Cult Cinema - Paperback

by Ernest Mathijs (Author), Jamie Sexton (Author)

Cult Cinema: an Introduction presents the first in-depth academic examination of all aspects of the field of cult cinema, including audiences, genres, and theoretical perspectives.

• Represents the first exhaustive introduction to cult cinema
• Offers a scholarly treatment of a hotly contested topic at the center of current academic debate
• Covers audience reactions, aesthetics, genres, theories of cult cinema, as well as historical insights into the topic

Front Jacket

At once subversive, strange, and wondrous, the world of cult cinema is a wildly popular film culture that blurs genres, crosses boundaries, and defies easy categorization. Cult Cinema: An Introduction presents the first in-depth academic examination of all aspects of the field of cult cinema, including its primary audiences, myriad genres, and the theoretical perspectives that inform a film's cult status. After addressing the well-known aspects of cult cinema -- midnight movies, exploitation films, fans of various cult subgenres, issues of censorship, cult-film festivals, and fanzines -- the authors unravel many of cult cinema's deeper mysteries, tackling such issues as representations of gender, transgression, subcultures, and meta-cults (cult movies about cult movies).

Topics are presented in sections that are organized thematically around issues relating to reception, aesthetics, and theories. Individual chapters are accompanied by insightful analysis of notable films, including such cult classics as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Donnie Darko, Blade Runner, Plan 9 From Outer Space, El Topo, Eraserhead, Suspiria, and many others. For cinephiles and scholars alike, Cult Cinema: An Introduction is the ticket to the most complete source of information about a fascinating phenomenon in the history of film.

Back Jacket

At once subversive, strange, and wondrous, the world of cult cinema is a wildly popular film culture that blurs genres, crosses boundaries, and defies easy categorization. Cult Cinema: An Introduction presents the first in-depth academic examination of all aspects of the field of cult cinema, including its primary audiences, myriad genres, and the theoretical perspectives that inform a film's "cult" status. After addressing the well-known aspects of cult cinema -- midnight movies, exploitation films, fans of various cult subgenres, issues of censorship, cult-film festivals, and fanzines -- the authors unravel many of cult cinema's deeper mysteries, tackling such issues as representations of gender, transgression, subcultures, and meta-cults (cult movies about cult movies).

Topics are presented in sections that are organized thematically around issues relating to reception, aesthetics, and theories. Individual chapters are accompanied by insightful analysis of notable films, including such cult classics as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Donnie Darko, Blade Runner, Plan 9 From Outer Space, El Topo, Eraserhead, Suspiria, and many others. For cinephiles and scholars alike, Cult Cinema: An Introduction is the ticket to the most complete source of information about a fascinating phenomenon in the history of film.

Author Biography

Ernest Mathijs is Associate Professor in Film Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His books include The Cult Film Reader (co-editor), three books on the reception of The Lord of the Rings, and The Cinema of David Cronenberg: From Baron of Blood to Cultural Hero.

Jamie Sexton is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, Northumbria University, UK. He is the author of Alternative Film Culture in Inter-War Britain (2008), editor of Music, Sound and Multimedia: From the Live to the Virtual (2007), and co-editor (with Laura Mulvey) of Experimental British Television (2007).

Ernest Mathijs and Jamie Sexton are also co-editors of the book series Cultographies.