Good Bad Movies
January 28, 2022 9:04 PM Subscribe
My 17-year-old son is looking for a streamable movie to watch with friends that is so bad that it's good. What do you recommend?
The Room!
posted by nantucket at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by nantucket at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
Without question, Street Fighter.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:18 PM on January 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:18 PM on January 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Beastmaster. Dumbest movie ever made. The hero has rats in his loincloth.
posted by LizardBreath at 9:21 PM on January 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by LizardBreath at 9:21 PM on January 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
Amazon Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death
posted by suelac at 9:36 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by suelac at 9:36 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't know if I want to coach you into introducing him to MST3K, but... would you rather he learn about MST3K on the street?
(Start with Space Mutiny)
posted by Mayor West at 9:40 PM on January 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
(Start with Space Mutiny)
posted by Mayor West at 9:40 PM on January 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
Snakes on a plane?
posted by pairofshades at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by pairofshades at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think this is what Steven Seagal's work is for.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
ROADHOUSE!
posted by sara is disenchanted at 10:03 PM on January 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by sara is disenchanted at 10:03 PM on January 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
The Fifth Element is a classic
posted by wesleyac at 10:10 PM on January 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by wesleyac at 10:10 PM on January 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Anything and everything by Neil Breen.
posted by Alterscape at 10:21 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Alterscape at 10:21 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Manos, the Hands of Fate. Any Gamera movie. The Devil Came From Akasava. If they can get Pluto tv they can just stream the MST3K/Riftrax channels and slowly go mad if they want.
posted by vrakatar at 10:25 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by vrakatar at 10:25 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, and there’s also Troll 2, which is so legendarily so bad it’s good that there’s a documentary to that effect called The Best Worst Movie.
(Face/Off is hardly a bad movie, come on.)
posted by holborne at 10:29 PM on January 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
(Face/Off is hardly a bad movie, come on.)
posted by holborne at 10:29 PM on January 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
You may enjoy the responses from my old question!
posted by Paper rabies at 10:31 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Paper rabies at 10:31 PM on January 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
None of these are bad by my standards but all are fun (mostly culled from the last year of viewing): Miami Connection, Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You!, Defcon-4, Cool As Ice, Reign of Fire, Kingdom of Var, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, 1990: the Bronx Warriors, Winterbeast, Frozen Scream, Dangerous Men, Shadows in an Empty Room, Space Truckers.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:40 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:40 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is exactly what I did with my friends at 17. Our favorites were The Room and Food Fight.
The Room is a classic bad movie. Super quotable, over-dramatic.
Food Fight . . . What a ride.
You'll want to skim the "Reception" section of the Wikipedia page.
It's available on YouTube.
posted by meemzi at 11:27 PM on January 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Room is a classic bad movie. Super quotable, over-dramatic.
Food Fight . . . What a ride.
- start with a start-studded cast: voices of Charlie Sheen, Wayne Brady, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria, Larry Miller, and Christopher Lloyd
- add in an obscene amount of product placement
- throw in a wrench of "industrial espionage," the hard drives with all the film's files were stolen.
You'll want to skim the "Reception" section of the Wikipedia page.
It's available on YouTube.
posted by meemzi at 11:27 PM on January 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Prophecy!
El Topo. This one after they’ve seen a few and are yawning a bit — I mean, why go to sleep when you can have a totally bewildering nightmare with your friends while wide awake? Also a rite of passage for a certain kind of kid.
posted by jamjam at 12:13 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
El Topo. This one after they’ve seen a few and are yawning a bit — I mean, why go to sleep when you can have a totally bewildering nightmare with your friends while wide awake? Also a rite of passage for a certain kind of kid.
posted by jamjam at 12:13 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Plan 9 from Outer Space and Robot Monster were the canonical Worst Movies that Melbourne's Valhalla Cinema would regularly present as a double bill.
I would rate The Tingler as their equal.
posted by flabdablet at 12:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I would rate The Tingler as their equal.
posted by flabdablet at 12:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Enthiran is so awesome it's awesome, but you can't watch it anywhere in the US besides Fmovies, and it's without subtitles there. But you can watch its sequel, 2.0, on Amazon Prime for free, with English subs. The trailer is on the imdb site, and it looks suitably bananas.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 12:48 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 12:48 AM on January 29, 2022
Coneheads
posted by redlines at 1:03 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by redlines at 1:03 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Flabdablet beat me to Plan 9. Also, the first Sharknado movie. YMMV for the sequels (some are just bad).
posted by cholly at 2:04 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cholly at 2:04 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
2012.
posted by Happydaz at 2:05 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Happydaz at 2:05 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Great question! If subtitles are OK, I recommend Love & Peace, a Japanese movie that is the best new movie in the B movie spirit I’ve seen for a while. (Pikadon!)
Also, on YouTube you can find The Black Lizard (1968, Japan), which may not have singing but can otherwise give The Rocky Horror Picture Show a run for it’s money.
posted by ec2y at 2:36 AM on January 29, 2022
Also, on YouTube you can find The Black Lizard (1968, Japan), which may not have singing but can otherwise give The Rocky Horror Picture Show a run for it’s money.
posted by ec2y at 2:36 AM on January 29, 2022
Can’t believe no one has mentioned Birdemic yet.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 2:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Visiting a friend in Heidelberg back thirty years ago or so, the local arthouse cinema announced they would be doing a Very Worst Movie Night, although unfortunately still a couple of weeks away so I didn't get to see it. Three of the five were Manos, Plan 9, and The Fly, another Ed Wood movie.
posted by Stoneshop at 2:49 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Stoneshop at 2:49 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
No one's mentioned Dungeons & Dragons yet? Watching Jeremy Irons chew the scenery in this movie is stupendous.
posted by Aleyn at 3:12 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Aleyn at 3:12 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
The Core! we need to restart the core of the earth. with a nuclear bomb. Hillary Swank is in it and doing proper acting.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 3:21 AM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by sedimentary_deer at 3:21 AM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Lots of good suggestions here but as a small content note The Room contains some slightly graphic (and horribly shot) sex scenes that make up like most of the first 20 minutes of the movie, so viewing it might need to take into account who your son's friends are/where they're watching/if parents are around, etc.
posted by fight or flight at 4:23 AM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 4:23 AM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Any Gamera movie.
From the 70s. The ones from the 90s were surprisingly grim.
Zardoz is not a great choice from a sexual politics angle.
Similarly, El Topo is a pretty problematic film with a rape scene that may or may not have been real. Not what I would give 17yos to laugh at. Maybe Circle of Iron, the not-unsimilar David Carradine movie?
Black Lizard Is a work of cinematic genius, “so bad it’s good.” Also, there is a strong LGBTQ subtext, which kids shouldn’t be trained to laugh at.
Possibly Chuck Norris’ The Octogon, which I watched at a similar age in a very seedy theater — all I remember is the hoarse, whispering voiceover.
Maybe Hausu? It’s actually pretty good, but it’s low-budget and really bizarre.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:35 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
From the 70s. The ones from the 90s were surprisingly grim.
Zardoz is not a great choice from a sexual politics angle.
Similarly, El Topo is a pretty problematic film with a rape scene that may or may not have been real. Not what I would give 17yos to laugh at. Maybe Circle of Iron, the not-unsimilar David Carradine movie?
Black Lizard Is a work of cinematic genius, “so bad it’s good.” Also, there is a strong LGBTQ subtext, which kids shouldn’t be trained to laugh at.
Possibly Chuck Norris’ The Octogon, which I watched at a similar age in a very seedy theater — all I remember is the hoarse, whispering voiceover.
Maybe Hausu? It’s actually pretty good, but it’s low-budget and really bizarre.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:35 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Barbarella
posted by sciencegeek at 4:43 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 4:43 AM on January 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Over the Top Warning: may lead to arm wrestling
Thrashin Can young Josh Brolin defeat the Daggers in the big downhill skate board race?
posted by chrisulonic at 4:54 AM on January 29, 2022
Thrashin Can young Josh Brolin defeat the Daggers in the big downhill skate board race?
posted by chrisulonic at 4:54 AM on January 29, 2022
Mannequin: On The Move (link is to trailer) is a wonderfully terrible movie.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 5:20 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 5:20 AM on January 29, 2022
Oh I did this around that age too!
Jawbreaker - super campy predecessor to Mean Girls with a young Judy Greer, Pam Grier as a detective!! and Rose McGowan. It is fantastically bad.
Existenz - the most perfect 17 year old movie ever made
Stacy - Japanese schoolgirl zombies. That is all.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 5:22 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Jawbreaker - super campy predecessor to Mean Girls with a young Judy Greer, Pam Grier as a detective!! and Rose McGowan. It is fantastically bad.
Existenz - the most perfect 17 year old movie ever made
Stacy - Japanese schoolgirl zombies. That is all.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 5:22 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dinosaurs! and not the Jurassic Park kind.
Theodore Rex (1995)
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985)
The most jaw-droppingly bad movie I've seen recently has to be Pocket Ninjas (1997), an adaptation of The Rollerblade Seven "for children."
posted by nicolaitanes at 5:43 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Theodore Rex (1995)
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985)
The most jaw-droppingly bad movie I've seen recently has to be Pocket Ninjas (1997), an adaptation of The Rollerblade Seven "for children."
posted by nicolaitanes at 5:43 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Attack of the Mushroom People terrified me as a child, but as an adult, I have to admit it's one of the most deliciously awful scifi horror movies ever made.
posted by pangolin party at 6:04 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pangolin party at 6:04 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fatal Deviation is Ireland's first martial arts movie and has a cult following here. It's on YouTube and it's really bad.
posted by night_train at 6:48 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by night_train at 6:48 AM on January 29, 2022
If you can find it, "El Milagro de P. Tinto" is both awful and perfect
posted by scruss at 7:51 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by scruss at 7:51 AM on January 29, 2022
Six String Samurai (it's actually quite good, but very indie)
Iron Sky
Maximum Overdrive
Showgirls (may be too racy?)
Sharknado
Battlefield Earth (truly bad movie)
Starship Troopers
The Last Action Hero
Red Dawn (the 1984 version, though the newer one is probably just as bad) (Wolverines!)
Speed Racer (live action)
Equilibrium
Death Race (the original)
posted by jpeacock at 7:52 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Iron Sky
Maximum Overdrive
Showgirls (may be too racy?)
Sharknado
Battlefield Earth (truly bad movie)
Starship Troopers
The Last Action Hero
Red Dawn (the 1984 version, though the newer one is probably just as bad) (Wolverines!)
Speed Racer (live action)
Equilibrium
Death Race (the original)
posted by jpeacock at 7:52 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, and the movie that launched Robert Rodriguez's career, El Mariachi! But it is in Spanish...
(It's the prequel to Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico).
posted by jpeacock at 7:54 AM on January 29, 2022
(It's the prequel to Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico).
posted by jpeacock at 7:54 AM on January 29, 2022
No, the Red Dawn remake is just bad-bad. Go for the original.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 7:57 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sara is disenchanted at 7:57 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sharknado!
posted by chbrooks at 7:59 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by chbrooks at 7:59 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Cool as Ice (the Rifftrax version rules too)
posted by porn in the woods at 8:06 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by porn in the woods at 8:06 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cabin Boy
posted by loveandhappiness at 8:12 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by loveandhappiness at 8:12 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
nting FoodFight.
Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa is a pretty amazing short to add to another film. (It's worth noting that it's about kids from the Rapsittie St. Elementary School, not street kids from Rap-City. It's terrible in ways that are different from what one might expect based on the title.)
posted by eotvos at 8:13 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa is a pretty amazing short to add to another film. (It's worth noting that it's about kids from the Rapsittie St. Elementary School, not street kids from Rap-City. It's terrible in ways that are different from what one might expect based on the title.)
posted by eotvos at 8:13 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tubi is an absolute goldmine of this stuff, including a lot of primo Godfrey Ho trash that isn't really available anywhere else.
(Godfrey Ho was a Hong Kong filmmaker in the 80s who bought the rights to other SE Asian films, inserted totally unrelated footage of Western actors playing cop/ninja/soldier, and tried to paper the discrepancies over with the English dub. The results are frequently bizarre and/or hilarious.)
A few Godfrey recommendations:
- Black Ninja - "Where's the stuff?"
- Ninja Terminator - Robots deliver ninja ultimatums.
- Robo Vampire - Bootleg Robocop vs. jiangshi.
(some of these films have some yikes sexual assault content because y'know the 80s trash video market, but these three are relatively wholesome)
posted by neckro23 at 8:18 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
(Godfrey Ho was a Hong Kong filmmaker in the 80s who bought the rights to other SE Asian films, inserted totally unrelated footage of Western actors playing cop/ninja/soldier, and tried to paper the discrepancies over with the English dub. The results are frequently bizarre and/or hilarious.)
A few Godfrey recommendations:
- Black Ninja - "Where's the stuff?"
- Ninja Terminator - Robots deliver ninja ultimatums.
- Robo Vampire - Bootleg Robocop vs. jiangshi.
(some of these films have some yikes sexual assault content because y'know the 80s trash video market, but these three are relatively wholesome)
posted by neckro23 at 8:18 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Clash of the Titans! (1981 version, of course)
posted by gaspode at 8:40 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by gaspode at 8:40 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Buckaroo Bonzai; the first Dark Crystal...just awful. Oh and Krull.
posted by jtexman1 at 8:49 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jtexman1 at 8:49 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was thinking more "American Ninja", or some of the early non-classic Chuck Norris movies (Octagon, Force of One)
posted by kschang at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by kschang at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2022
1990: The Bronx Warriors: tries ripping off two genres at once!
The Apple: completely insane
Xanadu: actually, has Gene Kelly in it, so it can't be all bad.
Robot Jox: may just be so bad it's bad.
Ice Pirates: I'm embarrassed that I enjoyed this when it was new.
Prayer of the Rollerboys: Lives in the same space as 1990: the Bronx Warriors, but was actually made in 1990!
Battle Beyond the Stars: This is the most gleefully best-worst movie on my list.
A movie that is awful but still enjoyable has a special quality to it that you don't find in movies that are just awful, or in movies that are good but flawed.
posted by adamrice at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2022
The Apple: completely insane
Xanadu: actually, has Gene Kelly in it, so it can't be all bad.
Robot Jox: may just be so bad it's bad.
Ice Pirates: I'm embarrassed that I enjoyed this when it was new.
Prayer of the Rollerboys: Lives in the same space as 1990: the Bronx Warriors, but was actually made in 1990!
Battle Beyond the Stars: This is the most gleefully best-worst movie on my list.
A movie that is awful but still enjoyable has a special quality to it that you don't find in movies that are just awful, or in movies that are good but flawed.
posted by adamrice at 9:19 AM on January 29, 2022
Rollerball (the original)
Roller Blade
Tank Girl
Solarbabies
posted by jpeacock at 9:22 AM on January 29, 2022
Roller Blade
Tank Girl
Solarbabies
posted by jpeacock at 9:22 AM on January 29, 2022
Escape from New York (it's good, but teens today would have thoughts...)
Escape from LA (not good)
posted by jpeacock at 9:24 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Escape from LA (not good)
posted by jpeacock at 9:24 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Night of the Lepus Giant Bunnies, on the rampage. Youtube
posted by theora55 at 9:33 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 9:33 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ah yes, Night of the Lepus was one of the other two billed for that Very Worst Movie Night.
posted by Stoneshop at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Stoneshop at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I like bad movies that are just straight up insane, which makes them cycle back into stupendously joyful.
Roadhouse is an absolute hoot. World famous bouncers, loads of scenery-chewing, endlessly quotable, and a monster truck menacing a car dealership. There's a sex scene, though, but no nudity.
Xanadu, in which a guy who paints giant versions of album covers for a living (just go with it) is inspired by Greek Muse Olivia Newton-John. Plus roller skates.
Birdemic, in which California is menaced by ClipArt birds that explode on impact. It takes a while to get to the bird attacks, you can fast forward.
Mac and Me, in case you've ever wondered what ET would be like if it was also a McDonald's infomercial. It's available as a MST3K ep on Netflix.
Flash Gordon, which straight up knows it's bonkers, and is therefore wall to wall BONKERS. Any movie that kicks off with the villain choosing from a menu of disasters ("hot hail"!) is a must.
posted by champers at 9:52 AM on January 29, 2022
Roadhouse is an absolute hoot. World famous bouncers, loads of scenery-chewing, endlessly quotable, and a monster truck menacing a car dealership. There's a sex scene, though, but no nudity.
Xanadu, in which a guy who paints giant versions of album covers for a living (just go with it) is inspired by Greek Muse Olivia Newton-John. Plus roller skates.
Birdemic, in which California is menaced by ClipArt birds that explode on impact. It takes a while to get to the bird attacks, you can fast forward.
Mac and Me, in case you've ever wondered what ET would be like if it was also a McDonald's infomercial. It's available as a MST3K ep on Netflix.
Flash Gordon, which straight up knows it's bonkers, and is therefore wall to wall BONKERS. Any movie that kicks off with the villain choosing from a menu of disasters ("hot hail"!) is a must.
posted by champers at 9:52 AM on January 29, 2022
The Buckaroo Bonzai
Hey!
Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. Because, remember, no matter where you go… there you are.
posted by flabdablet at 9:53 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hey!
Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. Because, remember, no matter where you go… there you are.
posted by flabdablet at 9:53 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I recommend he tries listening to “How did this get made?” A great podcast where they watch bad movies together. Even if he doesn’t like the podcast (unlikely), there’s movie ideas from their 10+ year backlog. And it stars Jason Mantzoukas, who I’m guessing your teenager will recognize & like from John Wick, etc.
posted by areaperson at 9:57 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by areaperson at 9:57 AM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Titles from Chris Stuckmann's Hilarocity reviews
Titles from Weird Movies with Mark
posted by saturdaymornings at 11:03 AM on January 29, 2022
Titles from Weird Movies with Mark
posted by saturdaymornings at 11:03 AM on January 29, 2022
Soylent Green. Really, really bad. 1973 dystopian “thriller.”
posted by wryly at 11:13 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by wryly at 11:13 AM on January 29, 2022
Runaway! Featuring Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley, and Gene Simmons from Kiss!
posted by Jawn at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Jawn at 11:30 AM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Runaway, there, looks incredible. But I bet he would be really disappointed with The Fifth Element. It is unbad.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:58 AM on January 29, 2022
posted by Don Pepino at 11:58 AM on January 29, 2022
Erratum: looking up the movies I listed The Fly is not by Ed Wood. Still, he definitely had two movies to be shown that night, the other very likely being Glen or Glenda. IMDB's trivia for that one mentions it's in the Razzies Top Ten Best Bad Movies list.
posted by Stoneshop at 12:01 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by Stoneshop at 12:01 PM on January 29, 2022
Leprechauns (bonus, there’s about 7 and they keep getting worse)
posted by raccoon409 at 12:07 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by raccoon409 at 12:07 PM on January 29, 2022
Keanu has a number of these like the Bill & Ted movies and Johnny Mnemonic (set in “the future” of 2021)
posted by Bunglegirl at 12:19 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by Bunglegirl at 12:19 PM on January 29, 2022
I have seen the first three Fast and Furious movies, and I respect their commitment to spending money on cool cars rather than writers. Tokyo Drift, especially, is visually fun with an awful script.
I also love Pacific Rim, its worse sequel, and Atlantic Rim, a wonderfully terrible knockoff.
posted by momus_window at 12:43 PM on January 29, 2022
I also love Pacific Rim, its worse sequel, and Atlantic Rim, a wonderfully terrible knockoff.
posted by momus_window at 12:43 PM on January 29, 2022
Speaking of Gene Simmons' acting career, the Roku Channel and Pluto TV both have free streaming of 1986's Never Too Young to Die.
Here's the castlist: John Stamos as Lance Stargrove, George Lazenby as Drew Stargrove, Vanity as Danja Deering, and Gene Simmons as Velvet Von Ragnar.
posted by box at 12:54 PM on January 29, 2022
Here's the castlist: John Stamos as Lance Stargrove, George Lazenby as Drew Stargrove, Vanity as Danja Deering, and Gene Simmons as Velvet Von Ragnar.
posted by box at 12:54 PM on January 29, 2022
Not "bad", but definitely something a 17yo would similarly enjoy ironically: Repo Man, and Bad Lieutenant (Harvey Keitel version).
For "bad", pretty much any 70s comedy. Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, Every Which Way But Loose, you know the genre.
posted by ctmf at 1:22 PM on January 29, 2022
For "bad", pretty much any 70s comedy. Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, Every Which Way But Loose, you know the genre.
posted by ctmf at 1:22 PM on January 29, 2022
MST Club perspective--
Just about any movie with a MST episode qualifies, of which there are over 220 now, and with 13 more coming up soon. We also watch other weird movies at our shows, so a few more--
"The Car" is about an evil motor vehicle that menaces people. It also has some really ridiculous characters. One of them abuses his wife and is pretty horrifying though.
"Tammy and the T-Rex" has a very mincy gay character, although I guess should get points for representation at all? The premise is ridiculous though: a teen's brain is put into an animatronic dinosaur, and it works, because Science. Has a bizarre ending which features the teen girl lead does a sexy dance for her boyfriend, who is still a brain in a pan at the end of the movie.
Italian filmmaker Alfonso Brescia made a lot of movies, but I have a fondness for the sci-fi films he made, many of which share sets. They're all bonkers: Star Odyssey, Battle of the Stars, The War of the Robots and War of the Planets. There's also Beast In Space, which I haven't seen yet.
C.H.O.M.P.S. is the only live-action movie Hanna-Barbera ever made, but plays out a lot like a live-action cartoon. It's about a robot dog who's made to be a security system. Whenever it hears someone say out loud a number, it interprets it as a command, especially when someone says "one hundred." Also has a real dog character who has some unfortunate racial coding.
The made-for-TV Fantastic Four has good and bad elements, but one thing they absolutely nailed is its depiction of Doctor Doom, which looks like he walked out of a comic book.
The Deathstalker movies are a mixed bag. MST3K did one of them. Of those we've seen, the one I recommend is Deathstalker II, which is very self-aware, although it does have breasts. (In fact, Deathstalker and the evil wizard are pretty much the only significant male characters.)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine has Vincent Price dialed up all the way. I'd avoid the sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, though, it's not the fun kind of bad, and as made as a vehicle for a pair of forgotten Italian comics.
Masters of the Universe, it's been remarked, has Frank Langella as a Skeletor who is much better than he has any right to be.
"She," despite being named after the H. Rider Haggard novel and opening with a quote from it, is actually a completely unrelated story, a post-apocalyptic story where various splinter groups have organized themselves basically into little theme park lands.
Also after the apocalypse, Solarbabies is about rollerblader kids in the desert. Think about that for a minute. It was actually produced by Mel Brooks!
Supervan was made, is set in, and is completely of a piece with the 70s.
Along the lines of motion pictures that were made for old comedy acts, there's Hellzapoppin' (Olson and Johnson) and The Maltese Bippy (Rowan and Martin). Both are fun, although Hellzapoppin' starts out looking like it's going to be absolutely crazy but then sadly settles down a lot. Apparently, like the Marx Bros., the producers figured if they let the stars just do their act the entire run-time of the movie it'd have exploded the audiences' brains or something.
The Pyhnx is about a 60's-styled rock band hired to rescue hostages, and is not played seriously At. All. The President's Analyst is also very silly, and has an eventual villain at the end of the movie you will not see coming.
The Villain (aka Cactus Jack) is essentially a live-action, feature length Warner Bros cartoon, a connection the movie makes explicit in its final moments.
The Werewolf of Washington stars Dean Stockwell as the titular werewolf, who is also the President's scriptwriter. The only movie I know of in which a guy changes into a werewolf at a cabinet meeting, and the others there are like, "do you need a minute?"
Toys is really bizarre but fun, and has Robin Williams in it. It also features the most dystopian working song I've ever heard, "Happy Workers," which is like its own personal anti-capitalist statement.
And then of course there's Waterworld. When a movie opens with a machine the hero made that lets him recycle his own pee for drinking, you know you're about to see something special!
I've got more (I have a long list in Google Docs!), but this is kind of the highlights.
posted by JHarris at 1:23 PM on January 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
Just about any movie with a MST episode qualifies, of which there are over 220 now, and with 13 more coming up soon. We also watch other weird movies at our shows, so a few more--
"The Car" is about an evil motor vehicle that menaces people. It also has some really ridiculous characters. One of them abuses his wife and is pretty horrifying though.
"Tammy and the T-Rex" has a very mincy gay character, although I guess should get points for representation at all? The premise is ridiculous though: a teen's brain is put into an animatronic dinosaur, and it works, because Science. Has a bizarre ending which features the teen girl lead does a sexy dance for her boyfriend, who is still a brain in a pan at the end of the movie.
Italian filmmaker Alfonso Brescia made a lot of movies, but I have a fondness for the sci-fi films he made, many of which share sets. They're all bonkers: Star Odyssey, Battle of the Stars, The War of the Robots and War of the Planets. There's also Beast In Space, which I haven't seen yet.
C.H.O.M.P.S. is the only live-action movie Hanna-Barbera ever made, but plays out a lot like a live-action cartoon. It's about a robot dog who's made to be a security system. Whenever it hears someone say out loud a number, it interprets it as a command, especially when someone says "one hundred." Also has a real dog character who has some unfortunate racial coding.
The made-for-TV Fantastic Four has good and bad elements, but one thing they absolutely nailed is its depiction of Doctor Doom, which looks like he walked out of a comic book.
The Deathstalker movies are a mixed bag. MST3K did one of them. Of those we've seen, the one I recommend is Deathstalker II, which is very self-aware, although it does have breasts. (In fact, Deathstalker and the evil wizard are pretty much the only significant male characters.)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine has Vincent Price dialed up all the way. I'd avoid the sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, though, it's not the fun kind of bad, and as made as a vehicle for a pair of forgotten Italian comics.
Masters of the Universe, it's been remarked, has Frank Langella as a Skeletor who is much better than he has any right to be.
"She," despite being named after the H. Rider Haggard novel and opening with a quote from it, is actually a completely unrelated story, a post-apocalyptic story where various splinter groups have organized themselves basically into little theme park lands.
Also after the apocalypse, Solarbabies is about rollerblader kids in the desert. Think about that for a minute. It was actually produced by Mel Brooks!
Supervan was made, is set in, and is completely of a piece with the 70s.
Along the lines of motion pictures that were made for old comedy acts, there's Hellzapoppin' (Olson and Johnson) and The Maltese Bippy (Rowan and Martin). Both are fun, although Hellzapoppin' starts out looking like it's going to be absolutely crazy but then sadly settles down a lot. Apparently, like the Marx Bros., the producers figured if they let the stars just do their act the entire run-time of the movie it'd have exploded the audiences' brains or something.
The Pyhnx is about a 60's-styled rock band hired to rescue hostages, and is not played seriously At. All. The President's Analyst is also very silly, and has an eventual villain at the end of the movie you will not see coming.
The Villain (aka Cactus Jack) is essentially a live-action, feature length Warner Bros cartoon, a connection the movie makes explicit in its final moments.
The Werewolf of Washington stars Dean Stockwell as the titular werewolf, who is also the President's scriptwriter. The only movie I know of in which a guy changes into a werewolf at a cabinet meeting, and the others there are like, "do you need a minute?"
Toys is really bizarre but fun, and has Robin Williams in it. It also features the most dystopian working song I've ever heard, "Happy Workers," which is like its own personal anti-capitalist statement.
And then of course there's Waterworld. When a movie opens with a machine the hero made that lets him recycle his own pee for drinking, you know you're about to see something special!
I've got more (I have a long list in Google Docs!), but this is kind of the highlights.
posted by JHarris at 1:23 PM on January 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
Sahara is a truly terrible movie with a great cast (William H. Macy! Steve Zahn!) including Penelope Cruz in perhaps her worst performance because her dialogue was just. so. bad.
posted by cyndigo at 1:30 PM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cyndigo at 1:30 PM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wow this thread... Once again Mefites prove that one person's trash is another's treasure. So many not terrible movies listed as bad. Some of them are even great.
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, though, it's not the fun kind of bad, and as made as a vehicle for a pair of forgotten Italian comics.
Directed by Mario Bava no less. And those Italian comics, Franco & Ciccio, made a lot of movies. They are kind of like a comedic double act where neither is the straight man and most of their comedy is mugging for the camera, shouting and/or hitting each other. Saying that I kind of like it and its got Vincent Price & Fabian in it.
posted by Ashwagandha at 1:47 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, though, it's not the fun kind of bad, and as made as a vehicle for a pair of forgotten Italian comics.
Directed by Mario Bava no less. And those Italian comics, Franco & Ciccio, made a lot of movies. They are kind of like a comedic double act where neither is the straight man and most of their comedy is mugging for the camera, shouting and/or hitting each other. Saying that I kind of like it and its got Vincent Price & Fabian in it.
posted by Ashwagandha at 1:47 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Chopping Mall. Pro tip: watch the end credits sequence. Hilarious!
posted by SPrintF at 1:48 PM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 1:48 PM on January 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Recently, The secret society of second born royals. It's too bad even for the local tween girls, and yet it seems go up on every outdoor movie night. Haven't you ever wondered what would happen if all the non-heirs in royal families learned they have superpowers and teamed up to fight crime?
posted by true at 2:20 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by true at 2:20 PM on January 29, 2022
Can't believe no one has mention Earth Girls Are Easy - with Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Trailer. It's on Youtube.
posted by leslies at 2:51 PM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by leslies at 2:51 PM on January 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
At 17, that was Kentucky Fried Movie for me. It’s pretty raunchy, but not really by 2020s standards. We watched it in high school in mid 1990s.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 3:18 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 3:18 PM on January 29, 2022
Red Sonia
Quite technically bad in many ways (can any of the cast act?) but fun and affecting all the same. Also, good sets.
posted by glasseyes at 3:20 PM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Quite technically bad in many ways (can any of the cast act?) but fun and affecting all the same. Also, good sets.
posted by glasseyes at 3:20 PM on January 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Almost anything directed by Herr Doktor Uwe Boll (though I can personally only vouch for some of his 2003-2007 output, specifically the films House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, In the Name of the King, and I think I saw Postal? He gets the rights to video games, discards everything but the title, and through a variety of fascinating tax loopholes, turns a profit off of incoherent garbage.
Anything produced by Cannon films (Invasion USA, Bloodsport, Gymkata, most of the Death Wish films, Breakin' & Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo, Delta Force, Firewalker and a bunch of other Chuck Norris vehicles), with the possible exception of some of the good stuff they accidentally released, like Runaway Train and Powaqqatsi. Basically, almost every late night movie you remember from the 1980s? Cannon.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 3:33 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Anything produced by Cannon films (Invasion USA, Bloodsport, Gymkata, most of the Death Wish films, Breakin' & Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo, Delta Force, Firewalker and a bunch of other Chuck Norris vehicles), with the possible exception of some of the good stuff they accidentally released, like Runaway Train and Powaqqatsi. Basically, almost every late night movie you remember from the 1980s? Cannon.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 3:33 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Faster Pussycat! kill! kill!
Beyond the valley of the dolls
Sgt. kabukiman, NYPD
It’s been said, but plan 9 from outer space left my kids in hysterics.
My spouse would add: They Live!, a movie he is obsessed with
I love this question, and I love bad movies!
posted by Valancy Rachel at 4:09 PM on January 29, 2022
Beyond the valley of the dolls
Sgt. kabukiman, NYPD
It’s been said, but plan 9 from outer space left my kids in hysterics.
My spouse would add: They Live!, a movie he is obsessed with
I love this question, and I love bad movies!
posted by Valancy Rachel at 4:09 PM on January 29, 2022
Honorable mention: comedies that are produced in homage to the exploitation films they reference, like the aforementioned Big Trouble in Little China, but also The Hebrew Hammer, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, The Last Dragon
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:10 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:10 PM on January 29, 2022
And in many cases, almost any movie by John Carpenter or David Cronenberg, but especially the 1980s ones, have aged in INTERESTING ways. The anti-consumerism of They Live!, for example, has aged a lot better than all of the clothing.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:11 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:11 PM on January 29, 2022
And of course, the classic B&W Esperanto horror movie Incubus, starring a young shirtless William Shatner
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:20 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:20 PM on January 29, 2022
Once again, I find myself watching Diana: The
Musical on Netflix. It's terrible, in a self-serious, awkward, hilarious way.
posted by champers at 4:42 PM on January 29, 2022
Musical on Netflix. It's terrible, in a self-serious, awkward, hilarious way.
posted by champers at 4:42 PM on January 29, 2022
Sorority House Massacre III: Hard To Die, a bad slasher movie that has no pretensions or illusions about what it's delivering and is genuinely fun as a result. There's a nude shower scene, IIRC, but nothing hardcore, and the violence is cartoonish.
posted by Transmissions From Vrillon at 5:39 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by Transmissions From Vrillon at 5:39 PM on January 29, 2022
Riff Trax has a bunch of ex-MST3K people behind it: you play their audio commentary in sync with the DVD of the movie. They can riff modern movies since they aren't distributing the original movie. But it's easier to just pirate a Riff Trax that already has the audio included and donate money on their website.
They make Twilight an amazing movie to watch because they have so much material to work with.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:24 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
They make Twilight an amazing movie to watch because they have so much material to work with.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:24 PM on January 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I can't recall the names at the moment, but several of the time travel films you can find on Prime Video fall into this category. Prime Video has a lot of low budget "bad" movies in every genre, I've just happened to come across more of the time travel ones because I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Pick a genre and keep scrolling past the stuff you recognize and you'll find a mountain of them there.
posted by wierdo at 6:40 PM on January 29, 2022
posted by wierdo at 6:40 PM on January 29, 2022
Welcome to Woop Woop (full movie).
What is it you can't face?
posted by h00py at 9:46 PM on January 29, 2022
What is it you can't face?
posted by h00py at 9:46 PM on January 29, 2022
A few more from MST Club's lists:
Head is the Monkees movie, directed, unexpectedly, amazingly, by a young Jack Nicholson.
Circle of Iron is a schlocky martial arts picture, and ostentatiously dedicated to Bruce Lee, but it's goofy fun.
Someone else already mentioned it but definitely The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, written by Dr. Seuss. Stars Hans Conreid, which is a sure way to get on MST Club's good side.
And, it came up during the Christmas Marathon and I'm not sure how it got found, but there is a movie from Turkey that is a surprisingly close remake of Young Frankenstein! And of course there's the movie commonly called "Turkish Star Wars" which is boggle-worthy.
posted by JHarris at 3:09 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Head is the Monkees movie, directed, unexpectedly, amazingly, by a young Jack Nicholson.
Circle of Iron is a schlocky martial arts picture, and ostentatiously dedicated to Bruce Lee, but it's goofy fun.
Someone else already mentioned it but definitely The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, written by Dr. Seuss. Stars Hans Conreid, which is a sure way to get on MST Club's good side.
And, it came up during the Christmas Marathon and I'm not sure how it got found, but there is a movie from Turkey that is a surprisingly close remake of Young Frankenstein! And of course there's the movie commonly called "Turkish Star Wars" which is boggle-worthy.
posted by JHarris at 3:09 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Any Russ Meyer film.
posted by james33 at 7:11 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by james33 at 7:11 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Beyond the valley of the dolls
Honestly surprised no one has mentioned the original Valley of the Dolls. (Definitely trashy in a fun way)
There's also:
The Sicilian. Saw it in a movie theater where there were only ten other people in there with us, and half of them left by the end of the film. (There is a front'n'back (thanks to a strategically placed mirror) nude scene early on though).
Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The first Disney film I saw as a kid (probably ten years after the original release date) that made me go "meh" (though apparently IMDB disagrees). The Black Hole was probably the second (tho it definitely had some "whoa!" moments)
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Band. Bee Gees and Peter Frampton tackles the Beatles. The viewer loses.
Grease 2. See if your son and his friends are able to make it past the "reproduction" musical number, much less to the end of the film.
The Cinema Snob and WTF Happened to This Movie? on YouTube might give your son some ideas (Super Mario Bros looks like a good contender according to the latter) though they don't censor the gore in some of their clips
posted by gtrwolf at 9:41 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Honestly surprised no one has mentioned the original Valley of the Dolls. (Definitely trashy in a fun way)
There's also:
The Sicilian. Saw it in a movie theater where there were only ten other people in there with us, and half of them left by the end of the film. (There is a front'n'back (thanks to a strategically placed mirror) nude scene early on though).
Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The first Disney film I saw as a kid (probably ten years after the original release date) that made me go "meh" (though apparently IMDB disagrees). The Black Hole was probably the second (tho it definitely had some "whoa!" moments)
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Band. Bee Gees and Peter Frampton tackles the Beatles. The viewer loses.
Grease 2. See if your son and his friends are able to make it past the "reproduction" musical number, much less to the end of the film.
The Cinema Snob and WTF Happened to This Movie? on YouTube might give your son some ideas (Super Mario Bros looks like a good contender according to the latter) though they don't censor the gore in some of their clips
posted by gtrwolf at 9:41 AM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
One million percent Birdemic—it’s the perfect hilariously bad movie, and it’s soooooo bad! But perfectly unselfconsciously so, much like The Room. It is an astonishing work of staggering anti-genius and everyone looking at these answers should definitely seek it out. Birdemic.
posted by Edna Million at 10:48 AM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Edna Million at 10:48 AM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
omg Birdemic
"When are you gonna grow up, man? Chicks love cars! If you wanna get into their pants, you better have a nice, hot, Ferrari!"
"She's my hot Ferrari. Besides, I love my Mustang. Which is a plug-in hybrid. It gets a hundred em pee gee. Anyways, I'm thinking about opening up a green tech company."
ahh ahh ahhh ahhhhh hellllllp
b19fac973234de7ed04233efd053f2e3fcaf8ac4 - share the love
"Don't touch it, it might be infectious"
posted by flabdablet at 2:40 AM on January 31, 2022
"When are you gonna grow up, man? Chicks love cars! If you wanna get into their pants, you better have a nice, hot, Ferrari!"
"She's my hot Ferrari. Besides, I love my Mustang. Which is a plug-in hybrid. It gets a hundred em pee gee. Anyways, I'm thinking about opening up a green tech company."
ahh ahh ahhh ahhhhh hellllllp
b19fac973234de7ed04233efd053f2e3fcaf8ac4 - share the love
"Don't touch it, it might be infectious"
posted by flabdablet at 2:40 AM on January 31, 2022
GREMLOIDS is so bad it's good and it kind of grows on you. It's not mind-numbingly bad like Plan 9 or Manos. It's just bad in the most sincere way possible.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:04 PM on January 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:04 PM on January 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Band. Bee Gees and Peter Frampton tackles the Beatles. The viewer loses.
Aaah we've seen that.
There's also Fantastic Planet, which is not for kids (despite being animated), and isn't bad so much as extremely weird, possibly the weirdest movie we've seen at MST Club, which I do not say lightly.
posted by JHarris at 9:16 PM on February 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Aaah we've seen that.
There's also Fantastic Planet, which is not for kids (despite being animated), and isn't bad so much as extremely weird, possibly the weirdest movie we've seen at MST Club, which I do not say lightly.
posted by JHarris at 9:16 PM on February 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: While the teenagers gathered to watch Troll 2, the parents watched The Beastmaster.
posted by ShooBoo at 9:21 PM on February 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by ShooBoo at 9:21 PM on February 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
I was thinking all the Robert Rodriguez movies, esp. the Machete series. I liked El Mariachi because it's low budget. But frankly Desperado was not much of an improvement despite adding Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayak, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico is almost unwatchable.
posted by kschang at 10:19 AM on February 8, 2022
posted by kschang at 10:19 AM on February 8, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kdar at 9:06 PM on January 28, 2022 [12 favorites]