What makes a film become a cult and what are the characteristics of the cult film fan? Paul Booth digs deep for some answers in the light of Justin Smith’s new book, Withnail and Us.
About the author: Paul Booth, Senior Lecturer in Film, Department of Media, Manchester Metropolitan University. E-mail: p.d.booth@mmu.ac.uk Telephone : 0161 247 1946
‘Here. Hare. Here’ were the words inscribed on the door of the decaying Wet Sleddale Hall. It was a cold and snowy February morning in 2009 and the hall was for sale at auction the following week. The silence of the fresh Cumbrian morning was broken by shouts emanating from the hall. Inside, congregated in what was once the kitchen area, were approximately twenty squatters. ‘Have you got any booze?’ asked one, ’…I demand to have some booze’, shouted another. I understood. These were no ordinary squatters – Wet Sleddale Hall was ‘Crow Crag’, the holiday home location used in the cult British film Withnail and I (1986), written and directed by Bruce Robinson. These fans had made the pilgrimage up to the hall to spend the night there, performing scenes from the film and re-creating the language and dress of the characters in an almost obsessive devotion to the original text. This type of ritualistic role-play and pilgrimage is symbolic of the cult film fan, a devotion that sets them apart from other fans.
What makes a film cult? In the recently released book, Withnail and Us: Cult Film and Film Cults in British Cinema, Justin Smith provides a critical analysis of British cult film and the characteristics of the cult film fan. Using examples of British cult films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Performance (1970), Quadrophenia (1979), Tommy (1975), The Man Who Fell To Earth (1974), The Wicker Man (1973) and Withnail And I, Smith provides an engaging discourse for the rise in cult film.
American independent films such as Donnie Darko (2001) and The Blair Witch Project (1999) gained instant cult status and a huge fanbase, but how do these differ from British cult film? The qualities of these films make them a success but offer none of the usual attributes that define cult film. Often associated with niche audiences, a film doesn’t have to be particularly good in terms of aesthetics or story; in fact this kind of failing often assists a film in gaining cult status. British cult films occupy a nostalgic place in time developed from, according to Smith, ‘social changes and cultural production of the 1960s and the decline of the production industry in the 1970s’. The nostalgia of the 1960s captured in Withnail and I offers an antidote to the popular American portrayal of the decade as an often-idealised time of free love and radical change, a time when people felt that they really could make a difference to society. This is in contrast to the 60s realisation provided in Withnail and I which seems a rather unpleasant place, a culture in decline where the only way to succeed was to conform. The alternative view of that decade develops a parallel nostalgia that makes the film even more enduring to cult fans. The decline of the 1960s subculture is defined by Danny, the drug dealer in the film, who states ‘…they’re selling hippie wigs in Woolworths man’, marking the commodification of the subculture and its cultural appropriation into the mainstream.
As a cult film fan I remember my own nervous excitement on buying an under-the-counter VHS copy of Stanley Kubrick’s long-unavailable A Clockwork Orange (1971). The quality of the recording or the quality of the film was inconsequential; the thrill was in owning something that was forbidden and therefore special as it gained access to a niche group of film fans. For any teenager, what excites most are those things that are forbidden, and it is this rebellious behaviour that further helps define the cult film fan. For those who had seen the film they talked to other fans in Nadsat, the slang language used by the teenage characters in A Clockwork Orange and this shared knowledge allowed transgression amongst fans, who often idolised the lifestyle and attitude of Alex, the film’s protagonist. In another example, The Rocky Horror Picture Show offers fans similar opportunities to behave against societal norms. At late night screenings and theatre productions of the Rocky Horror Show what is central to any performance is the transgression of fans. This is key to making any production of the show a success, the songs, the dance and the outrageous costumes. For the duration of the performance transgressive behaviour is actively persuaded, all within the controlled safety of the theatre auditorium. Within this autonomous zone transgression is the norm and those audience members dressed in regular clothing become the ones who are out of place. It is these moments of bad taste and borderline moralities that allow fans, as Smith states, ‘transgression at a safe distance’.
Wet Sleddale Hall in Cumbria, the location for ‘Crow Crag’ (Image © Eifion)
At Wet Sleddale Hall, the ritual performed by the Withnail and I fans and the sacrifice made - dressed as characters from the film with authentic plastic carrier bags for shoes - on this bitterly cold morning, serve not only as a faithful re-creation and devotion to the original text but as a rite of passage. These fans exhibit all the traits of the cult fan: the pilgrimage to the location, performance, transgression and the ritualistic nature of fandom and the nostalgia in trying to capture some of the zeitgeist the film depicts. It is in this sacrifice that we begin to understand the characteristics of the cult film fan. At the start of 2009 Wet Sleddale Hall was for sale. Fans created a Facebook group to try and raise the capital to purchase the hall and, through fan ownership, turn it in to a Withnail and I museum. The group also listed a number of events and ‘pilgrimages’ to the hall. The location served as a shrine to these cult fans, and, even though the money was never raised, 1,222 fans joined the group, contributing to an increase in media coverage and a renewed interest in the film. Additionally, the website for ‘Visit Cumbria’ advertises Wet Sleddale as a tourist attraction due to its association with Withnail and I. These examples of British Cult film offer a range of ideas to the development of cult film, from production methods to fan psychology. However, it now seems as though the word cult is thrown around to create brand identity and place it in a market that provides instant success and merchandising opportunities. The enduring nature of cult film and its leagues of devoted fans make financial as well as emotional investments in films as their devotion makes repeat viewing a necessity and higher box office sales and subsequent DVD sales.
... an arena to understand popular contemporary culture, fandom and obsessions with media and celebrity
The cult film not only opens an interesting area for study and academic debate, but also as an arena to understand popular contemporary culture, fandom and obsessions with media and celebrity. The popularity of cult film, as evidenced by the thousands of fan sites, blogs, discussion boards and social networking groups, attracts fans to trade memorabilia and discuss the continued appeal of these films. Whilst this heightened interest helps to attract new audiences and develop a wider fanbase, the films begin to lose their niche appeal that was so attractive to the cult film fan and are subsumed into mainstream cinema.
Paul Booth