration (William Peter Blatty's),aka Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane Office Space Paris, Texas Pee-wee's Big Adventure Pink Flamingos Pink Floyd's The Wall Plan 9 from Outer Space Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Pulp Fiction The Princess Bride The Producers Raising Arizona Reefer Madness aka Marihuana, Tell Your Children Repo Man Reservoir Dogs Robot Monster The Rocky Horror Picture Show Santa Sangre Scum Shallow Grave Shawshank Redemption Silent Running Slacker Solaris (1972 version) Son of Dracula The Sound of Music Southlander Spider Baby St. Elmo's Fire Star Wars series The Texas Chainsaw Massacre They Live Themroc This Is Spinal Tap This Island Earth Tommy (the Who rock opera) Total Recall The Toxic Avenger Tremors (and its sequels) Tron UHF Waiting for Guffman The Wicker Man Withnail and I Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory The Wizard of Speed and Time Yellow Submarine Zoolander

Selected list of cult film directors

• Chantal Akerman
• Robert Altman
• Tim Burton
• Roger Corman
• Lee Demarbre
• Claire Denis
• David Fincher
• Christopher Guest
• Peter Jackson
• Lloyd Kaufman
• David Lynch
• Alex Proyas
• Sam Raimi
• John Sayles
• Quentin Tarantino
• John Waters
• Ed Wood, Jr.
• Agnès Varda

Selected list of schools guided by cult film directors

• European Graduate School