The Best Worst Movies Ever: What Do You Hate Watch?

[Luckylyn]

There's a documentary titled Best Worst Movie about how hate watching the movie Troll 2 has this surprising following.   So what movies do you acknowledge are terrible but have fun watching for the mock factor?

 

25 Movies So Bad They're Unmissable

Edited November 22, 2015 by Luckylyn

[Crim]

I've only watched 1 from that list. Unsurprisingly, it is Batman & Robin. I've been meaning to watch Death Bed though. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes too.

 

I used to watch a lot of bad movies and even shows with other people, but the more good stuff I wanted to watch, the less time I had for the rest. So I stopped.

[Schweedie]

The Room, 100%. It's amazing in how awful it is, but after having read Greg Sestero's book about the shooting of it and been to one of his readings I have a hard time mocking it like I did before - Tommy Wiseau was so earnest (although terrible) and genuinely thought he was making a masterpiece, and the poor actors did what they could with a dreadful script and a terrifying/clueless director.

Not that it stops me from cackling at the awfulness and throwing spoons at the screenings, though. *g* It just means that I can't quite bring myself to mock the actors.

 

Troll 2 is pretty fun as well, in a "What the hell even is this?" kind of way.

 

I remember thinking when I saw Glen and Glenda that yes, the movie is beyond weird, but - I don't know, I felt like there was an earnestness about that, too, that redeems it ever so slightly. (But yeah, it's bad.)

[Princess Sparkle]

I feel like we could just put the entire "How Did This Get Made" list of films in here, and we'd be all set.  

[Shannon L.]

Our son's name is Dalton Patrick because of Road House.  We've always said (and heard other say)  "Terrible movie, great character" *.  When I was pregnant with our second child, if it was a boy, we were seriously considering naming him Samuel Wade, but we had a girl. 

 

*I've heard from at least three other people who have sons named Dalton because of the character in Road House.

 

I'm not one who can sit through really bad movies, like the ones on the list, but there are others that I thought were dumb that made good money that I can't seem to stop watching.  The Twilight series falls into this category for me.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Shannon L.

[Bruinsfan]

I've seen 9 of the movies on that list, and parts of Troll 2 and Ishtar. I think I want to see Death Bed: The Bed That Eats based on Patton Oswalt's standup routine alone.

 

Some Troma films tend to be in the can't-look-away category for me regardless of how awful they are. I LOVE Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD.

[proserpina65]

I've only seen one of these: Manos, the Hands of Fate.  Of course, I saw that on MST3K, so I'm not sure it counts.  (Now that I think about it, I might've seen part of Plan 9 that way too.)

[Archery]

I love Mommie Dearest. It was a staple of the "4 O'Clock Cinema" and a great inspiration for one of Carole Burnett's best bits.

[harrie]

I've heard so much about The Room but haven't had the chance to see it. Must make the time. 

 

And Ishtar wasn't that bad a movie at all.

 

Showgirls .... a classic. Nothing more needs to be said. 

 

Thanks for posting the list, Luckylyn -- I have some bad movie watching to catch up on!

National Treasure has turned into a mockable film (or more mockable?  It's all depends on your POV.)  at my house, mainly because the hub watches it every time it's on somewhere -- and it's been on a lot.   We also repeat watch Secretariat - kind of a bad movie in many ways, but nowhere near the Ed Wood level of greatness - and speculate as to whether Sham will win this time. It's bound to happen, just a matter of time.  But I guess that's not quite mocking.

 

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, too.  Pretty bad movie, but we love it.

[Luckylyn]

I would like to add Jupiter Ascending to the list.  The action scenes were just monotonous.   The story line required Jupiter to constantly just believe whatever someone told her 99% of the time and get rescued from Channing Tatum over and over.  It was reminiscent of Flash Gordon but didn't have Flash Gordon's campy fun.  It's a combination of boring and frustrating to watch.  Our heroine saves humans on Earth from being farmed for alien youth serum but doesn't seem to give a second thought to the humans on other planets being farmed.  Snarking on it is the best part of watching it.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Luckylyn

[Rick Kitchen]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I would like to add Jupiter Ascending to the list.  The action scenes were just monotonous.   The story line required Jupiter to constantly just believe whatever someone told her 99% of the time and get rescued from Channing Tatum over and over.  It was reminiscent of Flash Gordon but didn't have Flash Gordon's campy fun.  It's a combination of boring and frustrating to watch.  Our heroine saves humans on Earth from being farmed for alien youth serum but doesn't seem to give a second thought to the humans on other planets being farmed.  Snarking on it is the best part of watching it.

Mila Kunis was on James Corden's show, and he had her and Christina Applegate play a game where they had to answer a question truthfully, or eat something disgusting.  He put raw calf brains in front of Mila and asked her what she was thinking when making Jupiter Ascending, and could she explain the plot.  She stumbled for a couple of minutes, and then ate the calf brains.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Rick Kitchen

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I see The Howling II made the list, so, um, yay. Though I'm vaguely annoyed that the first one didn't make the cut. It might be bad on a different level, but trust me, you haven't lived until you've seen the mom from E.T. turn into a werewolf on the six o'clock news.

[Spartan Girl]

Flash Gordon was so dumb with the cheesiest lines ever, and yet I can't stop watching it whenever it's on.  Definitely a "so bad it's good" movie.

[Luckylyn]

29 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Flash Gordon was so dumb with the cheesiest lines ever, and yet I can't stop watching it whenever it's on.  Definitely a "so bad it's good" movie.

I can see all the movies flaws, and yet it's so fun to watch.   Everytime it's on tv I will happily watch it.

[methodwriter85]

Agreed on love for the Room...I would kill to go to a live screening.

If you guys have an hour to kill, here's a group of Irish guys doing a review on The Room.

[slf]

I like dumb scifi/action movies for this and Deep Blue Sea is still my go to. Two scientists genetically engineer giant mutant sharks, accidentally making them smarter as well. The sharks - who can swim backwards, recognize guns, drag a helicopter into a tower using a gurney, and even turn on ovens - systematically destroy the laboratory and eat almost everyone (and a pet bird). At one point a shark jumps out of the water and eats Samuel L. Jackson mid-monologue:

I watch it every time it's on tv.

[jah1986]

12 hours ago, slf said:

I like dumb scifi/action movies for this and Deep Blue Sea is still my go to. Two scientists genetically engineer giant mutant sharks, accidentally making them smarter as well. The sharks - who can swim backwards, recognize guns, drag a helicopter into a tower using a gurney, and even turn on ovens - systematically destroy the laboratory and eat almost everyone (and a pet bird). At one point a shark jumps out of the water and eats Samuel L. Jackson mid-monologue:

 

I watch it every time it's on tv.

Do people hate this movie? Or is that the "science" is just too dumb to believe? I love it! I will also watch it whenever it's on. 

[Princess Sparkle]

On 7/27/2016 at 8:43 PM, Luckylyn said:

I would like to add Jupiter Ascending to the list.  The action scenes were just monotonous.   The story line required Jupiter to constantly just believe whatever someone told her 99% of the time and get rescued from Channing Tatum over and over.  It was reminiscent of Flash Gordon but didn't have Flash Gordon's campy fun.  It's a combination of boring and frustrating to watch.  Our heroine saves humans on Earth from being farmed for alien youth serum but doesn't seem to give a second thought to the humans on other planets being farmed.  Snarking on it is the best part of watching it.

 

15 hours ago, slf said:

I like dumb scifi/action movies for this and Deep Blue Sea is still my go to. Two scientists genetically engineer giant mutant sharks, accidentally making them smarter as well. The sharks - who can swim backwards, recognize guns, drag a helicopter into a tower using a gurney, and even turn on ovens - systematically destroy the laboratory and eat almost everyone (and a pet bird). At one point a shark jumps out of the water and eats Samuel L. Jackson mid-monologue:

 

I watch it every time it's on tv.

So, I have no idea if either of you are into podcasts BUT - these were both featured on the How Did This Get Made podcast, and the episodes were both hilarious.  The Deep Blue Sea in particular was great, because the guest (Evan Goldberg) LOVED the movie and had seen it 28 times, so he was defending a lot of it.  I highly, highly recommend it.

[Archery]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 0:24 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Flash Gordon was so dumb with the cheesiest lines ever, and yet I can't stop watching it whenever it's on.  Definitely a "so bad it's good" movie.

And now that song will reside in my head for the rest of the day.  Thanks,  Spartan Girl. 

FLASH!  AH-AH, HE'LLSAVEEVERYONEOFUS!

[slf]

11 hours ago, jah1986 said:

Do people hate this movie? Or is that the "science" is just too dumb to believe? I love it! I will also watch it whenever it's on. 

I think it partially falls into the category "so bad it's good" but I have a huge interest in sharks and the "science" gives me hives every time. It's simultaneously the best and worst shark movie ever made.

8 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

So, I have no idea if either of you are into podcasts BUT - these were both featured on the How Did This Get Made podcast, and the episodes were both hilarious.  The Deep Blue Sea in particular was great, because the guest (Evan Goldberg) LOVED the movie and had seen it 28 times, so he was defending a lot of it.  I highly, highly recommend it.

Thanks for telling me about that, I'm definitely into podcasts and that one sounds like my cup of tea!

[Luckylyn]

Deep Blue Sea really is a lot of fun.

The Pirate Movie is a musical parody of The Pirates of Penzance.  I remember hearing somewhere that at the time it came out it was one of the most expensive flops ever.  I just love to watch it and sing along with the songs.  I don't care that it's lame and mockable.

[Ohwell]

On 7/28/2016 at 0:24 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Flash Gordon was so dumb with the cheesiest lines ever, and yet I can't stop watching it whenever it's on.  Definitely a "so bad it's good" movie.

Years ago there was a porn movie named Flesh Gordon  so that's the first thing I think of when I hear Flash Gordon. 

Edited July 30, 2016 by Ohwell

[Bruinsfan]

Flash Gordon falls into the realm of the gloriously bad. Sam Jones trying to act! Ornella Muti trying to speak English! Max Von Sydow clearly having the time of his life and relieved that he was so unrecognizable he never caught flack for performing in yellowface! BRIAN BLESSED AS PRINCE VULTAN!!!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 7/28/2016 at 10:24 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Flash Gordon was so dumb with the cheesiest lines ever, and yet I can't stop watching it whenever it's on.  Definitely a "so bad it's good" movie.

 

13 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Flash Gordon falls into the realm of the gloriously bad. Sam Jones trying to act! Ornella Muti trying to speak English! Max Von Sydow clearly having the time of his life and relieved that he was so unrecognizable he never caught flack for performing in yellowface! BRIAN BLESSED AS PRINCE VULTAN!!!

And a pre James Bond Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin!

[Spartan Girl]

The kick-ass soundtrack by Queen makes it all worthwhile.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Spartan Girl

[AimingforYoko]

Speaking of cheesetastic Queen soundtracks, what the hell with Highlander?!? You've got a French actor as the titular character, a Scot as a Spaniard and an American as the Russian baddie. I still watch the hell out of it, though. (Even though I preferred the series)

[ChelseaNH]

It would be just an okay cheesy fantasy action movie without "Who Wants to Live Forever."

[Lugal]

Don't forget the awesome Scottish scenery in Highlander.  Still one of my favorite movies.

Can't forget Waterworld, which I usually end up watching that whenever I find it on TV.  Dennis Hopper at his scenery-chewing best.  Although the soundtrack was cool.

I've only ever seen parts of Showgirls.  But it always makes me think of a story a friend of mine told:  When she was in college, she and a friend went to see a third friend in Seattle.  They got in late and the third friend was determined to see a movie and they went to the only thing showing at the time: a midnight run of Showgirls. She said she was sure all the pervs and weirdos in the theater saw the three of them and thought were the menage-a-trois lesbians.  She also said the movie was terrible.

[Luckylyn]

The Room

 

[Zola]

I am big fan of the original Evil Dead films - they were not terribly frightening, but the blood & gore was so OTT that you just enjoyed the goofiness of it all; helped a great deal by the charismatic Bruce "Groovy" Campbell. 

However, for whatever reason, an "Evil Dead" reboot was dug up in 2013, but should have been cremated, buried and summarily pissed on shortly after!

A truly dreadful film - no story, awful acting, wayward direction and shabby editing. A soulless film with empty characters. The only difference compared to the original is that more money has been thrown at the film along with a bucketload of CGI. But none of that made an ounce of difference. It's still poor. 

The blood and gore have also been ramped up to distract the viewer from the lack of any real suspense. Instead let's just shock-the-shit out of people with some good old torture-porn. But again, unlike the originals (and the rather splendid "Ash Vs Evil Dead" TV show), there's absolutely no wacky outrageousness about the violence; it was all done to seriously shock in a very sadistic way.    

Definitely not groovy at all!

[GreekGeek]

I've seen two on this list: Mommie Dearest and The Oscar. The latter used to turn up regularly on afternoon TV, when there was no way to see an old movie other than on network programming. I'd love to see it again; I had no idea it was a Famous Bad Movie until I read The Golden Turkey Awards.

My favorite "good bad movie" of all time was Tattoo, from 1981. It starred Bruce Dern as a psychotic (natch) tattoo artist who kidnaps a model and tattoos her whole body.

[ChelseaNH]

Oh my god, y'all, I just watched Flash Gordon -- what a magnificently awful movie!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

"Hawkmen, DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!"

[Spartan Girl]

I love hate watching Flash Gordon. So much to snark at. Who says bad movies can't be fun?

[DisneyBoy]

Does Barbarella fall into the SBIG category?

What about Masters of the Universe?

Edited August 26, 2017 by DisneyBoy

[GHScorpiosRule]

That horrid horrid JAWS 4-because of the flashbacks to the Awesome JAWS.

That's the only reason I watch it when I come across it.

[Luckylyn]

2 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Does Barbarella fall into the SBIG category?

What about Masters of the Universe?

I've never seen Barbarella but Masters of the Universe is ripe for some fun hate watching.   Though I have a soft spot for it.

I think Princess Diaries 2 is a terrible movie.  I think Anne Hathaway and Chris Pine have chemistry and I like the Queen/Bodyguard subplot a lot.   Everything else about the movie sucks.   There too many "isn't this cute" moments that aren't as funny as they think.  The extras in crowd scenes look like bored people who can barely fake enthusiasm.  The movie makes Mia look like she'll be a sucky queen.  She had five years to prepare and yet still knows nothing about what is legally required for her to rule even though she has people actively fighting to take the throne away from her.    There's all this ceremonially (archery, riding sidesaddle) stuff she had five years to learn, but she waits until she has weeks left to learn it.   Why would I root for a character to become Queen who half-asses it? And yet I will watch this movie every time it's on while nitpicking it to bits.  It had potential but just doesn't work.

[SlovakPrincess]

There was a period of time in the mid-2000s when Cocktail was on at least a few times a year.  For reasons I still don't understand, I would watch it if I flipped through the channels and it was on.  

[DisneyBoy]

Was it bad? A friend had the soundtrack backbin the day so I thought it must be good...

 

I just watched BvS and tried mocking it for the first hour....then I got tired. My friend and I barely made it through it....

Edited August 30, 2017 by DisneyBoy

[SlovakPrincess]

Well, it's enjoyable bad, in the way of cheesy 80s movies that think they're way more profound than they actually are.  Honestly, Bryan Brown is pretty good in Cocktail, which elevates the proceedings somewhat.  

[Luckylyn]

Solarbabies is gloriously lame.  

[Trini]

4 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:

Solarbabies is gloriously lame.  

I don't do "hate-watching", but I fully realize Solarbabies is terrible, but I love it anyway.

[Zola]

I spent a weekend with my parents a few weeks back, and my dad suggested we watch some idiotic films that he grew up on during the 70s and 80s - namely "Earthquake", "The Swarm", "Empire of the Ants", "At the Earth's Core" and "The Land That Time Forgot" 

i was quite taken aback to see the likes of Henry Fonda, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston et al, appearing either in starring roles or cameos in some of these films. Earthquake, was probably the best of them, but not by much. The special effects throughout, were pretty dire and cheap; and none of them were particularly scary or memorable. 

[navelgazer]

The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz, Kate Upton, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  It's stupid upon over-the-top stupid and yet I just can't help myself. 

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, navelgazer said:

The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz, Kate Upton, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  It's stupid upon over-the-top stupid and yet I just can't help myself. 

Is that the one where Cameron Diaz finds out the guy she is dating has a wife and then when she tells the wife THEY find out he has another girlfriend.  There is also a really fun gag at the end with Diaz’s office.  Funny ass but dumb ass movie.  

Edited December 22, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[bartonphink]

In terms of bad movies that are mockable, I would suggest "Tideland."  It's always interesting to see fine talents be either abused (Jeff Bridges, in this case) or stumble (this is directed by someone who could made gems like Brazil, Fear & Loathing ILV, and MP & the Holy Grail) terribly.  

Another convergence of talent ending in tragedy is "Everybody Wins" in which Debra Winger, Nick Nolte, and a script by Arthur Miller cannot save the viewer from cinematic schadenfreude as the narrative wanders around confusedly and falls into a swamp.

Also:  A gloomy heroine, a forbidding mansion, dark family secrets..."Stoker" starts out on a faux Gothic note but then turns into a clumsy and pretentious attempt at a chilling coming-of-age story which wastes (sigh) Mia Wasichowska, Matthew Goode and Nicole K. The writers try various methods to apply shocks to the viewer - incest, murder, tiny children buried in sand, irrational refusals to eat ice cream - but somehow everything seems predictable, as if taken from Bob's Handy Manual of Psychopathy for Screenwriters and plopped down on a script conveyer belt, without any sense of real character development. A deeply stupid movie that offers its own weird sort of fun.

First post, so I want to shout out to Harrie (with the Calvin and Hobbes avatar) and thank her for mentioning this forum to me.  (the forum generally, I mean, not just 'best/worst')

[Luckylyn]

Xanadu is not a good movie, but I adore it.  There a couple of sequences that are great to watch and the soundtrack is wonderful.  I love ELO.  Yet, there is so much to nitpick about it.   It's so dated and very much a product of it's time.  It's very watchable even if you hate it because it's fun to poke at.   My sister took me to see the Broadway version as a Christmas gift years ago, and the cast had a lot of fun mocking the story on stage.

Friends and Xanadu

[Dandesun]

On 12/22/2017 at 0:07 PM, navelgazer said:

The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz, Kate Upton, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  It's stupid upon over-the-top stupid and yet I just can't help myself. 

I don't hate watch it. It's a feel good movie for me. I love that all the women turn out to be really sweet and honestly didn't know that Jaime Lannister was lying to them. And they all team up and become friends. I mean, it's trite and silly but regarding the ladies I don't feel bad about enjoying them.

The Warriors came on the other night and I was compelled to watch it. That's close to being a hate watch but... man... The Warriors is just pure late 70s cheese. Gangs taking over New York... gang leaders on roller skates in the subway (seriously, dude?)... real commitment to their gang looks... you half expect to see Snake Pliskin tear through the scene at one point on his way to kicking ass somewhere else... No, The Warriors isn't a hate watch but it's closer than The Other Woman is for me.

[AimingforYoko]

59 minutes ago, Dandesun said:

The Warriors came on the other night and I was compelled to watch it. That's close to being a hate watch but... man... The Warriors is just pure late 70s cheese. Gangs taking over New York... gang leaders on roller skates in the subway (seriously, dude?)... real commitment to their gang looks... you half expect to see Snake Pliskin tear through the scene at one point on his way to kicking ass somewhere else...

So, you're saying you can dig it?

[Dandesun]

On 11/22/2015 at 10:52 AM, Luckylyn said:

There's a documentary titled Best Worst Movie about how hate watching the movie Troll 2 has this surprising following.   So what movies do you acknowledge are terrible but have fun watching for the mock factor?

 

25 Movies So Bad They're Unmissable

Now, to be fair, a few of these I have seen through the magic of MST3K. And I will not sit through them any other way.

But I am beyond delighted that Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is there because Patton Oswalt did a bit on that (although I thought it was Death Bed: The Bed That Eats People) that I found fucking hilarious and then turned it into a running joke on the One Life to Live thread involving an ugly vase that was always present when people died in one storyline so I called it Death Vase: The Vase That Kills People and it was magical.

Okay, and Roadhouse is there which is definitely a horrible movie but also spawned 'A Patrick Swayze Christmas' (thanks again MST3K!) and has it's place in the pop culture world, dammit. My mother hates that movie for the death of Sam Elliott's character. She loves him.

Mommie Dearest is something you cannot escape if you hang around anyone who loves camp. Especially gays who love camp.

I saw Batman and Robin at a drive in with a group of friends so it turned into our own MST3K. Worth it.