 Academic Bob Batchelor , writing in Cult Pop Culture , states that the Internet has democratized cult culture and destroyed the line between cult and mainstream . Fans of even the most obscure films can communicate online with each other in vibrant communities . Although known for their big @-@ budget blockbusters , Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have criticized the current Hollywood system of gambling everything on the opening weekend of these productions . Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent instead suggests that Hollywood look to capitalize on cult films , which have exploded in popularity on the Internet . The rise of social media has been a boon to cult films . Sites such as Twitter have displaced traditional venues for fandom and courted controversy from cultural critics who are unamused by campy cult films . After a clip from one of his films went viral , director @-@ producer Roger Corman made a distribution deal with YouTube . Found footage which had originally been distributed as cult VHS collections eventually went viral on YouTube , which opened them to new generations of fans . Films such as Birdemic ( 2008 ) and The Room ( 2003 ) gained quick , massive popularity , as prominent members of social networking sites discussed them . Their rise as " instant cult classics " bypasses the years of obscurity that most cult films labor under . In response , critics have described the use of viral marketing as astroturfing and an attempt to manufacture cult films . 
