A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following with a specific group of fans.

However, not every film with a devoted fanbase is necessarily a cult film.

A cult film is a movie that attracts a devoted group of followers or obsessive fans, often despite having failed commercially on its initial release.

Sometimes the audience response to a cult film is somewhat different than what was intended by the film makers.

A film can be both a major studio release and a cult film, particularly if despite its affiliation with a major studio, it failed to achieve broad success on either the theatrical or home video markets but was championed by a small number of dedicated film fanatics who seek out lesser-known offerings.

It is also true that the content of certain films ( such as dark subjects, alienation, transgressive content, or other controversial subject matter ) can also decide whether or not a film is a " cult film ", regardless of the film's budget or studio affiliations.

The Big Lebowski ( 1998 ) was a flop on its initial release, yet became a cult classic and has been called " the first cult film of the Internet era.

Occasionally, a film can become the object of a cult following within a particular region or culture if it has some unusual significance to that region or culture.

The 1938 anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness has become a cult film within the stoner subculture due to its humorously sensationalized, outdated, and inaccurate descriptions of the effects of marijuana.

The World War II-era Department of Agriculture film Hemp for Victory, encouraging the growing of hemp for war uses, has achieved a similar cult status.

Entry-level IT workers and white-collar American workers alike have given Mike Judge's 1999 comedy film Office Space a cult following because of its heroic portrayal of ordinary office employees who become fed up with their jobs.

The critic Michael Medved characterized examples of the " so bad it's good " class of low-budget cult film through books such as The Golden Turkey Awards.

An example is the cult status of British comedic actor Norman Wisdom's films in Albania.

He returned as a film character actor in the late 60s and the 70s, notably in the cult classic Daughter of the Mind ( 1969 ), in which he was reunited with Gene Tierney, and in Love Story ( 1970 ).

* In the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, Autolycus appeared as a comical antihero, portrayed by cult actor Bruce Campbell, who has a kinder heart than he lets on.

Devon Ryan Gummersall ( born October 15, 1978 ) is an American actor, writer, and television and film director, perhaps best known for acting on the cult classic television show My So-Called Life.

He starred alongside some high profile names including cult science fiction actress and Superman star Sarah Douglas, Rupert Degas, Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis, Harry Potter villain Jason Isaacs, Mark Wing-Davey and Martin Jarvis ( written by Elliott Stein & Neil Gardner, and produced / directed by Neil Gardner ).

Over the years, she has been romantically involved with a number of well-known men, including British actor David Thewlis, who appeared with her in The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996 and in American Perfekt in 1997, as well as C. M. Talkington, the director and writer of the cult classic Love and a. 45.

* John Waters ( filmmaker ) ( born 1946 ), American film director, writer, visual artist, actor and cult figure

born Michael David Prince, 1 April 1960 in Berkeley, Gloucestershire ) is a British actor, is probably best known for his role as Robin of Loxley ( Robin Hood ) in the British television series Robin of Sherwood, which attained cult status worldwide in the 1980s.

is a Japanese film director and actor with a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad.

He was first featured in 1961's Ursus, where he must rescue his fiancee from a sacrificial cult, and was portrayed by actor Ed Fury.

Although predominantly known for his music, Paul Williams is also an actor, appearing in films and many television guest appearances, notably as the Faustian record producer Swan in the cult film Phantom of the Paradise ( for which he also wrote the songs ), a rock and roll remake of Phantom of the Opera, and as Virgil, the genius orangutan in Battle for the Planet of the Apes ( on Feb. 9, 1973, Williams mixed his two fields for a joke appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in which he sang a song in full make-up as Virgil ).

She is best known for her roles as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in the British cult horror film The Wicker Man, as well as her marriage to actor Peter Sellers, and her high-profile social life.

Dinklage made his feature film debut in the cult art house film Living in Oblivion ( 1995 ), playing a frustrated dwarf actor complaining about his clichéd part.

In the cult hit-comedy movie Animal House the famous " College " shirt worn by actor John Belushi was created for him while attending house parties with his brother, actor James Belushi, who was a student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Robert Adame Beltran ( born November 19, 1953 ) is an American actor, known for his role as Raoul in Paul Bartel's cult film Eating Raoul and his role as Commander Chakotay on Star Trek: Voyager.

The film also features a small role by future cult actor David Warbeck.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a 2001 cult film from Odessa Filmworks which deals with Jesus ' modern-day struggle to protect the lesbians of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from vampires with the help of Mexican wrestler El Santo ( based on El Santo, Enmascarado de Plata, and played by actor Jeff Moffet, who starred as El Santo in two other Odessa Filmworks productions ).

John Samuel Waters, Jr. ( born April 22, 1946 ) is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films.

He is arguably most famous for writing and directing the cult classic Withnail and I ( 1986 ), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the 1960s, which drew on his experiences as ' a chronic alcoholic and resting actor, living in squalor ' in Camden Town.

Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård, ( born 12 December 1928 in Ystad, died 6 September 1998 in Lidingö, Stockholm County ) was a Swedish cult actor and horror host.

Soviet actor Mikheil Gelovani depicted Joseph Stalin in 12 films made during the leader's lifetime-among them The Great Dawn ( 1938 ), Lenin in 1918 ( 1939 ), The Vow ( 1946 ), The Fall of Berlin ( 1950 ) and The Unforgettable Year 1919 ( 1952 )-which reflected his cult of personality ; those films were either banned or had the scenes featuring Stalin removed after the 1956 Secret Speech.

In fact, on at least one occasion a law officer was actually unmasked as the killer, when cult TV actor John Astin appeared as the villainous Sheriff Harry Pierce.

* Robert Clarke-famous " B " movie actor, best known for cult movie, The Hideous Sun Demon.

In his autobiography If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, cult star Bruce Campbell recalls a roommate who had a poorly functioning record player.

Zonophone has now become the home to The Cramps ' Illegal recordings in the UK alongside David Axelrod produced albums by David McCallum, the cult sitar classic Lord Sitar, Cilla Black and compilations of Capitol era material from such as Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry.

Franchises such as Seinfeld, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Transformers, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show have core groups of fanatical followers but still attract mass audiences, so some ( e. g. actor Bruce Campbell, see below ), argue they cannot be considered true cult franchises.

Actor Bruce Campbell ( he himself called " The King of B-Movies ", and maintaining a dedicated cult following for films such as The Evil Dead ) once contrasted " mainstream films " and " cult films " by defining the former as " a film that 1, 000 people watch 100 times " and the latter as " a film that 100 people watch 1, 000 times ".

After changing labels to CBS, and producer Mike Smith, their next few singles also failed to chart in the UK, although one, the self penned cult hit, " I See The Rain ", written by Junior Campbell and Dean Ford, was highly praised by Jimi Hendrix as the ' best cut of 1967 '.

In Sam Raimi's cult classic Army of Darkness ( 1993 ), Ash ( Bruce Campbell ) uses a 12 gauge Remington double-barreled stage coach gun as both a close combat weapon and as the gun it is.

" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well as many other films.

William Campbell ( October 30, 1923 – April 28, 2011 ) was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in major film productions and also starred in several low-budget B-movies, including two cult horror films.

Campbell has also obtained cult status for his guest starring roles on Star Trek, appearing first as the mischievous super-being Trelane, in an episode of the original series called " The Squire of Gothos ".