What makes a movie so bad it’s good? (See:Showgirls,The Roomand more below.) It’s a simple question without an easy answer, largely because each “good-bad” works in its own unique way.
But there are some common themes: “so bad they’re good” movies are typically helmed by amateurs (often of independent means) who possess zeal but lack sophistication. Their productions are usually outside, or on the fringe, of the mainstream Hollywood system, without access to the full retinue of film professionals who make the average movie work: from competent actors and writers on down to stunt performers and set dressers.
The end result is something familiar, yet completely iconoclastic — the work of an auteur who has no idea what they’re doing. While this usually ends in disaster, sometimes, and quite by accident (another important feature of good-bad movies: serendipity) something else is produced: a movie so bad it’s not just watchable, it’s enjoyable.
Finding your own “so bad it’s good” movie is one of the joys of being a film fan, but if you’re looking to jump-start your journey into schlock, here are seven movies that are widely considered to be the best of the worst:
Miami Connection (1987)
Miami Connection, the 1987 film about a group of college-age orphans who all live together, sing in a band, and use martial arts to battle ninjas on motorcycles, has a resurrection story worthy of the Bible, but it’s one that could have only happened in the digital age.
Though it may shock you to hear it,Miami Connectionwas a royal flop upon its initial release, and subsequently disappeared into B-movie obscurity. That all changed via a cosmically fortuitous event: Zack Carlson, an employee of Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, stumbled across a print of the film on eBay. Being the adventurous sort, he bought it sight-unseen for 50 bucks, with no idea of what he was getting.
What he got was an all-time classic.Miami Connection, it turned out, had it all: ninjas, Taekwondo, original ’80s pop songs (that are legitimate bangers) and, uh…did we say ninjas and Taekwondo?
Carlson immediately knew he had a lost treasure on his hands, and after 25 years and a little legal wrangling, he and Drafthouse Films were finally able to give the film its due, releasing it in 2012 to instant cult-movie acclaim.
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Samurai Cop (1991)
There was a time, in the late 80s/early 90s, when cheaply-made, direct-to-video action films were as ubiquitous as the falling snow. Those days are, sadly, no more, but that doesn’t mean you’re able to’t go back and relive that golden era of car chases, shoot-outs, and antiquated social norms. And if you’re going to do that, why not start with the absolute best?
Well, once you’re finished watchingthosemovies, come back and watchSamurai Cop, the 1991 low-budget action film starringMatt Hannonas the titular Samurai Cop, a luxuriously-coiffed police officer who must use his knowledge of ancient samurai combat to take down a vicious organized crime syndicate from Japan.
Samurai Cop, like many films on this list, is the work of outsiders — in this case Iranian-born directorAmir Shervan— those who are entranced with the Hollywood formula (and eager to financially capitalize on it) without really understanding what makes it work. People who tell themselves: “We’ve all seenLethal Weapon, right? How hard can it be to emulatethat?”
As it turns out, very hard (if you’re Amir Shervan, at least).Samurai Copisn’t the gritty American buddy-cop film it so desperately wants to be, but in the end maybe it’s something even better: one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies of all time.
The Room (2003)
If there is an unalloyed classic of the “so bad it’s good” genre of films, thenThe Roomis it. The work of eccentric filmmakerTommy Wiseau, who directed, wrote and starred (a triple threat!),The Roomis the story of Johnny (Tommy Wiseau), a man who is universally recognized as kind and generous by everyone in his life, save his vindictive fiancée Lisa (Juliette Danielle) who longs to destroy him — for reasons that are never fully explained.
Although it tanked upon its initial release,The Roomslowly grew in cult status in Los Angeles (thanks in large part to Wiseau’s deep pockets — he spent hundreds of thousands on promotion) until it became a worldwide midnight movie phenomenon.
Wiseau, maybe a little chagrined by all the sardonic attention, would later claim that the film was always intended as a “black comedy.” Whether that’s true or not is up for debate, but one thing is true: ifThe Roomwas intended as a comedy, it’s one of the funniest movies ever made. And if it wasn’t, it’sstillone of the funniest movies ever made.
Fateful Findings (2013)
Of all the films on this list,Fateful Findings, the work of renowned schlock-auteurNeil Breen, might be the most divisive. Some will be rolling in the aisles at its David Lynch-meets-third grade school play levels of incomprehensibility, while others will be so genuinely frustrated by its jarring narrative structure that they’ll risk bodily harm in their desperate leaps for the “stop” button on the remote.
So, a warning: before you watchFateful Findings(or any of Breen’s other five “films”) first ask your doctor if Neil Breen is right for you. Barring that, maybe head over to YouTube and check out a few scenes (there are many compilations). If you’re laughing, chances are you’re going to enjoy the peculiar pleasure of watching this movie. If not, feel free to run the other way.
That said, we must still use the term “movie” with care here, becauseFateful Findingsis more a collection of disjointed scenes than an actual movie. That’s usually a bad thing, of course, but when those disjointed scenes are this weird and hilarious, you’ll quickly be wondering if this is a “so bad it’s good” movie or something else — like an avant garde work of absurdist art. Such is the power of Breen.
Troll 2 (1990)
It’s a classic tale: a young family heads off to vacation in a quaint farming community with a quaint, in no way goblin-spelled-backwards name: “Nilbog.” Things are moving along swimmingly, until said family unearths a dark secret: Nilbog is inhabited by vicious vegetarian goblins, who want to eat them — after first turning them into plants, of course (say what you want about these goblins, but they’re very observant about their dietary restrictions).
And that, friends, is theactualplot ofTroll 2. If that alone doesn’t entice you to watch this masterpiece, maybe the following points will: 1:Troll 2, despite its name, isnota sequel toTroll(its title was a deceptive attempt to cash in on the modest success of that film). 2:Troll 2was filmed by an Italian crew in Utah, who could barely communicate with their English-speaking cast, and 3:Troll 2spawned one of the best behind-the-scenes docs about bad movies ever made,Best Worst Movie, directed byTroll 2’s star,Michael Stephenson.
Troll 2andBest Worst Moviemake for one of the tastiest double-decker bologna sandwiches of schlock goodness ever made, so what are you waiting for? A troll?
I hope not, because there are no trolls inTroll 2. Did we mention that? We probably should have mentioned that.
Showgirls (1995)
What can you say aboutShowgirls? Sure, the film earned its initial reputation on the (well-toned) back of its ample and gratuitous nudity, but that’s probably the least interesting thing about it. Put all those boobs and butts to one side, and you still have a film that’s legitimately hilarious, and maybe even a little insane.
Like most of the films on this list,Showgirlsseems to have been made by people who lack even the most basic understanding of how films work. Character arcs never arc, plot points are so illogical that they border on lunacy, andElizabeth Berkley’s performance as Nomi Malone — a hitchhiking loner who longs to be a showgirl in Las Vegas, because…reasons — is so manic, amateurish, and ill-considered that it forms a kind of mobius strip of bad acting, looping around on itself until it becomes a work of unhinged genius.
The same can be said forShowgirlsas a whole. It’s bad —reallybad — but it also transcends its own badness, becoming in the process a work of comic brilliance. Watch it once, and you’ll be quoting it for the rest of your life.
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)
Ed Woodisn’t the worst film director of all time (remember folks, you live in a world whereTom Sixexists) but he’s nevertheless almost universally regarded as such, thanks in large part to 1957’sPlan 9 From Outer Space, which even casual film fans will immediately recognize as “the worst movie ever made.”
Much like Ed Wood himself,Plan 9 From Outer Space’s lousy reputation is a little overblown. Not that it’sgood, of course. Its sets are cheap (cardboard tombstones, anyone?) its acting is awful (horror legendBela Lugosi, in his final film appearance, fumbles around confusedly in a handful of scenes shot for a different movie) and its writing is the stuff of bewildering legend (“Future events such as these will affect you in the future.”)
But it’s also — in true schlock form — tons of fun to watch, especially with a group of appreciative friends. That’s the reason it’s still celebrated today, while plenty of other genre films of the era have long since passed into obscurity. Not so bad for the worst movie of all time.
