Wanted: bad horror movies for good times in October

October 8, 2008 8:40 AM

What fantastic-ly schlocky horror movie should I show at my annual viewing party?

I've created my own sort of tradition amongst my friends, and I call it "Schlock-toberfest". I've shown some pretty schlocky horror films accompanied by the usual refreshments. Now folks are asking about it, and I haven't even mentioned it yet. So there's a lot to live up to. In the past I've shown Tail Sting (in the sort of post Snakes on a Plane frenzy that was 2006) and last year I showed Troll 2 which REALLY raised the bar for schlocky-ness.

So, hive mind: what can you recommend that would fit this bill? I was considering "The Stuff" but I've never actually seen it so I don't know if it's the right fit. I know there are bad movie lists out there, but I wanted to see what the collective could come up with. Especially since this is kind of a specific niche... I mean, the more boom mics and cast members visible, the better. But not necessary. "Schlock" is the only word I know that accurately describes sort of what I'm going for. So...what do you think?

posted by indiebass to media & arts (80 comments total)

boy, i can't recommend Sleepaway Camp enough. My friend and I were lucky enough to discover it 7 years ago, and have created sleepaway Camp believers out of may of our friends. I don't know if it will be schlocky enough for you, as there are no visible boom mics, but there is an abundance of bad acting. Another one I really want to see is Bag Head, but that may still be pretty new and not yet out on DVD.

(great party idea BTW)
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 8:51 AM on October 8, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Well, Leprechaun in the Hood is utter crap!
posted by Benjy at 8:52 AM on October 8, 2008

Dude, you have to check out the site of the Washington Psychotronic Film Society, maintained by MetaFilter's own doctorschlock.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:56 AM on October 8, 2008

From the Wikipedia entry about Tail Sting: The pilot, Captain Jack Russel, begins to realise something is amiss when he finds his navigator dead in the cargo hold, and his fears are confirmed when a huge scorpion drops into the cockpit and fails to sting him to death.

I have got to see this.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 8:57 AM on October 8, 2008

The Wizard of Gore is total crap, although it does live up to its title. Trailer (Warning: Gore, Shlock).
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:58 AM on October 8, 2008

Hmm, so what you are really looking for are REALLY bad movies, or sort of classic style B flicks that are really bad in a good, goofy way? Because if all you really want is embarrasingly bad movies, just go to the IMdB and look up Dean Cain. Good (and by that I mean bad) B-movies are a treasure. Now I'm certain a lot of folks here will disagree, but I think Uwe Boll flicks fall into the latter category - you certainly cant go wrong with anything he's done if groans and face-smacks are what you are looking for in cinema.

Badmovies.org has a big list of both of those. I'm sure there are others.
posted by elendil71 at 9:02 AM on October 8, 2008

I'm more of a moody, serious horror fan than a fan of the schlock, but two of my favorite titles that can be taken either way are Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (which Synapse released a few years ago) and Carnival of Souls (public domain, disinterred all over the internet, nice Criterion edition). Oh, Equinox might also work for your purposes.

My internet friend Adam attempted to watch and review 261 horror movies last year. The ensuing reviews might give you some good ideas. My other friend Dave might also be a good source for ideas.

What, no suggestions of Showgirls?
posted by pxe2000 at 9:05 AM on October 8, 2008

I have friends who once showed Night Of The Lepus on Easter, so I like this question.

My bar is actually set pretty damn high for schlock, though -- my favorite of-all-time hands-down leaves-them-all-in-the-dust schlock film is a glorious thing called Blood Freak. It is, to my knowledge, the world's only anti-drug mutant-monster horror film with a Christian message. No, seriously -- the plot concerns a guy who gets a job at a turkey farm, then gets hooked on pot by his girlfriend, and while he's at the farm he tries to pick up some extra money by being a test subject and eating some experimental vitamin-enriched turkey meat. But the vitamins in this experimental turkey meat react with the pot in his system to turn him into a turkey-headed monster. This turkey-headed monster is still hooked on drugs, and the only way he can get high is by killing other junkies and drinking their blood. He goes on a two-hour rampage through three houses in a Florida neighborhood until he is finally saved by faith in Jesus.

....Lemme let you catch up there.

It's AMAZING in its ineptitude. It looks like it was made on a budget of about twelve cents and some pocket lint. The acting is utterly atrocious across the board, the dialogue even more so, there's a Criswell-type of narrator who gets a massive coughing fit on camera that they made no effort to edit out whatsoever, and....it's....yeah.

This film is actually TOO MUCH for some of my friends. We've tried having a few bad-taste film parties before, and after seeing it once, whenever I bring up seeing it again, a few people have started saying, "um, we'd....actually rather you NOT show that, maybe?" Then there are those who totally flat-out love it.

It may be a tricky thing to find, and the turkey theme may make it more suited for Thanksgiving. But it is the hands-down winner to any "bad film" contest.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:06 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you can get hold of one of the Violent Shit series... disclaimer, I've not actually seen any of these all the way through, but judging from clips on Youtube they look right up your street. As you might guess from the name they are totally NSFW
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:06 AM on October 8, 2008

Another good source for cheesy horror reviews: Stomp Tokyo.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:07 AM on October 8, 2008

jack frost 2! shannon elizabeth gets fucked to death by a snowman with its carrot nose!
posted by Mach5 at 9:08 AM on October 8, 2008

Is Reanimator too mainstream?
posted by piedmont at 9:08 AM on October 8, 2008

I can highly recommend Tequila Body Shots -- a completely bizarre schlock horror involving Joey Laurence going to Hell by way of Mexico. It's so incredibly, unforgettably bad and wonderful that we watched it dozens of times through college.

Ticks was another brilliantly bad horror -- the high point of this one is Carlton from Fresh Prince playing a gangsta. Absolute genius.
posted by ukdanae at 9:09 AM on October 8, 2008

I came here to post Sleepaway Camp but was beaten to it. I second it.
posted by proj at 9:12 AM on October 8, 2008

Is Dead Alive too obvious a spoof? It does kick ass (for the Lord)!

Also seconding Reanimator, that movie wins on facial expression cheesiness alone.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:14 AM on October 8, 2008

Da Hip-Hop Witch

I still mourn the loss of the 15 minutes I wasted watching this before I turned it off.
posted by ChazB at 9:16 AM on October 8, 2008

Plan 9 from Outer Space. Bela Lugosi actually died during filming, and the director just replaced his character in the rest of the scenes with his own chiropractor. I can't make this stuff up.
posted by InsanePenguin at 9:21 AM on October 8, 2008

Alien Vs Hunter is a total Alien/Predator rip-off done with zero budget and zero talent. Many claim it's the worse movie ever made. The whole thing is on Youtube - I tried to watch it once but bailed at about 15min as it's almost agony to watch. Here's a review.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:21 AM on October 8, 2008

Killer Klowns from Outer Space has it all: bad acting, absurd premise, gore, cheesy special effects. It is definitely in the 'so cheesy it's mesmerizing' category.
posted by Alison at 9:21 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

For a slight change of pace, you might want to add some Japanse schlock. My recommendation would be Uzumaki, A film about malevolent spirals. The only problem is that a fair number think it is good
posted by rtimmel at 9:25 AM on October 8, 2008

Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a personal favorite. Let me also recommend to you The Crater Lake Monster which is unbelievably bad, The Car and, if you want something that is perhaps a little more up to date, Lake Placid and Lake Placid 2 in which we learn that watching your teenage friends get eaten by giant alligators causes, like, no trauma at, like, all.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:25 AM on October 8, 2008

I'll take any chance I can get to recommend Slaughter High. I love slasher films, and this is one of the most absurd I've seen.
posted by brandman at 9:25 AM on October 8, 2008

2000 Maniacs (the 1964 original, not the 2005 remake, which I can't vouch for). Afterwards you can listen to music by these guys.
posted by TedW at 9:27 AM on October 8, 2008

(But I should mention it's bad in a fun way...not only do I enjoy the movie, I own it.)
posted by brandman at 9:28 AM on October 8, 2008

OR, and I almost forgot, Nuke 'Em High and the Toxic Avenger!
OMG according to IMDB there are two sequels to Nuke 'Em High! I know what I'm doing for the rest of the month!
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:28 AM on October 8, 2008

I can't believe someone else here has actually seen Blood Freak, but I can't recommend it enough. Holy shit that movie is amazing. I actually just watched it again a couple nights ago.

If you can find them, check out some Stephanie Beaton movies, especially Eyes of the Werewolf and Bagman. Just be warned that both have more than a few really lame sex scenes.

How about Night of the Demon, which isn't about demons at all, but Bigfoot?

I should be able to name way more than those, since most of my free time is spent watching really awful horror and exploitation movies, but I think at this point I've seen to many they they're all kind of blurred into one really awful movie in my mind. Some were so bad I don't even remember having seen them before and only realize it once I'm halfway in. But anyway, if I can think of any others, I'll post some more.
posted by Venadium at 9:31 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Fuck Uzumaki. I wanted so bad for that movie to be good, but it was crap. Boring crap.
posted by Venadium at 9:32 AM on October 8, 2008

Rockula comes highly recommended.

Also -- and this is very good, but campy and spoofy -- Night of the Comet.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:33 AM on October 8, 2008

Oh! OH!

Incubus. It's all in Esperanto, and it features William Shatner.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:35 AM on October 8, 2008

Oh, and I might as well point you to my all-time favorite bad movie ever, R.O.T.O.R.

Not exactly horror, just horrifyingly bad. But in the best way. Please tell me someone else has seen this.
posted by Venadium at 9:36 AM on October 8, 2008

The Stuff is pretty good.

Does it have to be horror schlock? Because if not, I am going to suggest to you the amazing film Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. Remember back when the Daily Show had Craig Kilborn and he'd show that clip with the dude getting his head smashed by the other dude? That's the movie. It is awesome. There is eyeball violence.

Also, Hercules in New York is stellar schlock. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger back when he was Arnold Strong. The DVD we have has the original voice track with Arnold, but ISTR there's another version where he's badly dubbed. His accent at the time was thee-ick; he keeps asserting "I'm Ergulees!". There is a point in the movie where Arnold and co. are attacked by a bear in central park, so he must fight bear. This means Arnold wrestling with a dude in a bear fursuit in central park.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:36 AM on October 8, 2008

Dead Alive for certain. The lawnmower scene is a classic!
posted by Joh at 9:39 AM on October 8, 2008

Guy in a Monkey Suit: you do. You really REALLY do..

Mr. Moonpie: I sent a memail to drschlock to see if he couldn't weigh in on this as well.

Sleepaway Camp seems to have its fans, but I worry about it not being bad enough. Is this an irrational fear? I should point out that the crowd is very co-ed, and so I can't show anything that's TOO grisly or gory, but if it's hilariously gory it seems to work.

There's a part of me that wants to just show Slither (as I own it) but I think it might just be too well done.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space I think must be in the running. I've never seen that either, but I've heard of it, which means it must be epically bad. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, and please keep them coming! =)
posted by indiebass at 9:43 AM on October 8, 2008

Razorback is pretty fantastic.
posted by boba at 9:49 AM on October 8, 2008

I have a similar tradition with a couple friends, though we tend more towards the buckets-o-blood end of the spectrum.

Evil Breed
Carnosaur
Pieces
also, I just picked up Feast II: Sloppy Seconds at LocalBigBox, which looks pretty awesome.
posted by xbonesgt at 9:55 AM on October 8, 2008

Oh and the guys at Aint-It-Cool News are apparently reviewing old (and usually really bad) horror flicks now.

Here's the latest. Might help.
posted by elendil71 at 9:56 AM on October 8, 2008

on preview after posting: heh. if "too grisly or gory" is out, then probably none of my movies would work for you...
posted by xbonesgt at 9:58 AM on October 8, 2008

Okay, if the original Sleepaway Camp may be considered "too good" (which may be an accurate fear), please, PLEASE watch Sleepaway Camp 2. It is chock full of celebrity siblings, has a wonderfully chipper slasher, and everything else you could possibly want from your low-budget horror movies.

Lep in the Hood is a great suggestion, but it can take itself too seriously at times (Which, I realize sounds ridiculous), so for pure scholcky goodness, I'd recommend Leprechaun 4: Leprechaun in Space which has, bar none, the absolute best gratuitous nudity ever.

More as I think of them.
posted by bookwo3107 at 10:05 AM on October 8, 2008

Based on an off-line suggestion: has anyone seen Die Hard Dracula?

pxe: Night of the Comet is totally one of my favorite movies. I remember watching in back in the 80s because (I think I have this right) it had the girlfriend from the Last Starfighter in it.

elendil: they mention Return to Horror High, but I can't find the review for it. Anyone seen that one?

And after watching that clip of R.O.T.O.R... I'm still trying to figure out what the heck it is!
posted by indiebass at 10:21 AM on October 8, 2008

Basketcase

It's a good one.
posted by nougat at 10:33 AM on October 8, 2008

My boyfriend has suggested Mammoth with Summer Glau.

(We have a running $5 bet about who will rent this first. And, yes, you need to refer to it as "Mammoth with Summer Glau".)
posted by pxe2000 at 10:37 AM on October 8, 2008

Silent Scream. The 1980 horror schlock classic not the pro life ultrasound.

House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price

Trilogy of Terror particularly Amelia with that creepy little doll (it was the talk of my elementary school the next day)

Pet Semetary "I brought you something mommy."
posted by cjets at 10:45 AM on October 8, 2008

I also concur on The Stuff being a good choice, but a few others:

Dr. Giggles
Silent Night, Deadly Night
976-EVIL

Also seconding Pieces
posted by rhizome at 10:57 AM on October 8, 2008

I LOVE these movies, so I will be keeping an eye on this thread for ones I've never seen. In fact, I just put Tail Sting in my queue...

So, I'm nth-ing Sleepaway Camp, Dead Alive, and Killer Klowns from Outerspace. You might also want to check out these:

Black Sheep
Bad Taste
Night of the Creeps.

Although, apparently that last one isn't on DVD yet, so I don't know how helpful a suggestion it is.
posted by Nolechick11 at 11:07 AM on October 8, 2008

The Manitou. (Amazing Tony Curtis camp. But maybe not quite bad enough. Spectacular ending that has pre-cog of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.)

The Burning. (Features Jason Alexander when he had hair.)

Seconding Slaughter High.

Maybe even Garth Marenghi's Darkplace itself, if you can get a copy in the U.S.
posted by galaksit at 11:13 AM on October 8, 2008

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was broadcast in the states on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] block, and is torrent-able over here. [/derail]
posted by pxe2000 at 11:20 AM on October 8, 2008

YOU NEED TO SEE THESE MOVIES!!!!!!!!!

Sorority House Massacre 2 (NOT 1!!!)
Blood Diner
C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the Chud (CHUD 1 is a decent movie- chud 2 is a whole different ballpark)
posted by Large Marge at 11:34 AM on October 8, 2008

How could I have forgotten...

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama
and
Slumber Party Massacre?
posted by pxe2000 at 11:50 AM on October 8, 2008

Ice Cream Man, with Jan-Michael Vincent as an apparently drug-addled cop and Clint Howard as his quarry, the titular cannibalistic ice-cream vendor. As one Amazon reviewer wrote, it's something of the Zazie dans le Métro of cheap, execrable horror flicks.
posted by Iridic at 11:53 AM on October 8, 2008

Years ago, for my uni's student programming Halloween schlockfest, we turned out most of the lights in the Rathskellar, popped huge bags of popcorn and showed the classic Motel Hell. It went over a treat. Must have been at least 300 kids there to see it.
posted by droplet at 12:01 PM on October 8, 2008

Rockabilly Vampire
posted by Confess, Fletch at 12:25 PM on October 8, 2008

ohh yes, nearly any of the Sleepaway Camps would be fine (minus #4. Why would they even include that in the box set?)

But i second Bookwo, the original might be too good. Thankfully they really fell off the wagon is 2 and three.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 12:28 PM on October 8, 2008

Hobgoblins!
posted by Otis at 12:33 PM on October 8, 2008

Mad Monster Party
Phantom of the Paradise
Robot Monster
The Dungeons of Harrow
The Brain that wouldn't Die
The Incredible Two-headed Man
The Manster
Spider Baby
War of the Gargantuans
Godzilla vs the Smog Monster
posted by doctorschlock at 12:39 PM on October 8, 2008

The Hideous Sun Demon
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Tarantula
A Bucket of Blood
The Little Shop of Horrors
Tourist Trap
Mothers Day
Street Trash
10,000 Maniacs
Killer Klowns from Kansas on Krack
Cemetary Babes
Horror of the Blood Monsters
posted by doctorschlock at 12:48 PM on October 8, 2008

Haw! 10,000 Maniacs!
posted by doctorschlock at 1:01 PM on October 8, 2008

Blood Freak is the WPFS's annual Thanksgiving movie.
posted by doctorschlock at 1:02 PM on October 8, 2008

There's a part of me that wants to just show Slither (as I own it) but I think it might just be too well done.

Yeah, Slither is actually pretty good. I really enjoyed it. That scene with the infested chick in the barn is totally over the top. Good soundtrack, too.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 1:07 PM on October 8, 2008

And then there's Xtro!
posted by doctorschlock at 1:09 PM on October 8, 2008

Humanoids from the Deep
Night of the Creeps
Creepers
The Worm Eaters
The Beast Inside
The Incredible Melting Man
posted by doctorschlock at 1:12 PM on October 8, 2008

How could I have forgotten...

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama
and
Slumber Party Massacre?

Jesus God, those are awesomely bad suckfests! Sorority Babes defies description. It's worth seeing for the title alone, and the fact that that is exactly what the movie is about.

No one mentioned Pod People??
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 1:14 PM on October 8, 2008

Monster in the Closet.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 1:17 PM on October 8, 2008

Squirm
The Gate
The Doll
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
The Creeping Terror
posted by doctorschlock at 1:23 PM on October 8, 2008

With all this schlocky goodness I have decided two things: I'm going to have to show a double-feature, and I"m going to let the demos have a vote and decide which ones they'll watch. Once I get a final decision from the masses, I'll make sure I come back and post it here. And please, any ideas you have keep posting them up. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama is definitely going to be one of the choices!

Thanks to everyone for all their help! I'm also grateful it's a question people LIKE answering and that some folks have discovered new movies too.
posted by indiebass at 1:27 PM on October 8, 2008

The Rats are Coming, the Werewolves are here (Andy Milligan).
posted by doctorschlock at 1:40 PM on October 8, 2008

versus is a pretty good bad movie for the modern japanese zombie gangster time traveling shoot em up category that i just made up this second. also, killer klowns is certainly mandatory. I also think highly of the brain that wouldn't die. good tacky B n W action
posted by Redhush at 1:41 PM on October 8, 2008

I can't believe someone else here has actually seen Blood Freak, but I can't recommend it enough. Holy shit that movie is amazing. I actually just watched it again a couple nights ago.

Not only seen it -- I spent THIRTY DOLLARS of my HARD-EARNED MONEY to buy the VHS of it in 1999 when the only place you could get it was this obscure rare movie store in Nebraska somewhere. And then spent ANOTHER twenty when it came out on DVD.

I have very tolerant friends.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:12 PM on October 8, 2008

Seconding The Creeping Terror.
posted by kaarne at 3:17 PM on October 8, 2008

The Corpse Grinders.
posted by doctorschlock at 3:29 PM on October 8, 2008

Yeah I guess I should have found a link that explains what ROTOR is a bit more. It's basically a ripoff of Terminator and Robocop; some prototype robotic police officer escapes the lab before it's complete, and its only programmed command is 'TO JUDGE AND EXECUTE'. So it ends up killing this guy for speeding and then chasing his fiance around Texas for a while. It's really amazing.
posted by Venadium at 3:30 PM on October 8, 2008

versus is a pretty good bad movie for the modern japanese zombie gangster time traveling shoot em up category that i just made up this second.

I walked out of Versus half-way through 'cause I was bored stiff. Personal taste and all that, but be warned all the same.

As for schlock, Troma is a goldmine (like the aforementioned Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High) though they can be a little injokey. And of course there's the legendary Herschell Gordon Lewis, the master of gory schlock, or shlocky gore, and responsible for the likes of 2,000 Maniacs (not 10,000; that was the band with Natalie Merchant) and the hilarious Blood Feast, which is like a masterclass in how not to make a movie. It's brilliant!
posted by macdara at 3:34 PM on October 8, 2008

Also, the '80s remake of The Blob is good fun, in a 'B movie sending up its own genre' sort of way.
posted by macdara at 3:38 PM on October 8, 2008

Robot Vampire
Mr. Vampire
Black Magic 1 and 2
The Blue Jean Monster

My Hong Kong Favorites.
posted by doctorschlock at 3:42 PM on October 8, 2008

Devil Snake Woman
The Man who Killed Satan
The Boy God

My favorite Hindi films.
posted by doctorschlock at 3:44 PM on October 8, 2008

Frankenhooker.
posted by Cyrano at 7:08 PM on October 8, 2008

Review of said Frankenhooker. Make sure you watch the exploding prostitutes clip.
posted by Cyrano at 7:11 PM on October 8, 2008

Oh man, seconding Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. I had no idea it was ever on tv here, but that's awesome! We got a burned dvd from the mr's sister and couldn't get enough.
posted by taraza at 7:34 PM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Another vote for Sleepaway Camp!
posted by glycolized at 9:01 PM on October 8, 2008

78 anwers and no one has suggested Ankle Biters? (Three feet tall! Two inch fangs!)

It's an intensely bad horror movie. Probably my favorite.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:19 AM on October 9, 2008

For the record, we started off with Killer Klowns From Outer Space, watched the PSA that came on the Blood Freak dvd entitled "Narcotics: Pit of Despair" and then watched Blood Freak. It was such a success that I had a repeat viewing (mainly to get rid of some of the beers that had gone unconsumed) except I showed Sleepaway Camp 2, based on the glowing reviews herein. So thanks, Hive Mind. You never disappoint!
posted by indiebass at 12:53 PM on November 17, 2008