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Bad movies you can't help watching

  • Minako Sakura
    • 1083 posts
    April 22, 2008 11:12 PM BST
    Mere, honey--

    You should add "Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension" to the list you posted. Talk about a cult classic...!

    Luv 'n Hugs,

    Mina
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 13, 2008 3:44 PM BST
    MA's posting about "Babel" made me think of a prior posting,one that I am reviving and and revising.

    What are your favorite bad movies to watch? I mean, these movies are so damn God-awful that you can't help but watch because they are such a train wreck. Movies by directors such as Ed Wood do not count! I would put "Grease 2" and "Tootsie" on this list but those films are so insufferable even to goof on. Here is a partial list of mine:

    King Kong - the 1976 version with Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange.

    The Ten Commandments - With all due respect to the Big Man Upstairs, this movie has the worst dialogue, acting, music, you name it. And I watch it faithfully every year and goof on it to the point of committing blasphemy. I know Charleton "Lock and Load" Heston just passed away, but this movie is so bad it could almost be a comedy.

    This is just a very short list to get this going. I will have more later, especially am I heading in to work to watch another long line of people try to walk through the "EXIT ONLY" doors.

    Mere


  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 13, 2008 10:42 PM BST
    My one friend who is a movie critic says that the new film "10,000 BC" falls into this category, although he has no desire to see it again.
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 14, 2008 1:58 PM BST
    This is a good one, Meredith. The list could be endless so I will restrain myself and mention just a few pet hates. The Exorcist, I just loathe that film. The recent updating of Miami Vice, the last film I walked out on and truly awful throughout. Any scene from a movie with Ava Gardner in it.. Titanic, risible in its entirety. A movie we know was showered with Oscar's to prevent the studio from going bust. And finally two movies that qualify for the terrible but just have to be watched category: Earthquake with the late and much lamented ( though after recently watching The Omega Man, I'm not so sure, John Charlton Carter ): and Forrest Gump which is loathsome beyond redemption but has the enduring fascination of needing to be watched to be believed. Also, I can't abide films that try so hard to be quirky. I saw Nurse Betty last night, a classic of this type - pointless and just not funny. One other thing I must complain about is the trend there is now for multi-layered plotting of which ( though I haven't seen it ) I'm sure Babel is a fine example of. What's wrong with good old fashioned storytelling. And isn't The Departed just the most overrated film of recent times. Did Scorcese really win his Oscar for that. I'm sorry that was two things.
  • Karen Brad
    • 2627 posts
    April 14, 2008 2:12 PM BST
    Airplane all of them & Scary Movie also all of them. Humor for the illiterate.
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 15, 2008 3:57 AM BST
    One movie I absolutely despise and refuse to watch under any circumstances is "Tootsie," and not because of the cross-dressing issue. It's just an irritating film.
  • Robyn Webb
    • 773 posts
    April 15, 2008 4:40 AM BST
    "Tootsie" was annoying, but really, Terri Garr is hot.

    "Shakes The Clown" starring Bobcat Goldthwaite is just godawful, but I must watch it again and again.

    Any and all of the National Lampoon "Vacation" films, despite the fact that I despise Chevy Chase, just because I loved the Chris Miller short stories from the original National Lampoon magazine upon which the films are based, and that made me fall off the toilet laughing when I first read them (that was always where I read each issue of the National Lampoon).

    I recently saw "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle," and it was almost as dumb as a Bill & Ted movie from beginning to end, but I am ashamed to say that I loved it.
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 16, 2008 11:53 PM BST
    Terri Garr is adorable. I have thought so ever since that Star Trek episode. She and another actress, whose name escapes me, did a very funny and cutting satirical take for the BBC on a Presidential election in the 80's. Intelligence, beauty and personality. So rare and so difficult to find - always alluring. Never really saw enough of her.
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 17, 2008 4:29 AM BST
    Robyn, not to be picky here, but the original stories were written by John Hughes. I love those as well, far darker and funnier than the films. AND - I still have them!

    The second "Bill and Ted" film had what I consider one of the best cinematic jokes ever when they parodied Bergman's "Seventh Seal" when they played games with Death.

    "Reefer Madness" is another god-awful film that is still so funny to watch. Especially when high!
  • Angela Louise
    • 315 posts
    April 17, 2008 8:41 AM BST

    For me, the film that fits in this catagory has to be "Borat" !!

    It's so "cringe-making", that it's almost compulsive viewing!
    I watch it, wondering how can these people NOT realise how they're being "set up" ??

    Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays Borat (and Ali G), has made his name, first on TV, and more recently in film, by setting up the most rediculous interviews, and situations, with unsuspecting celebrities, and members of the public, and takes them to such extremes, that I just can't understand how the "stooge" doesn't, at least, start to feel "is this for real?", and call an end to the interview/situation !!

    But, I find it compulsive viewing all the same !!
    Even if it's cringe-makingly awful !!!

    Hugs,
    Angela. xx.
  • Karen Brad
    • 2627 posts
    April 20, 2008 4:35 PM BST
    I just saw one to add to this list.
    Cry-Baby...With Johnny Depp.
  • lynn harvey
    • 404 posts
    April 20, 2008 9:16 PM BST
    ....Hammer Films productions,and anything starring Vincent Price.................and possibly Christopher Lee.......
    get in a take-away meal,open a good bottle of wine,watch one of these films....a great evening!!!!!!

    lol
    Lynn H.
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 21, 2008 4:08 AM BST
    Speaking of the Hammer studio films, we could also make an argument for all those bad monster movies that came out in the wake of WWII, especially as the fear of atomic mutation was a central theme. "The Amazing Colossal Man," "Them," "Beginning of the End," etc., all make for some great viewing!

    By the way, the special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen was a genius! I could only imagine what it would have been like if he had computers with which to work. Even if a lot of the movies for which he did the effects were so laughably bad.

    I just found out that they are planning on remaking the classic "Seven Samurai." I AM OUTRAGED!!!!! YOU DO NO REMAKE A CLASSIC LIKE THAT!!!!

    Mere
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 21, 2008 7:34 AM BST
    I couldn't agree more, Meredith. In fact, why remake a movie at all unless you believe you can improve upon the original, and some things just can't be improved upon. You can rework the story as of course they did with The Magnificent Seven. Remaking classic movies doesn't tend to work and most of them seem to flop at the box office. It is the same with the current penchant Hollywood has for making the movie of the popular television series. In saying that, they haven't brought Kojak to the silver screen yet. Actually, I want to add a movie to the list: The Aviator, I saw it for the first time last night ( though I think movies should be watched twice before passing final judgement ) and hated it. However, I found myself compelled to watch it, not because of its entertainment value, but rather just to see the various impersonations of the famous actors of the past. Which I didn't think were very impressive as it turns out. I remember the story of Howard Hughes being done much better in a biopic starring Tommy Lee Jones. But that was many years ago so maybe my memory is doing me a disservice.
  • Angela Louise
    • 315 posts
    April 21, 2008 8:25 AM BST

    Porscha,

    Like you, I spent a couple of hours last night watching "Aviator", not having seen it on it's cinema release, and thinking that it would be a "good watch"!

    Why oh why did I bother ? !!

    At the end of it, I was wondering if it was like one of Howard Hughes' own projects, spending bad money after good ! Having put so much money into the project, and being so obsessed with it, that you just have to complete it, although everyone else seems to know that it'll flop!
    "Aviator" gave me the same feeling !
    Good cast, good concept, good story, totally wrecked in the writing and production processes !!

    Definitely, one to add to this list !!

    Hugs,
    Angela. xx.
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 21, 2008 10:27 AM BST
    Scorcese, seems to have seriously lost his touch since Goodfellas. Casino was a reasonable film, but the it was pretty much Goodfella's remade in another location. Ultimately The Aviator was boring, I think it was, in large part, a vanity project - good money thrown after bad. How can you take the story of Howard Hughes and make it boring, it takes some doing. Anyway, another film for the list - Good Morning, Vietnam. Truly nauseating. I once watched it with a lover, they left me after that.
  • Minako Sakura
    • 1083 posts
    April 22, 2008 2:41 AM BST
    Hi, luvs--

    Tootsie is too obvious. So is "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson. In no particular order:

    1. Mantango (Attack of the Mushroom People)
    2. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
    3. The Creeping Terror
    4. The Night of the Lepus (With DeForest Kelley)
    5. Trog
    6. Godzilla (Only the 1998 version)

    These are so bad, but if you get to watching them, you'll sit there just to see how bad "bad" really is.

    Luv 'n hugs,

    Mina Sakura
    "Almost-Angel, Girl Genius, and Ultra-Flirt"
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 22, 2008 4:57 AM BST
    I happen to be watching one right now! Comcast Cable has a whole slate of free movies. I am watching "The Shaft" right now, about wicked elevators. Crap crap crap, and I can't stop watching!
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 22, 2008 10:15 AM BST
    Sounds like a threat Maryanne, and why ruin a beautiful friendship. Anyway, I might retaliate lol. I have copies of Traffic, Insomnia, The Score, City Hall and Hunted, I'm desperate to unload. See what you're up against! They're in the post.
  • Nikki Hollm
    • 2017 posts
    April 22, 2008 10:36 AM BST
    Well, there are several hundred I can think of but I certainly can't stand the idea of some classic films being remade. The Italian job for example, I refuse to watch the remake since the original is such an iconic film. Some could say this closes my mind to what may be an even better film, perhaps so, but I didn't find the original was lacking in anything so if it ain't broke.....................

    Nikki
  • porscha palomar
    • 448 posts
    April 22, 2008 11:04 AM BST
    Other movies which I think are truly awful but strangely feel compelled to watch whenever they are on television include: Looking for Mr Goodbar, Serpico, and the one where Al Pacino's cop goes undercover into the fetish scene. The title escapes me. Also there are all those not bad movies ruined by a wholly inappropriate funky 70's soundtrack which plays loud and fast regardless of the storyline. Often the fault of Lalo Schiffrin.
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 22, 2008 2:08 PM BST
    I shoud have stated why I am leaving Ed Wood movies out of this, and the simple reason is that he has achieved that elusive cult status that defines a truly whacked auteur.

    The phrase "it's so bad it's good" is important here, but what I am looking at are total trainwrecks! Movies with such awful qualities that you can't believe someone would sign their name to it.

    I laugh when someone refers to the "Golden Age of Cinema," such as the movies of the 1930s. Please! There were just as many bombs back then as there were classics! Let's face it - after the burning of Atlanta, is "Gone with the Wind" really that good?

    As for "B" movies, some have gone on to achieve cult/classic status, such as the original "Night of the Living Dead," "The Terminator" and "Rock and Roll High School." Robert Rodriguez made a name for himself with "El Mariachi," shot for a mere $7000 for the Spanish video market. Quentin Tarantino persuaded Rodriguez to market it further, and, like the original "Living Dead" film mentioned above, shows what talent can do even with a shoestring budget.

    I am sick and tired of these endless remakes or versions of television shows that I never watched in the first place!
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 23, 2008 2:13 PM BST
    When they remade "Buck Rogers" during the 1970s, it was originally meant to be a made-for-tv movie. With the success of "Star Wars," it was released theatrically, and they still want ahead with the tv show (which didn't last too long). It was quite stupid, and yet we laughed.

    If we all lived closer together I would sponsor a "Bad Movie" night at my tiny flat. I would poll the site and then choose the top 2 or 3 films for watching, preferably with a keg or something like it.

    Mere
  • Meredith Newton
    • 2463 posts
    April 26, 2008 8:11 PM BST
    Kerry, years ago I had an idea to adapt/direct the first three "Hitchhikers" books into three separate films (like what Peter Jackson would later do with the "Rings" trilogy). That way, each book could be given its proper due.

    I agree - one of the best, if not THE best, anti-war films was the original "All Quiet on the Western Front." Amazing film for its time, but bastardized by later translations.
  • Zoe S
    • 252 posts
    July 21, 2010 8:13 AM BST
    In a really random way...

    "Krull"
    "Troll"
    "Hercules in New York"
    "Highlander 2: The Quickening" (Remains the only movie I have ever walked out of in a theatre)
    "Ishtar"
    "Normal" (Tom Wilkinson's performance is so awful. You'd think he would have done a tiny bit of research.)
    "Star Wars" Ep. 1,2,3
    "War of the Worlds"
    "Hudson Hawk"
    "Mission Impossible" 1,2,3
    "Star Trek 3"
    "Star Trek 5"
    "Soul Man"

    The only ones I can think of so late at night.

    Z
  • Melody Anders
    • Moderator
    • 1017 posts
    July 28, 2010 1:09 AM BST
    My embarrassing "shameful pleasure" is a little 1944 low budget horror: "Voodoo Man" staring Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, John Carradine, Wanda McKay and Tod Andrews.

    Lugosi is a man whose wife is in a coma/trance and he uses Zucco's gas station to capture unwitting motorists to be used by his voodoo powers to attempt to restore her to the living. Carradine is an idiot henchman who helps drag the victims to Lugosi. McKay was a pretty non-actress and Andrews was probably the most forgetable leading man, ever.

    The big, and admittedly cruel, fun of this film is seeing usually suave and distinguished (albeit usually evil) Zucco reduced to wearing really silly makeup and acting like a complete fool. Lugosi, likewise, does his career no good, but still miles above the crap he did for Ed Wood a few years later.

    This whole wonderful mess was directed by Bill ("one-take") Beaudine for Sam Katzman and Jack Deitz' Banner Productions and released by Monogram Pictures (a pedigree no film would want.)

    I love this film:

    Voodoo Man
    1944

    Directed by William Beaudine

    Horror

    Cast:
    Bela Lugosi .... Dr. Marlowe
    John Carradine .... Toby
    George Zucco .... Nicholas
    Wanda McKay .... Betty
    Louise Currie .... Stella
    Tod Andrews .... Ralph
    Ellen Hall .... Mrs. Marlowe
    Terry Walker .... Alice
    Mary Currier .... Mrs. Benton
    Claire James .... Zombie

    Writing credit: Robert Charles

    Produced by Jack Dietz, Sam Katzman

    Cinematography by Marcel Le Picard

    Film Editing by Carl Pierson

    Production Companies: Banner Productions Inc., Monogram Pictures Corporation
    Distributor: Monogram Pictures Corporation

    62 min
    USA
    Black and White

    Available wherever fine(?) public domain films are sold.

    Best,
    Melody

  • Tiffany Monroe
    • 8 posts
    July 28, 2010 10:19 PM BST
    Atomic Twister with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Corbin Bernsen is a movie that I will stop everything I'm doing to watch. If you haven't seen it you must. It is a work of art!

    Tiffany
  • Maci Branch
    • 19 posts
    December 30, 2011 6:54 AM GMT
    Troll 2, Shark Attack 3, Silent Night Deadly Night (all of them), The Alligator People, Bela Lugosi meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, and The Room. Also I know Ed Wood movies don't count but I just have to say "Glen or Glenda" I still laugh so hard I cry when the devil thing with the messed up eye brows randomly pops up on screen. "Pull the String!"