Many cult movies were initial disasters at the box office but later found an audience through midnight screenings, video rentals or the like.
Cult movies are often made from a non-mainstream perspective. They focus on misfits or marginalized figures and their unique perspective on the world.
Cult films often portray images or subject matter that you simply can't find in any other movie. This can entail extreme behavior, bizarre plot developments or simply sets and costumes that no other film can boast.
Cult films tend to feature catchy or compulsively repeatable dialogue, either too brilliant to ignore or too awful to forget.
Though not all cult films are campy, many feature elements of the truly ridiculous (either knowingly or unintentionally). Not only does that provide a source of humor, but it can be used to subvert or undermine popular cultural norms.