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AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 07:41 AM Dec 26

Top Ten "So Bad It's Good" Movies made since 1970 (this will be a feature of mine. I love bad movies)

This will be something I do or will try to do every week. A top ten list of things in pop culture. The list is subjective to my opinion, but feedback and entries you list could be used in future lists as long as the feedback is relatively polite. Now, on with the list.

I love bad movies more than good movies. There is nothing more entertaining like a bad movie. Bad movies are a train-wreck and a good one is a diamond in the rough. Especially when everything goes wrong. These movies are so bad, they are good. Only if a movie is boring, lame, and forgettable are they torture to watch. Good bad movies are none of these qualities. When judging these movies, as always, three rules apply:

A: No comedies. There are just so many ways to say “this isn’t funny.”
B: It must be a movie that isn’t self aware that it is a bad movie. It must be done with the conviction that all involved thought it was a great piece.
C: No direct-to-video, so Asylum or Steven Seagal movies. It had to see a theater, even if it showed only one time in a two seat theater in Frogballs, Arkansas.

For people my age, think of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is probably my favorite show of all time.

Without further ado, here is my list of the Ten movies of the worst movies made since 1970.

HM: Birdemic: Shock and Terror - A really shitty Birds rip off with an environmental message that is as subtle as a brick in the face. This is so bad in so many ways, but it’s the memorable second half when it goes off the rails is just one laugh after another unintentional laugh. Just so you understand what I mean, watch it and remember three words: dive-bombing exploding birds.

10: The Apple - A musical about corporate control of life, government, and society, this was Cannon Films’ first attempt to enter the mainstream as its producer was one of the two people that led Cannon films. Terrible songs that rhyme “man” with “woman” (?), terrible choreography, and a deus ex machina endings to seal its fate. For those who don’t know Cannon films, look up Superman 4 and watch the dumpster fire from beginning to end.

09: Ricky Oh, The Story of Ricky - Ultra violent comic book of a movie with some of the worst dubbing, acting, action scenes (which are over-the-top graphic) that make no sense, and a plot that makes no appearance once in the movie. Pay attention to the video collection in the one eyed assistant warden’s office’s background. I’m sure, by the size of the boxes, you will think the same thing I did. BTW, for more fun, get the dubbed version over the subtitled version. As stated earlier, the dubbing is howlingly bad.

08: The Toxic Avenger - Truma Films is as bad as the Asylum and The Toxic Avenger is one of the worst (I chose this over Surf Nazis Must Die only because this one is more mainstream). Comedy that either doesn’t hit or is cringe worthy, over the top violence that was done by a blind four year old, and characters that are just indescribable. This is a major watch with friends over beer and riffing.

07: Hard Ticket To Hawaii - Andy Sedaris made a film series about a group known as the L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies, which are very talented women try to save the world in bikinis and showing off their huge assets, along with their model male friends who can’t keep their hands off the ladies (and visa versa). This train wreck includes the thinnest of plots, horrible acting, and a killer snake. But, for male version, the boobs per minute ratio is pretty high.

06: House of the Dead - Uwe Boll is the modern day Edward D. Wood, Jr. Both have no talent, no ability, and no clue. At least Wood, from all accounts, was a really awesome dude. Boll is a massive dick with a huge ego. I could go into the every problem with this piece of shit, but acid spraying zombies is all I need to say. Any movie based on a video game is likely going to suck.

05: Samurai Cop - Toss up between this and Killing, American Style, but this has to be the first of the two you watch. Every frame of this piece of shit is a masterpiece of how not to make a movie. The acting, overt racism, over the top violence, and Japanese mafia that doesn’t look Japanese, this flick has everything for a bad movie fan, especially the wigs. In fact, most movies with the legendary actor Robert Za Dar are so bad, it's good material.

04: Night of the Lepus - How NOT to make a monster movie about chemically and genetically altered animals! Every thing about this movie is wrong, especially the choice of monster and the acting that is so wooden and forced, it makes Willam Shatner seem Oscar worthy. Set in Arizona, this deals with ranchers dealing with the most dangerous threat mankind ever encountered. This is movie is such a travesty, you feel bad for the monster at the end when the people finally solve the problem. A list talent + C list director + F list script + Z list concept = shit on a shingle.

03: Troll 2 - I don’t know where to start with this piece of garbage. It is probably the worst movie made in years, but every word, scene, frame, and second is so bad it’s good material. It produced a meme (Oh My Goooooooooooooooooooooood!) and is pure entertainment from beginning to end. Note to how the kid stops his parents from eating scene, and how the kid stops the trolls from winning and what he uses.

02: The Room - Proof green screens are more important than scripts. This has been on many lists for the worst movie ever made and deservedly so. Important topics like having cancer are given passing comment, then never mentioned again, people are pretty much idiots in this movie, and all probably can be solved by throwing a football around. Oh, and chickens make a “cheep, cheep, cheep” sound according to the director, writer, producer, and star (all the same person). Aren’t vanity projects wonderful?

01: For Y’ur Height Only - The Philippines is not known for good movies, but this one is a classic. I mean CLASSIC. A blatant 007 rip off where the spy is three feet tall. So many dick punches. So many great bad movie moments. So many ways to riff this movie until you can’t stop laughing at the stupidity you watch. Shout out to how Weng Weng escapes a top story hotel room, comments about where he would be by the villains, how Weng Weng beat up people three times his size, and how he gets to secret island. Also, his nipples are HUGE!!!! This is pure can’t turn your ahead away ten car crash that is so perfectly made as crap that it is the #1 on this bad movie list thi time.

Addendum: I will revisit this list often as there are so many I didn’t list. The Man from Harlem being one, any Neil Breen movie, Exorcist 2, etc. So I will come back to this. . .remember, this is only since 1970 so please keep your comments for movies after 1970.

49 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Top Ten "So Bad It's Good" Movies made since 1970 (this will be a feature of mine. I love bad movies) (Original Post) AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 OP
Stanley Kubrick said that he learned much more from studying Mike 03 Dec 26 #1
Xanadu was just incomprehensible. AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #2
Xanadu is one of my guilty pleasures Mad_Dem_X Dec 26 #16
I feel the same way about Flashdance. It takes longer to make coffee than it took the lead actress to get success AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #20
Your reviews alone are worth following... jmbar2 Dec 26 #3
Proud to say I've never seen nor heard of any of those. sinkingfeeling Dec 26 #4
I've seen all of these except "Apple". And I have no shame. Midnight Writer Dec 26 #8
The Apple makes you watch it with your jaw dropped how incompetent it is. AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #11
Also. efhmc Dec 26 #22
I have one for your review. JohnnyRingo Dec 26 #5
Pre 1970. I'll do a 1940-1969 list later. AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #7
I implore you to check it out anyway. JohnnyRingo Dec 26 #10
Found it on youtube AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #12
It's so bad, yet you can't stop watching. JohnnyRingo Dec 26 #14
I just got through the Richard Burton part and my jaw dropped. HO LEE SHYTE!!! AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #21
Keep that in mind for your list. JohnnyRingo Dec 26 #25
I'm looking at the cast AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #13
OMG, I saw that hot mess years ago! Ocelot II Dec 26 #19
The Night of the Lepus was hilariously awful. Ocelot II Dec 26 #6
Frogs was great. You could tell Sam Elliott was phoning it in from his first line AZLD4Candidate Dec 26 #9
So much cringe in Frogs MorbidButterflyTat Dec 26 #29
"But... Sam Elliott was smoking hot." 3catwoman3 Dec 26 #36
College roommate and I got drunk one night and watched Night of the Lepus on late night TV. Diamond_Dog Dec 26 #26
Mutant carnivorous rabbits the size of bears? What's not to like? Ocelot II Dec 26 #28
Janet Leigh was in Lepus! VGNonly Dec 27 #49
The Thing with Two Heads, Lee Frost, 1972. boonecreek Dec 26 #15
Back around 1976, I briefly worked for... GReedDiamond Dec 26 #41
Could you look at it without breaking up? 😄 boonecreek Dec 27 #45
Actually, i was working at the guy's house... GReedDiamond Dec 27 #47
I wouldn't have lasted long. boonecreek Dec 27 #48
I saw one the other day "The Dead Don't Die". This small town was being invaded by doc03 Dec 26 #17
I watched that also. It was disappointing. Bristlecone Dec 26 #35
The Day Time Ended cynical_idealist Dec 26 #18
Got drawn in by a pretty good trailer - The Collective Tripper11 Dec 26 #23
The Happening. The director must've slipped Zoey Dechanel and Mark Walberg Quaaludes or catbyte Dec 26 #24
Another one. boonecreek Dec 26 #27
Strange brew. yourout Dec 26 #30
Eating Raoul enid602 Dec 26 #31
The Postman LogDog75 Dec 26 #32
Hobo with a Shotgun - 2011 Disco Godfather - 1979 LeftInTX Dec 26 #33
No Sergeant Pepper? ProfessorGAC Dec 26 #34
I'd watch it again. But on TV, it's background noise and more entertaining. LeftInTX Dec 26 #39
As Background, I Get It ProfessorGAC Dec 27 #42
Blow Up, made in 1966. 3catwoman3 Dec 26 #37
IMDB give is a 7.4 rating and the trailer looked fun. So I started watching on Tubi. LeftInTX Dec 26 #40
You obviously weren't a teenage guy, back in 1966. Paladin Dec 27 #44
The Alien Factor (1978) and SnowBeast (1977) DBoon Dec 26 #38
From Justin to Kelly. 2003. 1.9/10 on Rotten Tomatoes underpants Dec 27 #43
Just thought of another one. boonecreek Dec 27 #46

Mike 03

(17,764 posts)
1. Stanley Kubrick said that he learned much more from studying
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 08:08 AM
Dec 26

terrible films than from studying great films.

In passing, you seemed to reference Exorcist II. Is that "Exorcist II: The Heretic" by John Boorman? I remember seeing that film with my mother and us and many in the audience laughing through the entire thing. And Boorman was a really good director (Deliverance, Beyond Rangoon).

I'll think about your question. Sitting here right now, I remember that three attempts to resurrect the musical in the 70s and 80s didn't go well (to put it mildly):

At Long Last Love (1975, Peter Bogdonavich)
Sg Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1979, Michael Schultz/Robert Stigwood)
Xanadu (1980, Robert Greenwald)

AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
20. I feel the same way about Flashdance. It takes longer to make coffee than it took the lead actress to get success
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 11:45 AM
Dec 26

shit movie, amazing soundtrack.

AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
11. The Apple makes you watch it with your jaw dropped how incompetent it is.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 09:25 AM
Dec 26

Nice to see another bad movie fan.

JohnnyRingo

(19,523 posts)
5. I have one for your review.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 08:53 AM
Dec 26

When I was a teen I stopped into the local theater to see a flick that starred Ringo. Despite a cast with more A listers than I've ever seen, the movie tanked and became a cult classic. I streamed it for free recently.

"Candy" is unbelievably bad, but mesmerizing at the same time. I recently streamed it for free.
The movie you never heard of with a cast you've never seen in one place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_(1968_film)

I was having modem issues that made it hard to post. I think I fixed it.
Nope. The movie is so bad I can't link directly to it. You have to find it under "Candy" disambiguation

AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
21. I just got through the Richard Burton part and my jaw dropped. HO LEE SHYTE!!!
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 02:38 PM
Dec 26

I never thought I'd say Richard Burton was a terrible actor, but in this, he sucks.

And the actress always calling John Astin "daddy" just screams cringe.

Knowing how much of a man whore Richard Burton was, I am wondering if he was getting with the lead actress off camera and how she could stomach the bourbon smell coming from his breath and pores.

JohnnyRingo

(19,523 posts)
25. Keep that in mind for your list.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 04:37 PM
Dec 26

I'm not sure how he attracted so much talent, but that was the reason ABC bankrolled the movie.

AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
13. I'm looking at the cast
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 09:26 AM
Dec 26

It stars Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, John Huston, Walter Matthau and Ringo Starr.
WTF?????

Ocelot II

(122,116 posts)
19. OMG, I saw that hot mess years ago!
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 11:36 AM
Dec 26

It was supposed to be based on Candide, and it has an all-star cast, but it was terrible. You keep watching it for the same reason people gawk at bloody car accidents.

Ocelot II

(122,116 posts)
6. The Night of the Lepus was hilariously awful.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 09:15 AM
Dec 26

Let me add to the list another cinematic gem, Frogs, also involving Nature gone mad. Spoiler alert: Ray Milland gets hopped to death at the end by mutant frogs.

AZLD4Candidate

(6,443 posts)
9. Frogs was great. You could tell Sam Elliott was phoning it in from his first line
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 09:22 AM
Dec 26

I loved how the turtle killed the woman and how the ground came to life to eat the man.

The only death that didn't make me laugh was the snakebite.

MorbidButterflyTat

(2,660 posts)
29. So much cringe in Frogs
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 05:05 PM
Dec 26

Like Joan Van Ark running around in a Onesie.

Ray Milland barking at everyone about his stupid birthday.

Killer frogs.

But... Sam Elliott was smoking hot.

It probably doesn't fit your criteria, but "The Thing with Two Heads," from 1972 with Ray Milland and Rosey Grier was bonkers.

Also, "X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes," another Ray Milland gem, but from 1963.

They may not make your list but someone may appreciate the suggestions and enjoy watching them.

MST3K is one of my favorite shows of all time.


Diamond_Dog

(35,561 posts)
26. College roommate and I got drunk one night and watched Night of the Lepus on late night TV.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 04:41 PM
Dec 26

Even for two drunks we thought it was awful.

VGNonly

(7,874 posts)
49. Janet Leigh was in Lepus!
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 07:02 PM
Dec 27

She was in Psycho, She was in Touch of Evil, She was in The Manchurian Candidate....:

Throw in DeForest Kelly (Bones), Stuart Whitman and perennial B-lister Rory Calhoun with a bunch of humans in giant rabbit suits... !

boonecreek

(370 posts)
15. The Thing with Two Heads, Lee Frost, 1972.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:08 AM
Dec 26

Ray Milland is this rich old racist whose health
is failing so he has his head transplanted on to
the body of a death row inmate played by former
Giants and Rams defensive lineman Roosevelt
Grier. I was 21 when this came out but I knew
it was a stinker.

GReedDiamond

(5,392 posts)
41. Back around 1976, I briefly worked for...
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 11:39 PM
Dec 26

...one of the executive producers of that film, a guy named John Lawrence.

He had the movie poster for it on the wall next to his desk.

GReedDiamond

(5,392 posts)
47. Actually, i was working at the guy's house...
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 01:17 PM
Dec 27

...mostly in his bedroom where his wife would lay in bed all day.

I don't even remember what kind of work I was doing.

His wife was a major distraction in her "baby doll" style bed clothes.

It was weird.

doc03

(37,178 posts)
17. I saw one the other day "The Dead Don't Die". This small town was being invaded by
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:40 AM
Dec 26

zombies. Bill Murray was the town sheriff, him and his deputy just stood around trying to figure out
what to do while the zombies had run of the town. It was pretty funny.

cynical_idealist

(465 posts)
18. The Day Time Ended
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 11:11 AM
Dec 26

Saw this for the first time a couple months ago:

1980
"Sci-fi", odd mix of ideas and cheap execution.
Quite a few LOL moments
Young girl was the best actor in the movie.

Tripper11

(4,359 posts)
23. Got drawn in by a pretty good trailer - The Collective
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 02:51 PM
Dec 26

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23556408/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_t_4

With Don Johnson, yeah, he's definitely not a favourite of ours, but as I mentioned, the trailer was actually pretty good, good enough to draw us in to watch the damned thing.
As we started watching it seemed ok, decent pacing, but then, not sure what it was, it wasn't something I could pinpoint, but I turned to my wife and asked, this a really bad movie isn't it? She agreed.
But then we both agreed that we had committed, so we might as well enjoy it's total baddness.

catbyte

(36,154 posts)
24. The Happening. The director must've slipped Zoey Dechanel and Mark Walberg Quaaludes or
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 02:54 PM
Dec 26

Ambien and the plot was a mess, yet I was still entertained by pointing out all the ridiculous plot lines. This guy does a good job of pointing out all of the "movie sins" in it.

boonecreek

(370 posts)
27. Another one.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 04:43 PM
Dec 26

"Heaven's Gate" by Michael Cimino. Set during the Johnson County War
in 1890 Wyoming it was originally 3h 39min long. After it's disastrous
opening it was re-edited to 149 mins then later back to 228 mins. It took
so long to shoot that John Hurt left the production and made "The
Elephant Man" then came back to shoot more scenes for this. What I
remember of it was long and dull. Indoor scenes were so dark and hazy
it was hard to tell what was going on Estimated cost was $40,000,000
and U.S. - Canada gross receipts were less than $3.9 mil. Full disclosure:
I cheated a bit on this using IMDb trivia but remember trying watch it and
giving up.

LogDog75

(241 posts)
32. The Postman
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 06:35 PM
Dec 26

Starring Kevin Costner. In a post-apocalyptic American, the survivors become tribal living in their fortified towns against a warlord. Costner's character found a dead postal carrier and put on his uniform and when he arrived at a town everyone thought he was a postman and that the nation was being brought back. He establishes a pony express-style mail system which draws the attention of the warlord.

The movie got panned but, IMO, it was interesting seeing what it would take to bring tribes of people together.

LeftInTX

(31,584 posts)
33. Hobo with a Shotgun - 2011 Disco Godfather - 1979
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 08:07 PM
Dec 26

Hobo with Shotgun
A homeless vigilante blows away crooked cops, pedophile Santas, and other scumbags with his trusty pump-action shotgun.
Screened at the Sundance Film Festival

Disco Godfather
Rudy Ray Moore's fourth in a series of cult favorites finds him playing an ex-cop called back into action to stop an angel dust producer. The angel dust hallucinations alone are well worth the price of admission

&ab_channel=deadenddrivein

ProfessorGAC

(71,162 posts)
34. No Sergeant Pepper?
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 08:36 PM
Dec 26

I mean, that movie was epically awful.
About the only good thing in it was Aerosmith doing Come Together.
It is definitely in my top 10 worst movie I've ever seen.
My list would be very different as I would have Titanic on it. My wife & I hated it. So kuch so that we walked out because we couldn't stop laughing and people around us were getting mad.

ProfessorGAC

(71,162 posts)
42. As Background, I Get It
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 07:35 AM
Dec 27

The songs are good.
But, I'll never watch it again.
Thing is, your reply somewhat validated my pick.
After I posted, I thought maybe it didn't count because the OP qualified the topic with "so bad, it's good", and Sgt. Pepper didn't pass the "it's good" part.
But, since you'd watch it again, maybe it I'd a good pick!

3catwoman3

(25,927 posts)
37. Blow Up, made in 1966.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:04 PM
Dec 26

Had to see this as a homework assignment for an art appreciation class in my freshman year of college 1969.

Boring, boring, boooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.

The professor for that class was kind of a jerk. One of his assignments was to do a comparison between a silk serigraph and a bulldozer - WTF. He also didn't put letter grades on assignments - he's give them one dot, two dots, or three dots. He did manage to come up with letter grades for our academic records.

I'd really been looking forward to this class, and it was a huge disappointment.

LeftInTX

(31,584 posts)
40. IMDB give is a 7.4 rating and the trailer looked fun. So I started watching on Tubi.
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:59 PM
Dec 26

It doesn't look seem like the trailer..LOL They must have crammed the fun stuff into a few minutes and into the trailer..LOL

Paladin

(29,165 posts)
44. You obviously weren't a teenage guy, back in 1966.
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 09:22 AM
Dec 27

That half-second view of female pubic hair was a huge factor in the movie's national popularity...

DBoon

(23,289 posts)
38. The Alien Factor (1978) and SnowBeast (1977)
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:27 PM
Dec 26

The film centers on a small town that is besieged by three aliens that have crash-landed in the nearby forest.


A Colorado ski resort is besieged by a sub-human beast that commits brutal murders on the slopes.

If you want more like this, see Nightmare Theater on PBS https://www.wsre.org/productions/nightmare-theatre/

underpants

(187,875 posts)
43. From Justin to Kelly. 2003. 1.9/10 on Rotten Tomatoes
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 08:42 AM
Dec 27

This was a quickly made byproduct of American Idol probably at its peak. The competition was Kelly Clarkson springboard to fame and fortune. Justin came in second but the production hinted there was something going on with them.

boonecreek

(370 posts)
46. Just thought of another one.
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 01:11 PM
Dec 27

"Battlefield Earth". Yeesh, what an awful movie. John Travolta came across like a 12 year old schoolyard bully and Forrest Whitaker has done far better. I remember one review saying "A plodding turgid movie based on a plodding turgid book".

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