10 Years of The Cult Film ArchiveThe Cult Film Archive is the world’s only research centre devoted to the study of global cult film traditions, as well as a venue with an international reputation. It was launched in 2000 under the directorship of Xavier Mendik and relocated to the Screen Media Research Centre at Brunel University in January 2005. As a research resource, the archive contains over 4,000 global cult films (on a variety of domestic and broadcast formats), as well as an extensive collection of movie related books, slides, stills, posters and soundtracks. The Archive collection also contains an exclusive collection of over 600 hours of exclusive interview footage of leading cult film figures from around the world. Beyond its extensive collection of cult film resources, the archive also hosts its own book series AlterImage (published by Wallflower Press), which is edited in conjunction with leading European and American critics in the field. To date, two volumes of the AlterImage book series have been published: Underground USA: Filmmaking Beyond the Hollywood Canon (Wallflower Press, 2002) and Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945 (Wallflower Press, 2004). A third edition of the series entitled Peep Shows: The Cult Visual Erotic is in production for 2010. Outside of its research and publication projects, the archive also has its own documentary series entitled Movie Extreme, which considers the social and cultural dimensions which underpin global cult film traditions. To date three documentaries have been produced under this label: Fear Today and Horror Tomorrow: Eli Roth and Cabin Fever (2004), Resurrecting Horror: Inside the Mind of Brian Yuzna (2004) and Menstrual Monsters: The Ginger Snaps Trilogy (2005). All three documentaries have been premiered at leading film festivals across Europe and the Far East, while Menstrual Monsters: The Ginger Snaps Trilogy is the subject of an international study of contemporary female horror fans. For more information on The Cult Film Archive contact: Or see the website:
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About the Director of Cine-ExcessXavier Mendik is Director of The Cult Film Archive and Convenor of the world’s first in Cult Film and TV MA at Brunel University. As Director of The Cult Film Archive, Xavier Mendik established the world’s first research centre into cult and underground cinema, which moved to Brunel University in January 2005. Beyond his work at the archive, Xavier Mendik has published, broadcast and taught on a wide variety of cult and horror film traditions. His key publications (as author, editor and co-editor) include Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (Flicks Books, 2000), Unruly Pleasures: The Cult Film and its Critics (Fab Press, 2000), Underground USA: Filmmaking Beyond the Hollywood Canon (Wallflower Press, 2002), Shocking Cinema of the Seventies (Noir Publishing, 2002) and Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945 (Wallflower Press, 2004). Xavier Mendik is co-author of the The Cult Film Reader (McGraw Hill, 2008) and is currently working on a monograph entitled Fear Theory. |
