Reel fanatics: Cult Cinema Club

Cult Cinema Club. Art by Alyssa Diggdon.

One of Willamette's promises and promotions to current and prospective students is that if there is not a club for your interest, then you can make one yourself. This promise is exactly what club president Charis Brown (’27) capitalized on when she established the Cult Cinema Club at the start of the fall 2024 term. Noticing a lack of film-related clubs — and having a passion for cult cinema — she sarcastically thought to herself: “I feel like I have so much time on my hands. I should start a club.”

Start a club she did, aiming to create a space for students to watch “cult” films, which vice president Elise Lien (’27) described as “a film that did horribly when it originally came out but years and years later has found a new kind of life.” A classic example of cult cinema is “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which, since its release, has gained quite the cult following and popularised shadow casts, a cast of actors playing along with the movie being screened. Other contributions to the classification and the rise of cult films include midnight showings at movie theaters, as well as the film's inclusion and highlighting of marginalized communities.

Brown explained that “[cult films] are super tied into [the question:] what does it mean to push the boundaries on what film is?” By showing and conversing with these films in an on-campus setting, the Cult Cinema Club aims to combat mainstream narrative, fighting “purity culture” according to Brown and Lien.

Many steps stood before Brown and her dream of getting the club running. The first step to starting any club on campus is to poll interest to see if there are any potential members on the prowl. After passing around the first round of interest forms during the fall club fair, Brown and Lien found that over one hundred students were interested in the club and wanted to see its establishment. 

Once the exec team knew that there was interest, club meetings were marketed and began straight away. Without the affiliation stamp from the Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU), however, the club faced many challenges. The main one was their reliance on the library for club resources. Brown noted that “[the club] used to get [a DVD player] from the library, which was always exciting because we didn't always know if it was there or not.”

Assets that the club has gained since obtaining ASWU affiliation include the club’s own DVD player as well as an air popcorn popper. Lien, whose official title for the club is vice president, is better known fondly as Popcorn Tsar to club members, as she is in charge of making and distributing popcorn into little red and white striped bags at club meetings. 

Club member Jasper Woodward (’28) loves the community aspect of the club and said that “[he] like[s] watching movies on [his] own, but [he] really think[s] that it is such a fun community or group event, especially with cult movies.” Club members also enjoy participating in choosing the films that the group watches. Each student can pick a movie from a long list of cult films, and their selection is put in a wheel where one is randomly selected for the succeeding week's showing. Woodward described this system as “mini gambling but with movies,” and a way in which everyone wins. 

Cult Cinema Club meets every Thursday at 6:30 in Smullin B17. They encourage any and all participation. Brown emphasized that “[the club has] open doors; you can come late to the movie, you can come to the last 20 minutes, you can just walk in.”