The last reading for this week was an excerpt from Umberto Eco’s SubStance (1985). This particular reading was a little bit difficult for me to wrap my head around because I actually haven’t seen Casablanca yet (I know, crazy, right? Shame on you Adrian). However, I did get the general message it was trying to convey about cult films. So I’ll probably spend this blog post on talking about one of my favorite cult films. But first of all, what defines a cult film? Well, according to Eco, “the work must be loved, obviously, but this is not enough. It must provide a completely furnished world, so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were part of the beliefs of a sect, a private world of their own.” (Eco, Umberto, 1985, “Casablanca”: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage. SubStance, 14(2), pp. 3). Basically, this means that it is a film that has gained a passionate cult following, despite shunning from a mainstream audience.

So my all time favorite cult classic would have to be Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003). I would say “enough said”, but for those of you who don’t know what this masterpiece is, I say drop everything you are holding and get your hands on some form of copy of this movie. While, technically this movie does not qualify as a “good movie”, it has gained quite a massive cult following. The film has so many terrible aspects; bad Acting, a bad story, bad scriptwriting. But everything about it just manages to sit in the fine line of “it’s so bad that it’s actually good”. It’s actually gained a big enough following that Cinema Nova, along Lygon Street, hosts a screening of The Room every first Saturday of the month. Apparently, it’s quite the experience. They say that there are cues for everyone to recite certain lines with the movie.

But anyway, enough rambling on from me. For those who don’t know anything about this movie, I leave you with this. Enjoy.