Cult Horror Film Analysis

It is hard to define a film and place it into a certain genre. It is even harder to make a claim that the film achieved cult status. Welch Everman however provided some basic guidelines to be able to identify a cult horror film. With Everman’s proposal it gives some idea of what constitutes a cult horror film and what a cult horror film is not. Everman’s idea should be at least the basics that we use to identify a cult horror film and with them we can start to form a list of films. I believe based on what Everman proposed Texas Chainsaw Massacre should headline the list or at the very least be in the top three. Everman acknowledges that the term cult horror film is almost synonymous with “bad horror movie.” He identifies that most films deemed as cult horror are bad. It is true that most films that are labeled as “cult horror” are bad and it is a result of a multitude of factors. The factors can appear in any combination from minimal budgets, poorly written and directed, zero production value, and finally the acting is just simply bad. However, even though most of these films are bad some of them are just so bad that they are good. He mentioned Werewolf of Washington and Dracula’s Dog as examples of bad films that are good. This does not mean that what defines a cult horror film is “bad horror movie,” because …show more content…
We can now say a cult horror film must have: a minimal budget and visually striking, the creatures must be different and creepy, and the film must not be hugely popular. In the end the definition of a cult horror film is something that is unique and strays from the norm. It is something that is not formulaic and is not for everybody. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, separate from the franchise, is such a film as it passes every test, and it deserves to be a cult horror film according to Welch Everman and his proposed