Throughout history, there have been many films released to the public, but only some are recognized with the title as being a cult film.

These films stand out from the rest because of their overwhelming popularity within the culture and amassed fan base, as well as many other standards. Standards define what is and what is not a cult film, but still standards are skewed by personal tastes as to what makes the perfect cult film.

Robin Murray, a film studies professor at Eastern said through years of film experience, she can determine what is and what is not a cult film.

“Cult films usually have an ongoing following from a specific audience,” Murray said. “Popular films are usually considered mainstream and appeal to a much broader audience, like Star Wars.”

Murray said some of her favorite cult films include “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

When she went to see it with friends at the midnight showing, they would join the rest of the audience and laugh at some of the more subtle scenes in the film. These subtle moments, like throwing toast or grabbing newspapers to throw over their heads when it rained, did not overtake the film but made it more notable.

“What makes cult films memorable and intriguing is that they don’t share any particular characteristics or traits of a normal film,” Murray said. “They just grab a particular audience’s attention, keep them coming back for more and can maintain that attention over time.”

Ethan States, a sophomore mathematics major, said he does not follow many cult films, but the ones he does follow are classics to him.

“To me, a cult film is a film that has a small, but dedicated following of fans,” States said. “It’s a film that’s relatively unknown to the masses, but popular to those who appreciate it.”

States said if he had to select a favorite among cult films, it would have to be “Lord of the Rings,” but to him, “The Dark Knight” is a cult film, though it picked up more mainstream popularity.

Roger Cunningham, a sociology professor, said boiling down cult films within particular social groups is hard to define.

“If we could locate a group of people that strongly identify with a particular film, we might be able to apply differential association identification theories to them,” Cunningham said. “This theory simply says some people will identify, and in this case, identify with a movie character.”

Cunningham said some examples of identifying with a cult film or character are dressing the same, smoking the same cigarettes and buying the same knife can help people identify themselves with their cult icons.

No matter what, cult films holds a special meaning to their followers. It could have been where or with whom the viewer saw the film. It could be a film that simply resonated with the viewer.

Only one thing is for certain, a cult film is not something sought by filmmakers, but instead something granted by the audience.

Joze Gonzales can be reached at 581-7942 or jlgonzalez@eiu.edu.