What Cult Movies Have You Never Understood the Appeal Of

The whole idea of a cult film is that not everyone loves it. And yet there is a kind of broader popularity for that idea overall. What I mean is that most of us have a lot of love for at least one movie of cult status. Maybe that movie is technically more like a guilty pleasure or a piece of romanticized nostalgia from our youth than a definite cult classic, but it;s still something that we like that;s not even close to being enjoyed by the mainstream. But we;ve all got different cult-film favorites. So, it;s interesting to consider where we overlap with some people and don;t overlap with others. Today is the 25th anniversary of Teen Witch, a movie that came out while I was still pretty young and enjoying just about everything. Yet I could never get into this one particular fantasy teen movie, which stars Robyn Lively as a magical high schooler who is basically a female version of Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf (it was initially meant to be a kind of spin-off). It;s badly written, badly acted and has dance numbers that are almost as laughable as the one in Mac and Me.I just don;t see how it has genuine fans. I could understand the ironic pleasure of it in retrospect, but Teen Witch has a serious following and has for decades. A lot of the more popular cult films are those that I think I purposefully reject as a teenager. For instance, Rocky Horror Picture Show was too much of a mainstream phenomenon for it to be alternative for me. Today I almost have the same feeling towards The Room, though my main objection for that one is that I don;t tend to like watching movies in order to enjoy how bad they are. Similarly, I can;t enjoy anything by Ed Wood, and I don;t even want to get started on my hate for most of the movies intended to be cult films, like Snakes on a Plane and Sharknado. There is a good amount of cult classics that I;ve really, really, really wanted to be a fan of and just never could. These include The Advenures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Earth Girls Are Easy, Serenity, Spring Breakers and anything by John Waters. But my inability to love them doesn;t mean I can;t sorta see why others do. If I have to pick one cult movie for which I;ll never, ever understand the appeal, it;s The Boondock Saints. It;s just terrible, and not in a fun way. The documentary about it, though, is amazing. What cult movie have you never understood the appeal of? Here are some responses received so far via Twitter: @thefilmcynic #shade — Katie Walsh (@katiewalshstx) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Kill List. Good moments and performances, but that ending just felt like shock for shock;s sake. — Christopher Runyon (@CGRunyon) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Love, Actually. — john lichman (@jlichman) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic RHPS. I watched it once and it was...okay? — Underground Woman (@SKEdman) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic anything from Troma. It;s not funny. It;s not cute. It;s not sweet. It;s just bad. — Derek Deskins (@DerekDeskins) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Do Studio Ghibli movies count? I don;t like those. — Boro Y Boi (@ayobobun) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic dirty dancing — Shawn Wildermuth (@ShawnWildermuth) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic sorry cult movie... Eraserhead — Shawn Wildermuth (@ShawnWildermuth) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic The Goonies. — Jenni Miller (@msjennimiller) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic PRIMER. Cool concept, but there;s nothing more to the movie than that. — Josh Rosenfield (@JoshRosenfield) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic The Boondock Saints. — William Goss (@williambgoss) April 28, 2014 The Boondock Saints. RT @thefilmcynic: POLL: In honor of Teen Witch turning 25, what cult film have you never understood the appeal of? — Stephen Watson (@RealMattDamon) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Donnie Darko. Will never figure out that ending — Andrew E Plotkin (@andreweplotkin) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic I don;t know if it counts, but I think Donnie Darko is a garbage movie that accidentally gets some things right. — Audiences Everywhere (@WeTalkMovies) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Kick-Ass. but everyone should hate it, it;s not just me ;not understanding it; — abba versus (@Camera_Angel) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Napoleon Dynamite — Noah Gittell (@ReelChanger) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Crank. — Laya Maheshwari (@lazygarfield) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Birdemic. Seriously, why is it popular? — Keith Adams (@BigBrother1988) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Monster Squad. Although to be fair I only saw it about 6 years ago for the first time, so maybe if I;d seen it way back when. — Andy Rattinger (@Rattinger) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Most 90s kids; flicks that have adult fans. SPACE JAM, JINGLE ALL THE WAY, HOCUS POCUS, 3 NINJAS. Terrible junk. — John Gholson (@gholson) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Gummo and the entire filmography of Harmony Korine. — justin robinson (@TheJSRobinson) April 28, 2014 @thefilmcynic Showgirls, mostly. The rest is noise. — Daniel Walber (@DSWalber) April 28, 2014 Join in the next discussion: and