People define the term “cult movie” in many different ways, but the only sensible definition is this: a cult movie is a movie that has a cult.

The following for a cult movie may be very small or very large, but whether you’re talking about the legions who line up behind the Star Wars franchise or the sorry few who cling to The Toxic Avenger, the one thing all cultists have in common is that they don’t just like what they like, they love what they like. Cult movies inspire fanatical, irrational devotion. They change the way people think their thoughts and live their lives.

Cult movies are watched repeatedly, quoted habitually and discussed in heated terms. They can also inspire odd fashion choices among susceptible nerds – I will never forget the time I saw a fellow decked out like the Crow, scary clown make-up and all, at Takashimaya; it was nowhere near Halloween.

Some people become cult filmmakers by accident, such as the hapless Edward Wood (director of The Worst Movie Ever Made, Plan 9 from Outer Space). Others set out with the intention to make a weird movie, such as Snakes on a Plane, in the hope that it will attract a cult audience.

The directors we’re most interested in, however, are the ones who are born cult leaders: outsiders, misfits and weirdoes who are nonetheless able to attract wide audiences and find great success; filmmakers who have a talent for making their childish fixations and perverse fascinations seem somehow okay. They are Hollywood’s cult kingpins, bless their little freaky hearts.

Get the list of cult leaders in the July issue.