Looking for some hilariously awful movies to watch.
June 21, 2014 5:37 PM   Subscribe

I recently got my friend hooked on "so-bad-they're-good" movies. We're looking for more to watch together, but the last few haven't tickled our funny bones quite like the others we've watched. Happen to know of any quality bad movies that might leave us in stitches? So far we've enjoyed these films the most: The Room, Troll 2, Birdemic, Miami Connection, and Sharknado.
posted by Kamelot123 to Media & Arts (130 answers total) 59 users marked this as a favorite
 
Death Race 2000
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:40 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Chatterbox
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:40 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Terrorvision
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:40 PM on June 21, 2014


Eating Raoul
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:41 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


I haven't seen any Neil Breen movies, but this article suggests they might be up your alley.
posted by Awkward Philip at 5:42 PM on June 21, 2014


ELVES- I've never laughed so hard at a movie.
posted by dilaudid at 5:42 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Nothing But Trouble! So bad, so good.
posted by silverstatue at 5:43 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Road House
posted by KokuRyu at 5:45 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


The Toxic Avenger
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:45 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


MEGAFORCE. The answer is Megaforce.
posted by cashman at 5:46 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Piranha 3D.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:46 PM on June 21, 2014


Army of Darkness
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:46 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Ice Pirates
posted by pompomtom at 5:47 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Road House.

Oh yes. IN A WORLD WHERE BOUNCERS ARE NATIONAL CELEBRITIES...
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:47 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Zardoz. Sean Connery as you've never expected.
posted by tomierna at 5:48 PM on June 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


Make sure it's the original Death Race 2000, not the remake.

Also, try these:
Hell Comes to Frogtown
Surf Nazis Must Die
Tango and Cash
Road House
From Justin to Kelly
Quicksilver
posted by OrangeDisk at 5:48 PM on June 21, 2014


Zorro, The Gay Blade
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:48 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Any Ed Wood movie should do. Glen or Glenda is a classic.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:50 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Zardoz. Sean Connery as you've never expected.

I was just about to suggest...myself.
posted by zardoz at 5:50 PM on June 21, 2014 [13 favorites]


Yes, Road House.
Big Trouble in Little China.
Everything Arnold has been in, especially Commando (featuring a Freddie Mercury lookalike as a supervillain!) and Raw Deal.
Rad Racing.
Hackers.
posted by bfranklin at 5:50 PM on June 21, 2014


You may find some good suggestions in the back catalogue of the How Did This Get Made? podcast.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:52 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Flash Gordon. If the football scene doesn't fill you with giddy glee, I don't know what will.
posted by DingoMutt at 5:52 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


The Apple, especially if you enjoy over-the-top, futuristic, moralistic disco-era musical kitsch. (Here's the trailer.)
posted by lisa g at 5:55 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Check out some episodes of the various bad/cult movie podcasts (The Flop House, How Did This Get Made?, Proudly Resents, Read it and Weep) for more possibilities, and to get some more comedy out of the movies you've already seen.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:02 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


I trust you've heard of Mystery Science Theatre 3000?
posted by Wild_Eep at 6:04 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Showgirls
posted by scody at 6:05 PM on June 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


Foodfight
posted by hellojed at 6:06 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Burlesque and View From the Top.
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:06 PM on June 21, 2014


A Knight's Tale
Hudson Hawk (many people think HH is awful; I think it's more of a masterpiece)
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:08 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Wild_Eep beat me to MST3K!
posted by mon-ma-tron at 6:09 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh, man! A question I know stuff about!

I love bad movies. I saw a ridiculous lot of the MST3K movies before they were MST3Kd. I am a lifelong insomniac, and spent much of my youth watching bad movies on TV waiting for the sun to rise. I am something of an aficionado, if I say so myself.

And if I had to pick two of the greatest, most hilarious and engaging bad movies to watch that you may not have seen already, it would be these:

The Thing with Two Heads, starring Rosey Grier and Ray Milland as the two heads. The full movie is right here!

OMG, so is Dwain Esper's The Maniac. It has a mad scientist, a Vaudeville actor/impressionist, a cat/rat pyramid like scheme for no reason, a man who thinks he's the orangutan from the Murders in the Rue Morgue, two ladies having a hypodermic needle fight, one of them being Phyllis Diller but not THAT Phyllis Diller, and there's also some action and drama in it too.

If I could pick three of the greatest bad movies, the third would be something called The Blood of Nostradamus, which is a Mexican horror film edited down from a serial, about Nostradamus, who in case you didn't know was ALSO a vampire. Or something.

I can't find that one anywhere these days, though. If you ever get a chance, though, trust me. It's worth it.
posted by ernielundquist at 6:10 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Titanic 2. Come for the bad acting, stay for the terrible special effects. (It's supposed to be this fancy ship, but it's a rust-bucket for the exterior and I suspect a high school gym for several of the interiors.)
posted by mochapickle at 6:11 PM on June 21, 2014


Snakes on a Plane? I loved it.
posted by GastrocNemesis at 6:12 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Deep Blue Sea
Night of the Lepus
Mosquito
Hundra (a true standout!!!)
posted by Go Banana at 6:16 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Anything released by Troma sounds right up your alley.

Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter.
posted by WidgetAlley at 6:17 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Teeth.
posted by amro at 6:18 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Absolutely Tail Sting.
posted by monster truck weekend at 6:22 PM on June 21, 2014


Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters is *awesome* (and requisite terrible).
posted by colin_l at 6:23 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


Tom Hanks in "The Burbs".
posted by mandrake at 6:24 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Sword and The Sorcerer
Fathom
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 6:31 PM on June 21, 2014


There is also Chris Stuckmann's Hilarocity reviews which also has a list of bad movies.
posted by saturdaymornings at 6:39 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Drop Dead Fred
posted by just asking at 7:00 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


How about a hilariously and purposely bad tv show with Richard Ayoade?
Look no further than Garth Marenghi's Dark Place.
posted by Glinn at 7:01 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness

(Bonus appearance by a young AJ from the Backstreet Boys!)
posted by easy, lucky, free at 7:05 PM on June 21, 2014


Bubba Hotep

Elvis is still alive and in a nursing home. He fights and evil mummy.

Do you need to know any more?
posted by bilabial at 7:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Starship Troopers! I realize that there is a huge cult following, but man, it's so bad it's awesome!

Mission to Mars.

Are the Twilight films bad enough to qualify? I think at least the final one.
posted by mamabear at 7:14 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Very Bad Things, but it's quite dark adult humor.
posted by tomierna at 7:21 PM on June 21, 2014


Another vote for Showgirls. Its magnificent.You couldn't make another movie like it if you tried.

I also love Hudson Hawk and Striptease unabashedly.
Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja.
Barbarella
Rosemarys Baby (i know more people think of this as a "classic" than a B movie but they are wrong).
The Stepford Wives
posted by fshgrl at 7:28 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Heartily seconding Teeth and Bubba Ho-Tep, and also just remembered Ravenous.
posted by GastrocNemesis at 7:31 PM on June 21, 2014


Phantasm (and the following sequels)
posted by peach23 at 7:32 PM on June 21, 2014


Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Seconding Ice Pirates, as it was hilariously enjoyable. Return of the Living Dead II.
posted by Gneisskate at 7:45 PM on June 21, 2014


Anaconda! (And Anaconda 2, and Anaconda 3.) All three are delightfully, horribly awful.
posted by MeghanC at 7:50 PM on June 21, 2014


The Librarian with Noah Wyle!

A friend of mine and I also laughed hysterically all the way through The Notebook... But maybe that's just me. :)
posted by jrobin276 at 7:54 PM on June 21, 2014


Jack the Giant Slayer. See Stanley Tucci try to channel Alan Rickman! Big boss giant with scene-stealing little second head! Little second head out-acts wet blanket leading man! Ewan McGregor slumming it, etc.

(Some people may say Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is wonderfully bad, but they are wrong. It is fantastic and here is Alan Rickman explaining why.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Stuff
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:12 PM on June 21, 2014


The Covenant. A friend and I watched this together recently and HOWLED with laughter the entire time.
posted by Aquifer at 8:14 PM on June 21, 2014


Another vote for The Apple. It is the source of many long-term family tropes. But the music is by George Clinton! Then you realize...wait...not that George Clinton. Just so deliciously bad. We used to pile the kids soft baby toys next to us on the couch so we could hurl them at the screen during the worst parts; it was on late 80s Showtime about 47 times a week.

"I know how to be a....master."
posted by umberto at 8:17 PM on June 21, 2014


Basket Case!
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 8:21 PM on June 21, 2014


Ricky Oh: The Story Of Ricky

"The most dangerous man in the prison is the Warden. The second most dangerous man in the prison is....the Assistant Warden!"
posted by thelonius at 8:28 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Am I the only one who immediately thought of Cruel Intentions? I recently unearthed a DVD copy while going through my high school things. It really is as terribly good as I'd remembered.
posted by gox3r at 8:29 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo in drag, what can be funnier than that? I love that movie.

And the Australian counterpart The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

If you don't mind foreign movies, there's always Tokyo Zombie - it's so awfully bad I just couldn't look away.
posted by patheral at 8:34 PM on June 21, 2014




The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie is great too.
posted by fshgrl at 9:07 PM on June 21, 2014


I agree that Showgirls is phenomenally bad, and so so good. Another great one is Iron Sky (Nazis on the moon).
posted by sfkiddo at 9:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Death Bed: The Bed That Eats
posted by mon-ma-tron at 9:30 PM on June 21, 2014


Olivia Newton John as the Muse of Roller Disco? That would be Xanadu.
posted by Mchelly at 9:51 PM on June 21, 2014 [11 favorites]


Pretty much anything with Vincent Price in it.
posted by Deodand at 9:52 PM on June 21, 2014


Sword of the Valiant. More "yikes!" Sean Connery.

I can't remember if it was this one or another one that included the...uh...memorable line, regarding a sword: "Death dances along its edge and hangs like a dark star from its tip." What now? (If this is from a different bad 80s fantasy movie, somebody correct me.)

In the "not exactly bad but awesomely over-the-top" category:
Eagle-Shooting Heroes
The Heroic Trio
posted by wintersweet at 12:12 AM on June 22, 2014


Les Miserables
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:13 AM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh, and "Operetta tanuki goten," aka Princess Raccoon. I just ... what? Best watched with a room full of slightly tipsy friends. (Don't let anyone get to the point of impairment where they'll think they imagined it all.)
posted by wintersweet at 12:17 AM on June 22, 2014


Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam. Previously on the blue.
posted by Skybly at 12:48 AM on June 22, 2014


Cannonball Run. Evil Dead.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:43 AM on June 22, 2014


Midnight Madness
posted by 4ster at 1:44 AM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Folks have beat me to Zardoz (Sean Connery in a leather bikini and thigh-high boots!) and Xanadu (Olivia Newton-John and roller skates!), so I'll just stick with:
Terror of Tiny Town (the world's only all-midget musical western) and
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (seasonal, but jaw-droppingly awful)
posted by easily confused at 2:32 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


All you need to know is three words: The Killer Tongue.
posted by daisyk at 2:58 AM on June 22, 2014


After Last Season. Don't be fooled by the good reviews.
posted by Maecenas at 3:46 AM on June 22, 2014


Finally a thread in which I get to heartily recommend Glitter.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:03 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


Seems like there's some confusion between hilariously awful and inimitable kitsch here; in that spirit I give you:

drum roll

The Lair of the White Worm

posted by glasseyes at 4:13 AM on June 22, 2014 [6 favorites]


My freinds and I enjoyed Timeline. And Gymkata, which merges gymnastics and karate. There's luckily always a pommel horse or set of parallettes nearby when he needs to fight.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 4:49 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


2-Headed Shark Attack. Hilariously bad.
posted by essexjan at 4:51 AM on June 22, 2014


I have a soft spot for Roller Boogie.
posted by litlnemo at 5:46 AM on June 22, 2014


Top Gun.
posted by fanlight at 6:35 AM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Maximum Overdrive.

It's about cars that become sentient and try to take over the world, pretty much. Focuses on Emilio Estevez and a group of survivors.
posted by Windigo at 6:55 AM on June 22, 2014


Imagine a martial arts movie beamed directly from the mind of a horny but slightly confused thriteen-year-old boy. You're imagining DOA. It's magnificently bad.
posted by peteyjlawson at 7:06 AM on June 22, 2014


Dracula 3000 (Coolio plays a genius space pothead who turns into a perverted space vampire, and they apparently did not have enough money to actually film an ending)
A Sound of Thunder (Did you think the Ray Bradbury short story was well written and thought provoking? Well this totally isn't)
Alone in the Dark (Uwe Boll's least watchable movie, which is saying a lot. The closest thing to a plot you get is the several paragraph crawl dumped on you at the beginning, after that it's just a series of things that don't make sense)
posted by burnmp3s at 7:42 AM on June 22, 2014


Two from the Cannon Films empire:

Lambada: The Forbidden Dance
The Versace Murder
posted by johngoren at 8:29 AM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cannibal! The Musical
Meet the Feebles
Shaolin Soccer
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Dead Alive

... or maybe these are all just awesome!
posted by jormundgondir at 8:51 AM on June 22, 2014


The 2nd Planet of the Apes movie, 1970's Beneath the Planet of the Apes, is hilariously bad, with ridiculous special effects, an absurd plot involving the apes attacking subterranean telepathic mutants who worship an enormous phallus/nuclear bomb capable of destroying the Earth, and lots more idiocy. Charlton Heston only agreed to be in it for a few minutes, and only if his character was killed. It's a gem of the so-bad-it's-good genre: "To simply call it bonkers doesn’t begin to describe it."

Just be sure not to confuse it with Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the 5th in the original series, which is just atrocious with no redeeming kitsch value at all. The 3rd movie, however, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, is a ton of fun with lots of humor, absurdity and pathos that some might consider so-bad-it's-good territory, too.
posted by mediareport at 9:12 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


Soul Vengeance (aka Welcome Home, Brother Charles)
posted by Ideefixe at 9:50 AM on June 22, 2014


I'm somewhat surprised by some of the films suggested. To the OP, are you looking for badly-conceived and/or executed films (mostly what MST3K featured), or mostly competently-executed films with a grindhouse bent (something like Sharknado or anything starring Bruce Campbell)?
posted by AndrewInDC at 10:16 AM on June 22, 2014


Based on her own review, the first few items in Sharon Stone's filmography.
posted by SemiSalt at 10:24 AM on June 22, 2014


The Dragon Lives Again. "Bruce Lee" versus The Godfather, Dracula and Emmanuelle, with the help of Popeye and James Bond. And they all live in Hell.
posted by K0dama at 10:38 AM on June 22, 2014


Street Trash!
posted by SisterHavana at 11:45 AM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


If you happen to be a DDR fan or at least get the concept of the game, The FP may be up your alley. I'm *pretty sure* it's intentionally bad.
posted by curagea at 12:46 PM on June 22, 2014




How has no one mentioned They Live?
posted by dogmom at 1:38 PM on June 22, 2014


Fatal Beauty. Whoopi Goldberg plays a cop.
posted by sexyrobot at 1:45 PM on June 22, 2014


Oh, and Twice Upon a Time if you can find it. You Tube says the full video is on there but I couldn't find it.
posted by BoscosMom at 1:48 PM on June 22, 2014


Congo. CONGO! FOR GOD'S SAKE, CONGO!
posted by COBRA! at 1:49 PM on June 22, 2014


My favourite of this genre is Vanilla Ice's magnum opus Cool As Ice.
posted by urbanlenny at 1:57 PM on June 22, 2014


Oh, I forgot about Vampires Suck which I thought would be too bad to watch, but it was pretty good for a parody (I mean, it was awful, but awfully good).
posted by patheral at 2:26 PM on June 22, 2014


Another vote for Road House.
It's so delightfully bad, but so very entertaining.
posted by MacChimpman at 2:45 PM on June 22, 2014


Drive Angry
The High School Musical trilogy.
posted by fox problems at 3:05 PM on June 22, 2014


You simply cannot miss out on the made-for-tv wonder that is Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park.
posted by 4ster at 5:34 PM on June 22, 2014


Oh my goodness, jormundgondir's post made me realize that the original Breakin' hasn't been recommended yet! It's got Ice T, a character named Popin' Taco, and a marvelously random hillbilly punch-em-up scene partway through ( ... I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine that part). So ... delicious ...
posted by DingoMutt at 6:58 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


The titles used (abused?) in the annual Smithee awards for bad movies are a rich vein for this. Each year they watch a ton of terrible movies and then hold several public shows where the audience votes for the worst clip in categories like 'funniest looking monster.' Under the 'ceremonies' tab you'll find lists of which movies were nominated each year in each category and information about why they stink.
posted by SandiBeech at 7:41 PM on June 22, 2014


One more from me: Mamma Mia.
posted by mamabear at 8:42 PM on June 22, 2014


Beowulf! Not the one with Angelina Jolie (maybe that one too, I haven't seen it), but the post-apocalyptic one starring Christopher Lambert.
posted by bettafish at 9:26 PM on June 22, 2014


There's a feature on Red Letter Media (the same guys that did those Star Wars reviews) called "Best of the Worst" where they review really bad VHS movies. The movies range from hilariously awful to just plain awful.

Some of the "so-bad-they're-good" are even available on Youtube:
R.O.T.O.R.
Russian Terminator
Robot Jox
Roger Corman's Fantastic Four
posted by FJT at 12:19 AM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Better Off Dead
posted by Zaire at 1:09 AM on June 23, 2014


Werewolf of Washington
posted by aws17576 at 1:20 AM on June 23, 2014


John Travolta! Olivia Newton-John! Grease? NO! Two of A Kind - the 1983 romantic comedy which reunites them to save the planet from the wrath of God (I am not making this up).
posted by Mchelly at 5:50 AM on June 23, 2014 [2 favorites]




Another vote for The Apple, where you can meet an actual, actual, actual vampiiiiiiire.
posted by troika at 7:34 AM on June 23, 2014


Nthing Robot Jox to the nth power! How could I have forgotten Robot Jox?!?
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:55 AM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Almost forgot: Hard Ticket to Hawaii!
posted by doctornecessiter at 9:27 AM on June 23, 2014


R.O.T.O.R.
posted by Artw at 11:57 AM on June 23, 2014


Santa with Muscles, which stars Hulk Hogan.
Conan the Destroyer, which features Grace Jones with a high top hair cut and a thong.
posted by emilynoa at 12:00 PM on June 23, 2014


120 replies and no mention of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes? Preposterous.
posted by GatorDavid at 12:00 PM on June 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


Simon Sez. Dennis Rodman. Contains the line "We're monks! Monks of death!"
posted by catatethebird at 12:21 PM on June 23, 2014


The Last Dragon!
posted by audacity at 12:37 PM on June 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


Teeth. So, so bad.
posted by TheDonF at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2014


The Wizard of Speed and Time
posted by caphector at 1:11 PM on June 23, 2014


Possibly in the same vein as Miami Connection: The Warriors.
posted by epersonae at 1:34 PM on June 23, 2014


HAUSU. I've seen it described as a Scooby Doo episode as directed by Dario Argento.
posted by webmutant at 4:13 PM on June 23, 2014


I have to second, third, and fourth PIRANHA 3D. It's everything Sharknado wished it had been.
posted by kostia at 9:29 PM on June 23, 2014


Jason Statham in the movie Crank is a classic piece of American cinematography.
posted by talldean at 8:28 PM on June 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


If you're still checking this thread, Lady Terminator and Knock Off are both amazingly and wonderfully bad. Lady Terminator is weird and culturally fascinating; Knock Off is one of the most confusing and confounding movies ever made, and it stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Hong Kong fashion designer who dabbles in counterfeit jeans with his partner Rob Schneider. Please read the Wikipedia plot description and I dare you not to watch it.

If you like Knock Off, in fact, Double Team is another fantastically odd JCVD movie.
posted by ORthey at 11:29 PM on June 24, 2014


The Chronicles of Riddick
posted by Chessboxing at 4:10 PM on June 25, 2014


Came back weeks later to suggest "Leonard, Part 6" with Bill Cosby. How could I have forgotten???
posted by wintersweet at 7:58 AM on July 3, 2014


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