So Bad It’s Good
How do you know if a film is so bad...it’s good? It might have been made by a deluded architect, feature an aged actor desperate for a pay cheque, or be incompetently executed by a big shot producer who should know better. The harder they fail, the more likely they are to get the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. So Bad It’s Good movies are sincere and lack irony. And like the films of Ed Wood, these films may well be remembered long after Hollywood’s biggest hits are all but forgotten.
You’re not a human Breen until you’ve given these terrible movies a go. So, get out your plastic spoons and get ready for a cringe-worthy good time.
Links take you to the IMDd. Circled titles: A Point Blank Films fav!
Filmed in Florida by one ‘Martin Dolman’ (the usually reliable Sergio Martino), who here turns in a bad but enjoyable movie that defies all logic, with Donald Pleasence as an evil televangelist. aka American Tiger See also Action Trash
The Apple (1980) 1/10
The worst musical of all time comes in earnest from Cannon’s Menahem Golan and was a major misfire featuring an allegory that wallops you over the head, zero taste and a truly awful soundtrack. aka Star Rock
Craig Denney stars in bizarre paean to himself; due to unlicensed use of music by The Moody Blues and others, the film isn’t available outside theatrical screenings but is a must-see.
Blood Freak (1972) 1/10
Christian scare movie meets turkey monster movie – you read that correctly, and it has its charms.
Champagne and Bullets (1993) 1/10
Vanity project by an occasional lawyer who wanted to be a star – he can’t sing, he can’t act, and the results are hilarious. aka Geteven; Road to Revenge
Dangerous Men (2005) 1/10
After her fiancée is killed a woman seeks to kill all dangerous men; made over decades by Jahangir Salehi (aka John S. Rad), this is truly awful and utterly nonsensical – and was finally released in 2005.
Death Spa (1988) 5/10
Gruesome deaths at a high-tech spa – Flashdance-inspired aerobics scenes, cheesy whodunnit narrative and totally unpredictable and gory ending.
Double Down (2005) 2/10
Neil Breen writes, produces, directs, and stars in his first feature film, which plays like outsider art, with a logic all its own; many more follow, all featuring Breen as a godlike, messianic figure.
This has an almost unthinkable subject for its time, but Ed Wood imbues it with his own personal story and filmmaking incompetence, for a highly likeable and surreal experience. aka I Led 2 Lives See also Moral Menace
Gymkata (1985) 4/10
A gymnast goes to the fictional land of Parmistan to participate in a deadly ancient competition – and the only thing more idiotic than the plot is that the movie takes itself seriously.
Impulse (1974) 6/10
William Shatner is Matt Stone – a paranoid, leisure suit-wearing gigolo – and must have rued the day he popped down to Florida to make this joyously bad movie. aka I Love to Kill; Want a Ride, Little Girl?
Bad slasher with endless shots of leotard-clad women working out, dumb death scenes, and bad 80s soundtrack; hilarious, but spandex has never been less sexy. aka Aerobicide
Mac and Me (1988) 3/10
An alien trying to escape from NASA is befriended by a wheelchair-bound boy in notorious McDonald’s movie (yes, that McDonald’s); a trainwreck, to say the least.
Bad pop group/taekwondo experts go up against coke-dealing biker ninjas – the result is an awful movie of eye-watering proportions that is the ultimate in unintentional hilarity.
A vigilante ninja takes to the New York streets after his pregnant wife is murdered; originally shot in 1984, this has notably wooden performances.
French-made oddity filmed in Florida, so incoherent that it may as well have been made by aliens and featuring one of the worst scores in movie history.
Nukie (1987) 1/10
An alien called Nukie searches for his brother in godawful version of E.T. that is painful to sit through; best used as a torture device for hateful people.
Pieces (1982) 6/10
Immensely enjoyable bad movie, with gratuitous gore and nudity, horrendous acting, and Bruce Le (of Brucesploitation fame) cameo, among other bizarre and uproarious moments. aka The Night Has 1,000 Screams See also Slashers
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) 1/10
Ed Wood’s magnum opus, with Bela Lugosi inserted posthumously, rubber props, and somnambulistic acting – a testament to Wood’s love of cinema while making all the wrong creative decisions. See also Z Movie Madness
The Room (2003) 5/10
Tommy Wiseau’s hard-to-rate bad movie classic – a laugh riot that is so fantastically inept it borders on genius.
Roots of Evil (1979) 1/10
Karate chopping vanity project by conspiracy theorist/schlager singer Christian Anders (in leather speedo) that will leave you with less brain cells by its idiotic finale.
R.O.T.O.R. (1987) 2/10
A prototype crime-fighting robot goes on a rampage; it couldn’t be further from RoboCop due to its hilarious incompetence that must have disappointed many kids renting it on VHS at the time. aka Blue Steel
Samurai Cop (1991) 6/10
The odd-looking Robert Z’Dar stars in this perfect storm of a bad movie where everything is so poorly done, it’s somehow just right.
Shocking Dark (1989) 3/10
Bruno Mattei’s badly made and brazen Aliens rip-off (featuring a Newt character) also throws Terminator into the mix but unfortunately isn’t as entertaining as it sounds. aka Terminator II
Terror in Beverly Hills (1989) 5/10
Hilariously inept trash starring action hack Frank Stallone; but the real star here is Cameron Mitchell, who delivers a wonderfully over-the-top performance. See also Action Trash
Troll 2 (1990) 2/10
Noted as one of the best bad movies, this leans more toward just plain bad, but it is redeemed by an amalgamation of overacting and hilarious moments.
A mother calls in a voodoo practitioner to turn her dead son into a zombie in this unintentionally hilarious mess of a movie filmed in Montreal with Adam West appearance at the 45-minute mark. See also Canuxploitation