Cult Film Stardom Offbeat Attractions and Processes of Cultification

The term "cult film star" has been employed, and used as a common-sense term, in publicity and popular journalistic writing for at least the last twenty-five years. However, what makes cult film stars or actors distinct or different from other film stars has rarely been addressed, with the cult star label often being attributed to particular stars or actors in an imprecise way. This edited collection provides a much-needed overview of the variety of processes through which film stars and actors become associated with the cult label. It brings together chapters from an international group of scholars which focus on a wide range of cult stars and actors, from Montgomery Clift and Bill Murray to Ruth Gordon and Ingrid Pitt. The collection makes important, previously under-explored, connections between two key disciplines within film and media studies: stardom/celebrity studies and cult film studies.

KATE EGAN is a lecturer in film studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. She is the author of Trash or Treasure?: Censorship and the Changing Meanings of the Video Nasties (2007) and The Evil Dead (2011).

SARAH THOMAS is a lecturer in Film Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. She is the author of Peter Lorre – Face Maker: Constructing Stardom and Performance in Hollywood and Europe (2012).

"This book makes for a compelling read, offering a series of original insights alongside valuable synthesis of existing literature in the twin fields of stardom and cult cinema, also providing insightful analysis and textual readings of a wide range of films. It promises to make a significant contribution to various sub-disciplinary areas of film studies: most notably, stardom and cult cinema but also fandom and performance."
- Martin Shingler, University of Sunderland, UK