My Top Seven So-Bad-They're-Good Movies
There’s nothing quite like a so-bad-it’s-good movie, is there? They can’t be graded on the same scale as a regular movie because they’re in a class by themselves. Unintentionally and unavoidably cringe-y and hilarious, these films make every good film great and every great film sublime by comparison. We know we should be repulsed by them, yet they’re like the proverbial train wreck. Can’t. Look. Away.
Everyone has their favorites, of course, and here are some of mine. I’ve done full reviews of all of these on Taking Up Room, so if anyone’s interested in going deeper down the rabbit hole, click on the headers for each movie. I do a So Bad It’s Good Blogathon every year, and I defy anyone to read just one of the great entries that have been submitted by so many wonderful bloggers over the years. Every time we get some doozies.
Anyhoo, here we go, and I’ve ordered everything by weirdness level. Voila…
William and Kate (Lifetime, 2011)
Yeah. I went there. This film is firmly in Guilty Pleasure territory because it’s super bad and super funny. So inaccurate and so, so cheesy. Only we’re talking American cheese, not Wensleydale.
Movies like this are one of the reasons William and Kate-themed barf bags were sold in the days leading up to the Royal Wedding, and they’re almost nostalgic now.
The Happening (20th Century Fox, 2008)
Ah, yes, The Happening. Did M. Night Shyamalan mean for this thing to be so hilariously terrible? Plenty of movie lovers debate that question to this day.
If anyone hasn’t seen this one, I highly recommend it because it’s not only sloppily executed and badly acted, but it’s highly quotable. Exhibit A: The Hot Dog Guy.
Titanic II (Asylum, 2010)
Yes, there is a Titanic II, and this movie should not be confused with the real rebuild that just recently launched. Oh, no. Asylum’s version has super cool submarine lifeboats stored in the hull, so nothing can possibly go wrong, can it?
Heh.
In other news, look for the extra fixing her bra as the ship leaves port and the same groups of extras running past the same shop windows twice and up the same stairs from two different angles.
Sharknado (Asylum, 2013)
Uh huh. I went there, too. The Sharknado movies are rather infamous because they’re so danged terrible, but on the other hand, it’s kind of fun to go through the series just to see which celebrities are going to end up as shark munchies.
And if anyone has that song in their head now, I’m truly sorry. ;-)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (Valiant Pictures, 1959)
Can’t have a so-bad-it’s-good list without Plan 9. As a movie, it’s cheap-looking, it’s thin, it’s got errors and goofs galore.
As a so-bad-it’s-good movie, though, it’s gold. Everything, from the bobble-headed narrator to the script in a pilot’s lap to Bela Lugosi coming out of the bushes and waving his cape over and over, this is a movie to see and talk about. Maybe more than once.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (Severin Films, 2010)
This movie’s terrible, but I like it. I really like it. The special effects are uber-lame, the acid-spitting birds don’t even start attacking people until almost an hour into the film, and what the film calls a “cameo” by Tippi Hedren is one of her scenes from The Birds playing on a motel TV. It’s sidesplitting, and if anyone can find the RiffTrax version it’s even better.
I guess I feel an odd sentimentality for the movie because it was made by Bay Area people and shot in various Bay Area locations. As an East Bay kid I find it all a bit home-y. Well, all except for the angry acid-spitting birds.
Manos, the Hands of Fate (Emerson Film Enterprises, 1966)
I had to agree with Ted Mosby when he told Stella that Manos is weirder than Plan 9. It’s absolutely weirder, and its budget was even lower, believe it or not. This movie’s got a cult, it’s got a creepy guy named Torgo who’s supposed to be a satyr but who looks like he has pillows strapped to his knees, and it’s got people slapping each other. A lot.
It has to be seen to be believed, which is easy enough. YouTube or RiffTrax, baby.
So-bad-they’re-good movies. You don’t find them; they find you. Oh boy, do they find you.