Many modern cult classic movies have earned a ton of money on place video , from both VHS and DVD sales or base rentals ( remember those ? ) . Some have become ethnical mental hospital in and of themselves . However , most of these movies with devoted fan bases in reality get from humble get-go and bombed at the box office on initial release . Whether it was because the movie was misunderstood , faced strong competition , or was ab initio savaged by critics , many dear films that have achieved religious cult status started out their existence with the recording label “ box power bomb . ” Here are 10 rage classical picture that totally tanked .
10. Donnie Darko (2001)
Today there is a goodly furor following around the 2001 filmDonnie Darko , which is about a troubled youthful valet de chambre played by Jake Gyllenhaal , who has apocalyptic or doomsday vision that seems to be coming from a unhinged rabbit named “ Frank . ” Made on a budget of $ 6 million , the cinema grossed less than $ 1.5 million at the box office . This moving-picture show tested so poorly in advanced showing that serious consideration was give to release it unmediated to home video before a theatrical attack was tried . critic lauded the movie ’s dark tone and radical and praise the acting , but audience found it to be too weird and stayed away from it in theaters . fortuitously , Donnie Darkofound an hearing on home base video and terminate up grossing more than $ 10 million in DVD sales . This movie has also been released on Blu - ray on three freestanding occasions , and is today view as a modern sci - fi masterpiece .
9. Office Space (1999)
Is there anyone who does n’t loveOffice Space ? The film by writer / director Mike Judge ( ofBeavis and Butt - headandKing of the Hillfame ) dead spit the eminent - technical school industry and oecumenical federal agency culture that permeate in the 21st century . And while the pic is almost 20 years old , it seems just as relevant and hilarious today as it did when it hit theaters at the turn of the C . However , whileOffice Spacehas garnered a sizable cultus following on habitation video and influenced innumerable comedies that came after it , it was not a box seat office hit when released in 1999 . Made for just $ 10 million , Office Spacegrossed $ 10 million at the box seat office – making it a breach even proposal . The movie did n’t post a profit until it came out on home video – selling more initial DVDs than sizable box seat office hit movieThere ’s Something About Mary . In the past 10 geezerhood alone , Office Spacehas sold more than six million videodisk and Blu - ray written matter , do it one of the bestselling movies on house video since 2006 .
8. Dazed and Confused (1993)
This picture show about high school culture in the 1970s is a beloved classic for Generation X. However , the movie was not well - received when it was let go of in 1993 . Made for a budget of just under $ 15 million , it grossed just under $ 8 million at the box office . The main problem was that director Richard Linklater opted to go with a then - strange cast of actors for the movie . Ben Affleck , Matthew McConaughey and Parker Posey might be Hollywood maven today , they were complete unknowns when they starred in this nostalgia - filled movie back in the early nineties . The best know actor inDazed and Confusedat the clip of its release was model - turned - actress Milla Jovovich . Fortunately this movie has since made up for its poor box berth show with robust home picture sales . The Criterion Collection released a two - disk boxed - fix HD edition of the film in 2006 . And notable managing director Quentin Tarantino includedDazed and Confusedon his leaning of the 10 bully celluloid of all - time in a 2002Sight and Soundmagazine poll .
7. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! (1984)
audience just were n’t certain what to make ofThe Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the eighth Dimension!when it was released in the summertime of 1984 . Was it a drollery ? A sci - fi celluloid ? A amatory adventure ? All of the above ? The movie about a physicist , brain surgeon , test pilot , and rock ‘n’ roll instrumentalist who saves the world from a circle of inter - dimensional aliens call Red Lectroids was just too far out for hoi polloi . Plus , this movie present stiff rivalry at the box office from major sci - fi and dangerous undertaking films such asGhostbusters , Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomandStar Trek III : The Search for Spock . Made for a budget of close to $ 20 million , Buckaroo Banzaigrossed only $ 6 million at the international box office – make it a reliable box post bomb calorimeter . Yet this film has received new life on home video having sell well in the VHS , DVD , and Blu - ray formats . In 2009,Wiredmagazine celebratedBuckaroo Banzai ’s twenty-fifth anniversary . AndEntertainment Weeklyhas rate Buckaroo Banzai as # 43 on its “ Top 50 Cult Movies ” tilt .
6. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
The grandpa of mockumentary film , This Is Spinal Tapis wide consider today as one of the funniest picture ever made . Many critics and cultists moot this pic to be a drollery classic , yet the mockumentary data format was n’t popular , widely used , or even understood whenSpinal Taphit theatre in 1984 . As such , the movie that be $ 10 million to make grossed only $ 4.5 million at the box post — a immense disappointment . fortuitously , this film became one of the very first hits on VHS back in the 1980s , and it has since gone on to reach fabled status – even being re - released in theatre doubly since its initial run . It has since been given a 25th day of remembrance edition Blu - ray disc release , a Criterion Collection DVD acquittance , and the vauntedNew York Timeshas namedThis Is Spinal Tapone of the ripe motion picture ever made – drollery or drama .
5. Repo Man (1984)
A lot of misunderstood cult movies seem to have been released in 1984 . Another one on this listing isRepo Man , made by avant - garde British filmmaker Alex Cox . Another poorly receive sci - fi funniness , Repo Manstars Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton as a couple of small - time car repossession military man who get caught up in a UFO and alien conspiracy . While praised by critic when it was initially eject , this movie was yet another cause that proved to be just too strange for mainstream tastes . The Boston Society of Film Critics awarded it “ Best Screenplay ” in 1984 , but that did n’t help it make a earnings . Made for about $ 5 million , Repo Manearned only $ 129,000 at moving picture field of operations . genuinely dissatisfactory . Since then , Repo Manhas earn a massive cult travel along , holds a 98 % military rating on Rotten Tomatoes , andEntertainment Weeklymagazine has ranked it No . 7 on its list of “ The Top 50 Cult Films . ” Far out , man !
4. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Today , The Rocky Horror Picture Showis a true rage classic — perhapsthecult classic . It continues to be re - release in field every class at Halloween so fans of the flick can get together and do the “ Time Warp ” together . As a result , this moving picture has gross $ 113 million at the box office over the past 42 years – more than recouping its initial budget of roughly $ 1.5 million . However , when first released in 1975 , this movie grossed only $ 2 million . Many the great unwashed were drive by the transvestite and/or transverse - dressing characters in the moving picture — plus to violent slaying of Meatloaf with an axe ! That change over sentence , asThe Rocky Horror Picture Showslowly gained a cult following and then became a cultural phenomenon . Today , it sell out movie theaters each Halloween . Plus , it has historically been one of the most expensive motion-picture show to buy on home video . A version of the motion picture released on VHS in 1990 that included accompanying documentary film footage retail for $ 90 .
3. Showgirls (1995)
Reviled by critics upon its initial release in 1995,Showgirlshas gained a fast cult following among people who prize its campiness and cattiness . About a streetwise vagrant who ventures to Las Vegas and climb the seedy hierarchy from stripper to chorus girl , the moving picture stars former teen star Elizabeth Berkley ( Saved By The Bell ) and received a record number of Razzie Award nominating speech in 1995 , which honor the bad motion-picture show every year . The nicest thing that critic Roger Ebert wrote in his reassessment of the film is that “ it is n’t completely terrible . ” Yet today , Showgirlsis shown at midnight covering around the U.S. for fans who can take account the “ it ’s so bad , it ’s good ” nature of the film . This movie has taken on a cult condition with people who say they savor it ironically . Many fans ofShowgirlscall it one of the “ best bad pic ” of all - meter . Initially grossing just $ 20 million on a $ 45 million budget , Showgirlshas since return more than $ 100 million from video rental and become one of MGM ’s top 20 all - time bestselling picture .
2. Withnail and I (1987)
In some circles , in particular in the United Kingdom , Withnail and Iis the cult movie . The motion picture about two ne’er do well actors in London , whose main preoccupation seems to be drinking and avert real work , is hilarious and wedge full of classic lines that many can recite off the top of their head . Yet when this movie came out in 1987 , it flush it dreadfully – gross only $ 1.5 million internationally . Time has been kind to the movie , though , and it is now viewed as one of the greatest calamitous comedy of all fourth dimension . A true cinematic classic . In 2000 , readers ofTotal Filmmagazine votedWithnail and Ithe third cracking comedy movie of all - clip . In 2004 , the same magazine name it the thirteenth gravid British film of all time . And over the past 30 days , Withnail and Ihas earned more than $ 50 million on home TV . It is also ofttimes show at film festivals around the world . It has become the little flick that could . “ Do n’t conflate your drinks ! ”
1. Heathers (1988)
The 1988 movieHeathersmade a lead out of Winona Ryder and in effect introduced the public to Christian Slater . It was also critically lauded when it come out and is today considered one of the best black comedies , and best comedy about high schoolhouse , ever made . full stop . About a camp of high school day girls who are each named Heather , the movie is about how Christian Slater ’s demented character systematically go about kill the popular and feared clique of girls , Ryder ’s fictitious character in tow . While critics praisedHeathersdark theme and feeling , as well as Slater ’s carrying out , the subject matter proved controversial and the movie was for the most part ignored when released . It grossed just $ 1.1 million in theaters and was viewed as a failure . Time has rendered a different verdict though . Today , Heathersis regard as one of the top cult flick of all time . In 2006 , the movie was ranked No . 5 onEntertainment Weekly‘s list of the “ 50 Best High School Movies , ” and in 2008 , it was ranked No . 412 onEmpiremagazine ’s list of “ The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time . ”Heathershas also been adapt into a stage melodious and a television serial based on the movie is currently in maturation .
