I love zines and making zines, so this project was super fun. I gravitate to either horror or queer cult movies (as a queer person, shocker, I know), making this combination of a lesbian cult movie zine as the obvious choice! These are just four of my top lesbian cult films. There are definitely many many more great ones! Here is the pdf!
This movie is a guy taking a shower and winning the argument he had a month ago. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the story of two men, an actor and his stunt man, transitioning to a new part of their lives and in this universe preventing the murder of Sharon Tate. I really didn’t like this movie both from a personal watching experience and the content. This movie is male fantasy. Something I can’t relate to. It’s a guy day dreaming about, what if I could beat the shit out of people and save the day? Which is fine in a way, but it doesn’t in my eyes deserve so much praise. It’s just another movie from a blatantly male perspective. It feels so hyper masculine from the idea to the characters and plot. Even if the argument “that’s kind of the point,” that doesn’t make it good and I cannot get on board with it. I don’t want to watch a movie summarizing the entirety of guys dreams and idea of movies. I’ve tried so hard to understand where this movie and it’s praise is coming from, but I just don’t get it.
All this male fantasy is even worse when the female characters in this movie either don’t have an actual character or feel like the manic pixie dream girl trope. If you are retelling history, in my opinion, do not make the victim of the real history a almost non-character with no personality. Just a npc that is there to be saved by the heroic men of the story. Margot Robbie’s character doesn’t feel like a “ghost” it just feels like a convention damsel in distress to save. Also the amount of shots of nasty, absolutely rancid feet, makes me sick. We did not need that. Get Margot Robbie’s feet off the screen please.
When overviewing cult films, as a viewer I definitely lean and understand more low budget, artsy, not produced by a major studio, weirder movies as a part of cult film. Movies like Dazed and Confused, Matinee, and etc., were not ones I enjoyed or connected with as a cult movie viewer. I did though, have a better understanding of these movies as cult films after the readings. For example, with Matinee I was so bored and confused from just watching it, but it makes sense how it has cult film status as it is a homage to films and the movie theater experiences, specifically with the use of gimmicks.
When it comes to my opinion on the best cult films we watched this semester, The Devils and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders are on top. Both totally weird in their own ways, with great shots, and an obviously strong artistic direction.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a beautiful and confusing as hell exploration of girlhood and coming of age. After her pearl earrings are stolen and then returned she is faced with various monsters including vampires and creepy pedophilic priests. It’s a plot that beyond that, isn’t really clear or easy to follow and I’m here for it. It’s a film that came out of the Czechoslovakian new wave movement of the 1960’s to early 1970’s. The most brilliant part of this movie is that lesbianism cure vampirism, of course. It’s my favorite part when Valerie kisses and sleeps next her best friend and just ends up curing her vampire bite mark like that. It definitely makes logical sense.
The Devils was maybe my favorite and in my opinion best, it had everything and served it on a silver plater. From the real history it’s derived from to the naked nuns and gay king, it knew what it needed to be and gave us that like a punch to the face. It is insane. It is the film that has stuck with me and close to my heart. The sexual repression that women in religion, in this case, nuns face and the anger that comes with it, to me, is shot almost perfectly by this film. It felt real and that it didn’t just having women naked and sexual on screen for the sake of it. It had a point and it got that point across. In addition, this film never felt accusatory to the anger and sexuality the nuns acted upon, it never muddled it down to female hysteria or such. Sure, some of the characters in it blamed Satan and whatever they could, but as viewers of the film we are shown that women were just sexual beings that when repressed has great draw backs.
A cult movie is based on what any cult is, the following. It has to have some aspect that is usually transgressive or just uncommon that speaks to a specific group of people that create community out of it. When a movie is cult it is the way the group of fans interact and continue to create new things around that movie. Whether that’s just a group of fans talking and analyzing the movie together or someone making zines and fanart. It creates what any human needs, a community.
I think zombie movies are not for me. I want to love this movie, but I will never fully understand the undying love for Shaun of the Dead. I wish I could because it’s great when anything references anything else so I could point it out and be like “OMG IT’S FROM THAT THING.” I just will never be invested enough in this movie because I don’t think Shaun of the Dead is that funny. Moving on from my baffled view of Shaun of the Dead, undeniably for a zombie movie the references are on point. Even if it isn’t the genre for me. (I’m moving on from that, I swear.) I do love the opening credits and how all the people move like zombies. The intertextuality of this film is what saves it at the end of the day.
I lied, I have to complain a little bit more before I get into understanding and appreciating the references. Why do so many characters die in the end? I understand character death and how it is important especially in a zombie apocalypse movie. I can get on board with any characters dying until Shaun has to shoot his mom. This is a comedy still and that death dampens it so much. He just mended his relationship with his mom and understands her choices and who she married. But the right action to move the plot along is that he now has to shoot her? For a serious zombie flick, yes kill everyone and anyone. Yet, for a comedy zombie film can we not kill the mom for once? After almost any character is used for Shaun’s character arc, they are killed off. This scene kills any comedy this movie had for me. In addition, Shaun just immediately moves on afterwards from killing his mom and the only zombie turned/dead person in Shaun’s life that is talked about is Ed.
Finally, now I can appreciate the references to important zombie movies and general culture. Even from the title Shaun of the Dead, anyone could tell that it’s a play on “Dawn of the Dead.” Then directly going into using some of the soundtrack from Dawn of the Dead. Another interesting soundtrack choice is a song by Zombie Nation, not a reference per say, but still interesting. Throughout researching these references, there are tons of people talking about each reference they could find. This is a list of the movies referenced. No matter how many people are taking apart each and every aspect that is a homage to some other thing in this movie, the intertextuality is on point. The use of this can bring so many fans into and invested in this movie. A zombie movie parodying zombie movies while also paying homage to zombie movies. It is a catalyst for zombie movie nerds turning this movie into a cult movie. Because those zombie movie nerds can pull out the “OMG IT’S FROM THAT THING” and continue to explain the importance of that. (My favorite way to annoy my friends when watching something with them.) One fan from one zombie movie and another fan from a different zombie movie can bond over the subtle references in the singular zombie movie, Shaun of the Dead.
Even though I have no actual job experience to relate to this movie, it’s still hilarious to me. I went into it not expecting to really like this movie at all, but I was so wrong because I love it. I already have had my friends watch it and we already reference Office Space too much, and it’s been barely a couple of days.
This movie has so many lovable characters, so many quotable moments, and so many recognizable props. All adding to its cult status. The main character Pete, feels like an actual character, but still blank enough to project into his situation. Not like a Bella Swan from Twilight situation where she has no personality and could be anyone, but an “I experience this too” “I see myself in that position.” Then, my favorite character, Milton is so funny and so likable. The jokes are unforgettable and easy to bring into everyday life. I never knew “looks like someone has a case of the Mondays” was rooted in Office Space, I truly thought some random middle age white woman posted it on Facebook first. This movie is so integrated into everyday life, I would’ve never known if I hadn’t watched it. When it comes to the props, I never thought I could have such fondness for red staplers. I want a red stapler now. It is so amazing that Office Space fans, are so aggressive and dedicated that Swingline had to release a red stapler for fans.
This movie has the following it does because it’s based in something so many people relate to and hate. Corporate jobs. If it wasn’t this movie, I feel another parody of these kinds of horrible corporate jobs would exist. There was always going to be a response to these jobs and Office Space was the perfect masterpiece to come out of it. Art imitates life or whatever they say. The ability to translate these jobs and how people felt about them onto the screen, while making it funny and enjoyable is brilliant. Jennifer Aniston’s character, that has different, but still relatable experiences with her job as a server. From the weird amount of pressure for tacky “flare” and the expectation of giving so much more than the minimum for a minimum wage job.
In addition, I loved this soundtrack. It’s not music I would listen to in my free time BUT it is so perfect for this movie and the moments of the movie it’s used in. The joy and feeling of “this is so fun” I felt when some of the songs were used in certain scenes was just amazing.
I may not personally understand cult obsessions with teen movies like Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but that is not to say it is not a cult movie. It definitely is. Amy Heckerling creates a perfect movie for the genre of movie it is. She also broke so many norms as a women director, which is extremely respectable. She created a completely new space in film and movies. Though, I could say I prefer Clueless to Fast Times…..
What makes this movie most intriguing to me is the female perspective of Amy Heckerling as the director and how even the male gaze still perseveres. Amy Heckerling does a great job including the existence of male gaze, but keeping the girls autonomy. One prime example of this is the pool scene. Brad has his sexualized fantasy of Linda while getting off, but Linda is still shot walking around and having her own existence outside of his fantasy. She breaks it when she walks in on him looking for something. In these shots both the male perspective and female perspective are kept in mind. Yet when some people watch and react to this movie all they see is a hot girl in a bikini, I could collect sense from researching this movie and the amount of times people have used the photo of Linda in a bikini. No doubt this is an iconic scene and in no way should be ignored, but the whole focus of it was Linda’s autonomy even under the male gaze. And when all the pictures snipped from this movie of Linda are of her being sexualized in her bikini is so angering. Because the inability to control how art is perceived once put into the world, sadly can lead to Linda being sexualized by audiences even if that wasn’t the goal. It’s just so annoying. When scrolling through Google photos only around 8-ish of the photos of Linda are her non-sexualized scenes. In which there are plenty. Only one of when she breaks Brad’s fantasy by walking in on him, a crucial part to the part of the scene. Is the scene found iconic by most because of the juxtaposition of a guys fantasy and a girl’s normal existence, or because a hot girl shows her boobs off in a bikini. I think it shouldn’t be because of the ladder, because Amy Heckerling deserves so much credit for this scene and others, but I think sometimes the point is lost.
It’s status as a cult movie is undeniable. It shows (hetero) teen sex as it is and is from a female director that creates more power. It’s a relatable film for teen guys and girls. It’s not just solely guys being super horny for girls. It’s real life, it’s real peoples emotions and responses to problems of teenage years. It paved the way for teen films, which to me can be an indicator for film, something new and something that is tried to be copied and pasted even though the first will always be the most brilliant.
When watching Valerie and Her Week of Wonders something that immediately gets in the way of appreciating the movie to its fullest, is the 13 year old actor playing Valerie being nude. As an American audience this is very uncomfortable and unsettling, but when looking into Czech cultural norms being naked is more accepted in more circumstances. It is common for people of any sex to only wear underwear in public parks and in addition sleeping completely naked is the routine. More examples of Czech’s attitude for nudity here. This difference in culture is still causing tension between the Czech Republic and Poland, as near their borders the difference in changing room customs is making the Polish uncomfortable. This clash is both an issue in everyday life and in art. This poses the issue, what should be acceptable and where should the line be drawn in art when different cultural norms are involved. In Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, she is naked when she’s about to sleep, which is how Czech people exist. Yet as Americans that is not okay to have filmed, because she is a minor. Do our standards cancel out the morality and unproblematic Czech standard of the movie? I believe not, when given cultural context the scenes where Valerie is actually naked is less worrisome. Also in the movie the camerawork doesn’t reveal her chest when she is being sexually assaulted, it’s only before that moment when she is about to sleep. Her nakedness is only sexualized when a pedophile is introduced into the situation. It is a fictional example of what we worry about when Jaroslava Schallerová (Valerie’s actor) is filmed naked. We are uncomfortable with what happens to the art once put out into the world. Though, not to say I agree with Valerie’s actor being actually 13. I do still find the use of a 13 year old actor to act out sexual assault scenes, clothed or not, still wrong and sad to watch. Morally that crosses a line for me and I wish they had an older actor.
When coming to the actual movie as a whole there is so much to notice and talk about. A place to start is the juxtaposition of Valerie and her grandmother, Elsa. Moreover the juxtaposition of old Elsa and young vampire Elsa. First off Valerie is at the start of her womanhood as she heads into puberty which is the entire cusp of this movie. While Elsa is at the end of life, old, seemingly joyless and unwanted. When she tries to have sexual affairs she ends up being rejected and is sexually repressed in her old age. This all changes when she gives up Valerie for her youth. Once she has her youth back she gets everything she had been missing as an old woman. A driving force of the plot is the depressing repression ageism brings to Elsa and her desire to escape it. Ageism by no surprise is rooted in misogyny and exists in a way that puts old women and young girls against each other sometimes. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a fantastical version of this issue that effects womanhood, for both young and old. This is expressed through vampirism and the use of the makeup and actors. Vampires is something I will get to later, but the use of the same actor but just with different makeup is so meaningful. When I was watching this film, when vampire Elsa showed up on screen, I was like, holy shit I’m in love with this red headed vampire, then when it clicked she was the same person (I was first disappointed because that means she was a vampire I was against morally) I wondered why is it now that she is young and colorful I am not immediately against her when she comes on screen. The contrast creates the question of how older women are treated shows visually how it sucks the joy and beauty of young women hood out of them.
This idea of girlhood and womanhood all come together in this fantastical world through vampires. A young girl like Valerie just coming into her teenage years, would most likely not be concerned with preserving her youth or “vampires”, but when older women, like Elsa are coerced by the Constable and repression of old age, sacrificing Valerie for her youth it does become an issue Valerie must think about. Valerie has to face the enforced “horror” of becoming an older woman because of the past “horror” her family’s women before her had to face. This film is dealing with issues caused by patriarchy and by using vampires, creatures well known for their sexiness and youth, it represents what ageism causes women of any age to fear. This also ties into the importance of religion throughout this entire movie. The main point about the religion I would like to point out now, is the roles women play in “religious womanhood” as they are young they should become mothers and once they are older they are less useful, they become pushed aside for the younger more beautiful girls. They are a horror if they don’t have kids or just when they become old. This just adds another layer to the religious and vampirism used in this film.
Each shot of this movie is so meticulously put together. Each has more to unwrap than the last. That and the story and the symbolism are all too much to easily and timely put together in one unifying blog. From lesbianism curing vampirism, the use of pearls and Valerie’s pearl earrings, to the use of color, the importance of the costumes, the soundtrack, the reuse of actors, and just the story line itself. These all would take such a dedicated amount of time to look into, which would be so interesting, but not all in one night. So as much as I love Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, it’s too wild to sort out completely.
God, I love this movie.
This movie is weirdly good queer representation, especially for 1979. With the Lizzies being a gang of lesbians and Rembrandt, being very subtly, queer. In addition, it’s not a story about being queer, it’s about people and some of them so happen to be queer, kinda how life works. Even as a queer person in the modern day when I was watching this film, I immediately was like Rembrandt and the Lizzies are my favorite and I love this movie. A gang of lesbians? Yes please. A sweet and weirdly non-violent guy in a gang who was later on canonically a gay man? Yes please again! It created an environment for people to be drawn into being fans of the movie by making characters that such a wide range of people could relate to. Even with this nonchalant queer representation, the movie doesn’t ignore the existence of homophobia. Ajax of the Warriors uses the f-slur and according to the director in a 2017 interview with vulture Ajax “is bothered by the idea that that’s something people might see him as [gay].” The Warriors is a movie that shows the spectrum of casual homophobia and the subtly of being queer most gay people accepted in 1979.
This movie was greatly criticized and censored due to its advertising. While the poster states “These are the armies of the night. They are 100,000 strong. They could run New York City. Tonight they are all out to get The Warriors” with this army standing together staring down the viewer. This freaked many people out and before giving the movie a chance, people protested for it to be censored and many hated its existence. This kind of censorship feels like its own category of a cult film checklist, since Jennifer’s Body (which I deem a cult movie) had such a similar mishap with marketing. Jennifer’s Body was weirdly marketed seemingly for teenage boys, yet the film is in fact not for teenage boys. This made many hate the movie before it came out, until later on people realized that it’s actually a brilliant movie. This censorship does greatly lend itself to The Warriors status as cult.
Just like the Greco-Roman world was organized around many secret cults, The Warriors is organized around multiple individual gangs. The names of characters and gangs commonly reference a part of the ancient world and establishes a parallel between the two. Cleon was the name of an Athenian General and is the name of the deceased leader of the Warriors. Rembrandt is a dutch painter and also the graffiti artist for The Warriors. Cochise was one of the most successful leaders of the Chiricahua’s in the Apache Wars and is a member of The Warriors. The list can go on and on with the references with characters and gang names. These names lead fans to understand, know, and research these parallels to bring deeper characterization to the characters. While also deepening their culture capital as a fan and a person in the real world. I love when media creates connections to other things that can go unnoticed, but if noticed and looked into can create greater understanding for the piece of media and lend the person cultural capital (cough cough Hannibal).
HOLY BALLS I LOVE THIS FILM! It makes me sad (even though I understand why) there is a cut version of this movie. The completely violent and sexual parts of this movie are all necessary to the impact of the story. They are way more than pushing or shoving the boundaries of what was acceptable, expecally in the early 70’s. Without them this couldn’t be a cult film and the movie wouldn’t be the movie it is with or without cult status.
These were real events that happened, even if embellished and exaggerated for the movie. But the images and texts from this time have a very similar sexual and violent intensity. These “witches” were naked and acting out sexually. The movie can’t be what it is without the crazy naked nun scenes. During this period women were very sexually repressed by the Church, and when they lost it all the dudes blamed the devil. They blamed something other than themselves because anything outside of themselves was wrong and evil. Women’s sexuality at the time was greatly feared by religious figures in power and men when it wasn’t for their own pleasure. The Devils perfectly present this to us, yeah the nuns are naked and masturbating on Jesus and dead guys bones, but for this movie to be the masterpiece it is they have to. They have to act out for their own pleasure in outrageous ways so that it is apparent it’s for themselves.
Even Grandier abandons the women he was having sex with because she gets pregnant and serves no use to him. I can’t blame her for celebrating his horrible downfall.
Also the story of Mother Superior is fascinating. Becoming a nun wasn’t only a place for women to escape from the normal roles in the patriarchy, but also a place to put women who were “deformed” and “ugly.” Women who had no place in a patriarchal religious civilization.
The women who could be blamed for Grandier’s execution I stand behind and do not blame. It is in fact the men’s fault and religions fault in the flawed system of sexual fear. I can be on the side of these women, because like the wise words of Rachel Sennott “I have no flaws and neither do you, and that’s what feminism is.”
Sure it’s sexual, but is it pornographic? I would argue that it isn’t really. The Devils has a lot of bush and tit’s but no one watching is thinking “oh fuck yeah those men can’t control those naked women losing their minds and its getting me off.” No!! It’s a sexual depiction of women’s responses to extreme sexual repression under the church.
The Devils balance of serious story line and camp is brilliant and perfect. It tells the true story, but adds some fun and silly tidbits. For example when Grandier fights the father of the girl he got pregnant with a CROCODILE??? That was wild. And the most blaring addition of camp in The Devils, is the completely gay king of France. It opens with this fabulous performance, of something, in full makeup and a seashell bikini. The camp in this movie makes it not devastating to watch. It’s amazing and it’s funny. The Devils could only exist with a gay king and, as I’ve mentioned, nuns masturbating left and right.
As a person who was raised Catholic, religion and camp is magic to me. Religion should be camp more often, yet most religious people would disagree. This creates an environment for cult movies to thrive. The Devils is an example of this, this movie was wildly hated on due to its all around content. It was censored and pushed to the side. The Crucible, which was released in 1953, faced less controversy, because its content was tame. It never showed the rape and horrors accused witches had to be put through to convince them to confess and “exerciser the demons.” It was made for cult status from the beginning with its insane transitiveness.
Women should be allowed to be naked, angry, horny, and accuse innocent guys of seducing them to be with the devil more often.
Carnival of Souls is a beautifully shot film. I adore the use of the abandoned carnival and it’s juxtaposition to the church and it’s stained glass windows. Especially when put in the context of the church being what brought Mary to Salt Lake City initially and then the Carnival bringing her further draw into a more specific area in Salt Lake City. The church is, supposedly, a place of morality and good, while the carnival is a place of chaos, exhilaration, and enchantment, but since this one is abandoned, isolation. A brief thought about this contrast would lead to the conclusion that humans are inherently drawn away from good for their own desires, but looking deeper changes this theme. Mary is never presented as in the wrong for this draw to the abandoned carnival. Even when she is in the church she is still extremely isolated, showing how even with people around who are “good” a person can still become alienated and lonely. As represented by the abandoned carnival. The church is the alienation and the carnival is the loneliness.
One common strand throughout the movie is the constant involvement of men in Mary’s life. A man races Mary and her friends off the bridge, the priest who hires her, the scary creeper guy who is her roommate, the doctor trying to help her, and most prominent is the man following her. All of these men have great impact and control over Mary’s life, and death. Even though this movie is about her experience and existence. A sad but true representation of womanhood represented through the continuance of this even in Mary’s death. This is not the only example of this movie representing the annoying presence of men in women’s lives. Mary’s experience with John is treated as it is, completely disgusting and creepy. Mary is never written to be flattered or okay with John’s behavior. She acts on her own needs and wants not the ones of John or any other guy character. Her own mental state and issues influence her choices and are never put under a negative light for the audience. She is completely human, has real feelings, and autonomy.
Both of these points, the autonomy of a woman and the use of setting to imply something deriving from original implications, are not something commonly found in mainstream movies at this time. Setting it apart by pushing the boundaries, but also letting itself at the time be a flop. Now respected, it has the, in my eyes, most obvious elements of cult film. Transgressiveness and an audience that is devoted and develops way after the release.
This movie has influenced many other movies and such. A movie that had to be at least slightly influenced by Carnival of Souls was What We Do In The Shadows (2014). The specific scene that I think is influenced by the movie is when it is the unholy masquerade. It is set in a very sadly decorated room, filled with monsters dancing together with pale faces and dark eyes. The place that is rented out for the party is a bowling club which has such a similar vibe to an abandoned carnival. So equally sad and lonely.
Being sexually progressive does not mean something is erotic. This is something that is commonly looked over when analyzing this movie. For it’s time in Hollywood under the Hayes Code it was sexual, but it relies on implication and its not even the most sexy way as to not be flagged by censorship. Even though the literal definition simmers it down to “sexual desire or excitement,” it implies an intensity and a sexiness this movie does not hold. Not to say this movie is not violent and sexual. Their passion for crime and each other’s body is there. Though it looses it’s intensity very quickly for me, I went from writing “STOP EYE-FUCKING EACH OTHER’ when they were at the carnival to “oh she’s using him” when they start their crime spree. They were “horned-up” for each other but the movie implies that, so carefully I almost didn’t notice.
Whitey Schafer’s photograph “Thou Shall Not” from 1940 is perfect evidence that Gun Crazy is sexual, but not erotic. It is an example of eroticism and it’s an example of the restrictions the Hayes code puts on movies, stopping them from being able to be classified as erotic. The only thing that Gun Crazy includes that isn’t allowed is a “pointing gun.” Sexuality and sex isn’t inherently erotic.
In addition to being unfairly being deemed erotica, its poster was the perfect example of clickbait in the 1950’s. (See to the right the specific part that feels the most “clickbaity”). It implies eroticism, but in the scene Bart is freaking out because Laurie killed someone and hugged her. Like ooooo so sexy…. a hug…..
Beyond my criticism and frustration for some of the analysis I’ve seen in articles, this movie is a classic cult movie. For 1950’s Hollywood it was transgression. It pushes the boundaries of the Hayes Code with sexuality and violence. It wasn’t a big hit when initially released, but now has a loving following. The brilliance of the shots in this movie really is what stands out against everything else, that lets it be so appreciated and big 70 years later.
The main shot that really undeniably sets this movie apart from most film noirs of its time is the long, yet intriguing, uncut shot when Laurie and Bart escape from their robbery. The relation between this shot and the movies status as a cult film is quite interesting. Walter Benjamin talks about the “aura” of art, as Benjamin puts it “the authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it experienced.” Further into his writing he develops his perception of the difference between stage actors and film actors. He writes, “The artistic performance of a stage actor is definitely presented to the public by the actor in person; that of the screen actor, however, is presented by a camera, with a twofold consequence.” Going on later to explain “However, the singularity of the shot in the studio is that the camera is substituted for the public. Consequently, the aura that envelops the actor vanishes, and with it the aura of the figure he portrays.” What makes this scene so alluring and stand out like it does, is its window to the feeling of aura a stage actor could give off. The only thing between the actors is the audience is a camera for a long period of time. There is no editing or cuts between the actor and audience. It is shown how the actors acted and intended their performance to presented as. Of course, this doesn’t mean it has the same exact aura of a stage actor there is still a camera, but yet it gives that hint of nostalgia to the aura of how acted entertainment solely was. It goes uncut, but all the aspects keep the long shot engaging. The actors are their characters and you are the bystander watching from the backseat. It’s “movie magic.” It’s cult. It’s nostalgic to a different aura and that lends itself to it’s title as a cult movie.
Gun Crazy doesn’t necessarily conform to traditional gender roles” Laurie is always the one with power, she uses her sexuality and appeals to get what she wants out of Bart. Money and crime. She manipulates Bart. Bart is in tune with his emotions and he doesn’t want to harm anything. He is the one being manipulated. This aids the status of Gun Crazy as a cult movie, it pushes ever so slightly at the walls of gender roles in Hollywood that at the time it didn’t seem like a big deal. When looking back it creates a movie and story that can be seen as transgressive and create support for it as a cult movie.
Cult Movies 
