Name a movie that should have been a flop but became a hit based on word of mouth

[Baitball Blogger]

My contribution is "Porky's. It was a teen film that hit high on raunch and seemed to be a release gasket for a generation of young adults. I distinctly remember the surprise at seeing the characters "going there" and getting swept away with the convulsive laughter that erupted in the theater. Probably the only movie that I went to that sustained a high laugh meter throughout the movie. Audience reaction is one of the reasons why I go to see blockbusters.

Porky's is a 1981 Canadian-American sex comedy film, written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. Released in the United States in 1982 with an R rating, the film spawned three sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Porky's Revenge! (1985), and Pimpin' Pee Wee (2009), and influenced many writers in the teen film genre.

[Bosonic]

1. The Blair Witch Project

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Definitely.

[cemaphonic]

29. I'd say that was more of an early (and well executed) example of viral marketing

than true word-of-mouth though.

[PRB]

56. What a pile of suck

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It got poor reviews when it was released but soon became popular as a "midnight movie." Before long it was a true cult film. I still love it.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. ULTIMATE selection.

And sad to say that I missed the opportunity to be part of that one.

[Boomerproud]

5. Thanks for the good memories.

Brainless Friday night fun. Harmless too.

[csziggy]

14. I first heard of it when visiting friends in San Francisco in early 1978

They highly recommended to my husband and me so we all went to see it in a theater on Market Street and got stoned during the movie. This was before the audience participation era so it was much tamer than it could have been. It was still great fun and I still love to watch it.

[Art_from_Ark]

40. When did the audience participation era begin?

I saw it in August 1979, and it was definitely audience participation by that time.

[csziggy]

42. It must have been during that short period

The show I saw, a few people were singing along but not a lot and no one dressed up. Mostly we just all got stoned, whether or not we were actively smoking, and we all had a great time. If anyone were going to dress up for movie participation it would have been Dale and Ernie, the couple we had gone to visit and the ones who introduced us to the movie!

A few years later I bought an audio tape of Rocky Horror that was labeled as an "audience participation" version - it had more of the introductory dialogue to some of the songs, the parts people liked to include in their re-enactments. It was perfect to play as driving since it made it easy to remember the context of the songs and to sing along with them.

[davidpdx]

66. I have gone to it one time in Portland and did the audience participation thing

I believe I also got up on stage and danced as well. Thankfully there are no pictures that I know of.

[CBGLuthier]

16. I was one of the few who saw it in its original pre-midnight theatrical run

No commentary or audience interaction or dressing up. I was kind of young, 15 or 16, and probably a bit naive about what I was seeing but i liked the music. As odd and cultish as it may be it is a well made film with a great cast.


Saw it a dozen or more times after that in its more famous and popular presentations.

[betsuni]

18. College friends took me to a midnight show because they thought I'd love it.

I didn't get it. Seemed pseudo-hip, trying too hard. On the other hand, a few years later I attended more than a few late-night showings of the movie "Flashdance" and repeated the ridiculously bad dialog along with the characters. But that was different, there was dancing.

[Baitball Blogger]

19. Flashdance.

I'll give you two thumbs up for that selection. Along with the music it had some nice moody shots that helped set the scene. And loved, loved that scene when she walks in to audition the first time and she gets intimidated by the long line of doe eyed, anorexic dancers who appraised her with the confidence that comes from years of mastering technique.

[OriginalGeek]

47. there was a dollar theater a block from my friend's house

that rotated RHPS, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same at their midnight showings. We probably kept a cartel in business all the weed we smoked and went to the shows. At least one popcorn company too.

I still listen to all their soundtracks regularly.

[Coventina]

6. I think "Napoleon Dynamite" qualifies.

It was a quirky little indie-movie that morphed into a cultural phenomenon based on word of mouth.

[HappyMe]

7. Vote For Pedro!

One of my favorite movies ever.

[Coventina]

8. It is a quality movie. I quote from it all the time.

My lips hurt real bad!

[HappyMe]

9. Give me some of your tots.

[Coventina]

10. IDIOT!!

I also like to tell people to imagine that they are surrounded by seahorses when I take their pictures!

[HappyMe]

11. The liger!

[OriginalGeek]

48. It's the most magical of creatures!

I ask lunch companions all the time if they are gonna eat their tots.


Sometimes they don't even have tots.


My friends often stare at me like I'm an alien.

But I'll show them. I'm gonna get me a sweet bike and I'm training to be a cage fighter.

[Arugula Latte]

52. Love that movie, too, Coventina!

Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!

[Coventina]

53. BOW TO YOUR SENSEI!!

[Arugula Latte]

55. My hair was making my head hot.

[Wounded Bear]

12. The Gods Must be Crazy...nt

[RebelOne]

13. Definitely. It has always been a cult favorite. n/t

[gratuitous]

15. One that went the other way

Ishtar. If you ignore the huge (by the standards of the day) budget, it's not a bad little comedy, but the critics savaged it badly.

[progressoid]

21. I remember going to see it only because it was hot and the theater was air conditioned.

Well, that and Elaine May had some credibility.

[SwankyXomb]

30. If Ishtar had been made for a third of the budget

and marketed as a parody of the Hope-Crosby Road pictures, it might have done better.

[Capt.Rocky300]

17. "Breaking Away"

A real sleeper until word got out. At least in my neighborhood.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. That was about escaping a small town?

He was a cyclist who was practicing Italian? And his buddy tried to race a college kid in a quarry and, though he put his whole heart into it, he lost because the other guy had...technique?

I am spotting a theme here.

[Orrex]

22. Avatar

[avebury]

24. I loved Avatar and went back to see it again

in 3D and I seldom spend the money for 3D movies.

[Orrex]

26. Yeah, you and a lot of other people!

I know tons of people who loved that film, and the word-of-mouth reviews were through the roof.

Not actually my cup of tea, but that's fine.

[ailsagirl]

23. Billy Jack!!

Though I did appreciate the sentiments of the film, it was rather amateurish. That didn't prevent it from being a popular movie!!

[Xipe Totec]

31. I never did get to see the ending

Saw it in the theater with my girlfriend.

Half way through the movie, they shut it down and asked us to evacuate.

When we left the theater, we saw an angry red sky from horizon to horizon.

A refinery less than a mile away was on fire.

Got to see a cracking tower take off like a rocket, summer-sault in the air, and crash back on top of some tanks... More explosions.

Chaos and confusion.

I remember driving back into the subdivision behind the refinery, where my house was located. Stopped by a cordon of Mexican soldiers in green uniforms and rifles at the ready.

I remember pushing one of them with my truck until he stepped aside and let me through only to be stopped cold several blocks later by a barricade of vehicles.

I raced the last few blocks on foot, feeling the heat coming from the refinery to my right on my face, expecting the whole thing to blow up at any moment.

I made it home, checked that there was nobody there, and ran back out.

I hitched a ride on the way out on a vehicle that was still just leaving the subdivision. My girlfriend still with me.

We got back to my truck and raced as fast as we could to safety.

Cars were crashing into each other every other block, as people ignored traffic signals and ran red lights.

We managed to make it out of the city and to the ranch, about 15 miles outside the city limits.

From there we watched until the fires were brought back under control.

Many dead. Some refinery workers died closing safety valves and draining tanks to reduce the damage.

That was 39 years ago.

I never did get to see the ending of the movie.

[Baitball Blogger]

34. It was kind of anti-climatic compared to what you experienced.

[Xipe Totec]

44. True that

[RebelOne]

35. The ending was the best part of the movie when he was led away

and all his supporters lined the road.

[IrishEyes]

25. My big, fat, Greek wedding.

It was a nice little film but it became a gigantic hit. I still don't know why it was so popular.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

46. That movie literally saved a small theater in Barrington, Illinois.

[IrishEyes]

50. Well, that is good to hear.

I liked the film. It was okay. I even own it but that is because someone gave it to me. I'v had it for years but I haven't watched it.

[LonePirate]

27. Super Troopers

Of course, you need a loose definition of "hit" for it.

[Kennah]

51. Shenanigans!

[Initech]

59. He's already pulled over! He can't pull over any further!!!

[kairos12]

61. License and registration meow.

[Initech]

65. They got a little distracted by someone doing a repeater.

"That will happen."
"That will happen."

[Teamster Jeff]

28. "Slap Shot" - My favorite sports movie

[mackerel]

32. That is one fecking hilarious movie!

[Sancho]

33. Rocky Horror Picture Show!

[lame54]

36. Shawshank Redemption

[olddots]

37. Diner

it was almost shelved because some test audiences said nothing happens .
It created stars and broke new ground .

[mackerel]

54. I loved that movie!

[CBGLuthier]

38. I read about one the other day, My Dinner with Andre

It has a run and was almost finished when Siskel and Ebert praised it and it became a minor pop culture reference.

Any movie where two guys sit, eat, and talk for an hour and a half will have a tough time finding an audience.

There is an article on rogerebert.com talking to Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn for the anniversary of the move.

[Tikki]

39. Repo Man

[IcyPeas]

41. Eraserhead

played at all the midnight movie houses for years:

[hifiguy]

43. That would be my pick.

Strange, very beautiful and VERY disturbing.

I remember seeing a double bill of Eraserhead and Tod Browning's Freaks back in the late 1970s at a midnight movie place. Nightmare fuel of the purest kind.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

49. Saw it once in a theatre back in the late '70s.

It thoroughly creeped me out; I clearly remember (too clearly) the lady in the radiator, and OMG the "baby."

[Major Nikon]

45. Reefer Madness

[PRB]

57. Bonnie and Clyde

got some bad reviews, but I don't think the so-called critics understood it. Ebert gave it an insightful review and he was only 25 years old. Not sure how audiences reacted in general, so maybe it does not fit the criteria of the OP. Just threw it in there.

[mucifer]

58. "Hoop Dreams" was a small documentary from the west side of Chicago

But, Siskel and Ebert saw it, loved it and promoted it:

[Initech]

60. Clerks

"Are these movies any good?"
"I don't watch movies."
"What about these two?"
"Oh they suck."
"These are the same two movies! You weren't paying attention!"
"No I wasn't!"

[kairos12]

63. I wasn't even supposed to post here today.

[kairos12]

62. Office Space. Yeahhhh.

[Initech]

64. Yeah I am going to have to ask you to go ahead and come in on Saturday.

Oh and Sunday too. We lost some people last week and we need to sort of play catch up. So if you could get here around 9:00, that'd be great. K thanks!

[davidpdx]

67. I can't think of any in particular that became popular by word of mouth while playing IN the

theater, but several come to mind well after they left the theater. Among those: The Shawshank Redemption, They Live, and Big Trouble in Little China.