Pulp Fiction Cult

8/19/2019 Pulp Fiction Cult

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The night of Thursday 14 August 1975was a stormy one in London, with

dreadful thunderstorms and recordrainfall. But amid the wet weather a popculture phenomenon was orn! The"oc#y $orror %icture &how had its worldpremiere that e'ening.

This cult film, which charted the wildantics of a mad liertine trans'estitescientist, has achie'ed the remar#alefeat of ecoming the longest running filmin continuous release in history. (n otherwords, there)s ne'er een a momentwhen The "oc#y $orror &how hasn)teen playing in a cinema somewhere inthe world in the last 4* years.

(t was a o+office flop, ut e'entually itcollected enough fans who emraced itso fe'erishly that it)s now accorded ma-or

cult status. ( thin# /it)s0 proaly the mosticonic cult mo'ie of all time, says%rofessor 2a'ier 3endi#, who is the


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irector of ine6+cess, an internationalfesti'al on gloal cult film traditions.

Audience participation

The "oc#y $orror %icture &how is at the'ery forefront of a growing stale of cultfilms, which include such well#nowntitles as director Tod Browning)s 198

film rea#s, a'id Lynch)s 1977 deutfeature 6raserhead, the harrowing 1974horror film The Te+as hainsaw3assacre, and the hea'ily derided 8**romantic drama The "oom, to mention

-ust a few.


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The "oc#y $orror %icture &how is at the 'ery forefront of a growing stale of cult films:redit! A archi'e ; Alamy<

$undreds of mo'ies may get laelled cult

films, ut e+perts say for true cult statuscertain #ey factors ha'e to e present.

There)s often a le'el of e+cess within thecult mo'ie, around content, around style,around good taste that mar#s them out,

says %rofessor 3endi#.

This would certainly put the films of =ohn>aters, most notaly %in# lamingos, inthe cult category, ecause in thischerished offering a drag ?ueen appearsto eat fresh dog waste.

For a true cult film, the audience plays a pivotal role

But outlandishness isn)t enough. 3anyfilms can e shoc#ing or e+cessi'e utfor a true cult film, the audience plays api'otal role.

The ritual of watching it is -ust asimportant as the content of the film itself,says @illage @oice film critic &imon

Arams. $e sees cult films as mo'ies


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where the /e+perience0 of watching thefilm is really a social phenomenon asmuch as it is /aout0 the mo'ies

themsel'es.

ans of cult films li#e 3onty %ython and The $oly rail ma#e a huge in'estment,

ecoming familiar with all the lines and different gags :redit! A archi'e ; Alamy<

A &ound of 3usic &ingaLong might fallinto this category ut Arams suggeststhe audience in true cult films has analmost osessi'e ?uality.

As 3ichael %alin, one of the stars of thefilm 3onty %ython and The $oly railhas noted, fans of cult films ma#e a hugein'estment. $e found that $oly rail fans


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were totally familiar with all the lines anddifferent gags. (t)s amaCing, people#now the script etter than we doD he

says.

Eou can)t ha'e a cult film without ahardcore audience says Arams. Eoucan)t ha'e a cult film without people whowill /in0 sleet or snow come to a

screening, regardless of change of'enue, regardless of whate'er.

Dressed to excess

&uch traits can e found amongfollowers of The "oc#y $orror %icture

&how, where fans ritually dress up, singand act out scenes, and shout out duringscreenings. (n fact audience participationis credited as a ma-or factor in #eeping"oc#y $orror ali'e at midnightscreenings.

Tom Amici, who)s een a "oc#y $orrorperformer for 15 years, says! >ith theaudience participation aspect there)sways to do it differently, sometimes


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people will do the "oc#y $orrorcharacters dressed in &tar >ars outfits,or they)re from the musical "ent, so

there)s a new way to spin it e'ery wee#,and the lines change e'ery wee#.

Cult films appeal to audiences who see themselves asoutsiders in the real world

The audience for cult mo'ies is hungryfor the community such films can offer.Few Eor#er 3ichael Terry, a fan of "oc#y$orror, says! ( thin# deep down insidethere is a sense of uni?ueness, a senseof you wanting to elong to a largegroup.

(t has een noted that films such as 6raserhead and "eefer 3adness appeal strongly torecreational drug users :redit! A archi'e ; Alamy


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Another defining feature of cult films isthat they)re often transgressi'e. Theyappeal to audiences who see themsel'es

as outsiders in the real world G theyidentify as part of a counterculture andwant their appetites satiated y specificcult films.

Reefer madness

Lee %eterson, the manager at the arthouse inema @illage in Few Eor#,recalls that many of the mo'iegoers, whofloc#ed to see cult films li#e 6raserhead,came with drugaddled minds.

6raserhead isn)t aout drugs per se utcertainly it appeals to those who altertheir minds prior to watching the film, hesays.

Hne cult film appealing strongly to

recreational drug users is "eefer3adness from the 19*s, which was aneducational film targeting parents withalarming commentary on the dangers ofmari-uana. (t gained popularity in the


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197*s y those who found humour in itso'erthetop melodrama.

"eefer 3adness was an educational film targeting parents with alarming commentary onthe dangers of mari-uana :redit! 3otion %icture @entures<

or purists, cult films y definition ha'e toemerge from a spontaneous emrace ythe audience which can)t e simplymanufactured G howe'er hard a film maye peddled.

Lloyd Iaufman, who as cofounder of

Troma 6ntertainment has created suchmemorale cult mo'ies as To+ic A'enger and %oultrygeist! Fight of the hic#enead, elie'es cult films are defined y


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their lac# of commercial mar#eting. Themost successful Troma mo'ie has eenThe To+ic A'enger ecause it has no

ad'ertising and ecause it)s ecomefamous through only word of mouth,says Iaufman.

There are plenty of film aficionados whogo along with Iaufman)s definition.

( thin# the &har#nado mo'ies areconsidered cult films, which is completelyac#wards ecause these are mo'iesthat are hea'ily promoted. ( thin# thedefinition of a cult film is something thatsort of uilds o'er time and uilds anaudience and ecomes something, saysLee %eterson.

%eterson sees The "oom as a primee+ample of an organic cult film."eleased 18 years ago, it is a romantic

drama which has een called the JitiCenIane of ad mo'iesJ. (t de'eloped afollowing ecause fans found humour inwhat they saw as its appalling


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storytelling. (t)s grown to gloal cultstatus complete with fan rituals whichin'ol'e throwing spoons while the film

plays.

The "oom is a romantic drama which has een called the JitiCen Iane of ad mo'iesJ

:redit! T%> ilms<

That #ind of cult film is endorsed y%eterson. That could not happen if itwas forced, it had to happen organicallyhe e+plains.

‘Ahead of its time’

&ome cult films fade away while othersseem to maintain their foothold and loome'en larger in the culture. The "oc#y


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$orror %icture &how, with its 'aryingdisplays of se+uality and its centralcharacter a selfdeclared sweet

trans'estite, from transse+ualTransyl'ania is, in these times of aitlyn=enner, a 'ery current culturalphenomenon.

Few Eor#er 3ichael Terry, who)s seen

the film se'eral times, confirms! Fow theig topic is eing transse+ual. Beingise+ual or eing gay is oring, eingtransse+ual is the new topic of the day,and that ties in right on time with "oc#y$orror %icture &how.

And 'eteran "oc#y $orror performer Tom Amici G who #nows the film inside out Gagrees. (t)s ahead of its time especiallyin terms of gender fluidity and things li#ethat, he declares.

&o on its 4*th irthday The "oc#y $orror %icture &how has a lot to celerate. (t)sseen as the ultimate cult film, and onethat)s more of the moment now than on


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that rain sodden day 4* years ago whenit was launched. (ts impassioned fans, asyou might e+pect, aren)t surprised. They

thin# its appeal will last fore'er.

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