PLAY
This movie is garbage. It's perfect!
A look at Lawrence's cult film scene and a guide to understanding its appeal
By Derek Zarda
dzarda@kansan.com
Topeka senior Jon Tenholder had to be smiling that night. Dozens of pajama-clad students were gathered around the KU Filmworks treasurer on a clear Saturday night last September for KU Filmworks' cult kid movie night. As Filmworks celebrated its monthly cult movie nights for its members, Fairway sophomore Karl Wiederaenders was busy organizing the next weekly cult film night for his floor at Hashinger Hall. So, what's the deal with cult films anyways?
This fall, the movies that have reigned at the top of the box office consisted of a talking Chihuahua from Beverly Hills for two weeks, another "give-Marky-Mark-a-gun" flick (Max Payne), yet another High School Musical sequel and a vampire flick to name a few. During these harsh times of mainstream movie blandness, some students are venturing into Hollywood's sleazy forgotten cousin: cult film.
"I'll know it when I see it."
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart uttered these now famous words in 1964 while trying to explain how he determines if a film is pornographic. Trying to find a suitable definition for cult film is equally as hard.
The answer may lie with our northern neighbors at the University of British Columbia, where premiere cult filmologist Ernest Mathijs resides. Mathijs, co-editor of the recent Cult Film Reader and author of several articles on the culture and reception of cult cinema, says a cult film is a film with such a devoted following that "it keeps the film in continuous circulation," well beyond its original screening. Films that are raised to this status "tend to be uneven, bad, naughty, gross, gory, shocking, and disrespectful of moral values and conventions of 'normal' cinema-making." Mathijs says.
According to Mathijs, cult film has been around since the early 1930s, with cult followings of slapstick film stars Charlie Chappin and others, mostly because of the films'
anarchic nature. However, many critics still credit the recognition of cult film to the rise of midnight movie showings in New York in the late '60s and early' 70s.
Attack of the Midnight Movies
Five years ago, Liberty Hall screened a midnight double-feature of Pulp Fiction and Evil Dead 2, delighting many locals in the process. One local resident, Malcom Miller, wondered exactly why this didn't continue—and decided to do something about it.
"I remember going there and having a good time," Miller says. "I remember being left wondering why this doesn't go on more often."
Thus began the monthly Midnight Movie Madness night at Liberty Hall, where Miller, 22, would personally pick the cult movie of his choice to show to the viewing public.
"There is a pretty strong following or appreciation of cult films," Miller says. He's had strangers come up to him to thank him for what he's doing.
Miller tries to do the event once a month.
but the next few months he will be on hiatus from the movie night, waiting to start back up again in March, if not before.
Jackpot's Secret Stash
It's 4:30 p.m. on Friday and students are trailing outside of classrooms on a gray, muggy day. Seeking refuge on Mass. Street from the daily campus grind, a stop by The Jackpot would seem strange for so early in the day. Inside, however, customers are already filing in and finding their seats around the bar as Rob Gillaspie, Jackpot bartender, lead singer of local rockabilly outfit The Spooklights and resident cult film purveyor pulls Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, a favorite at the bar, out of its case.
Every Friday and Saturday, Gillaspie, 32.
continued on page 16
Photo illustration by Ryan Waggoner
Cult filmologist Ernest Mathijs says a film becomes a cult film when it has a devoted following and wide circulation long after it is released.
December 4,2008
BCOS,badminton