When one of the top films in the American box office is one of the most critically lambasted films this year, the question of why people see bad movies will
often pop up. “Are We There Yet?,” starring Ice Cube, has been called everything from “sour” to “woefully cynical.” Yet the film has grossed
more than $61 million, including
$8.24 million last weekend.
While ignorance, boredom or simple bad taste are all possible reasons for why people see bad movies, another might be that some people actively seek out these terrible films.
“Sometimes people just want something that is a no-brainer,” Flicks & Pics manager Tammy Deppert said. “Some people will just rent anything that is on the new-release shelf. ‘Catwoman’ is awful, but people rent it. They might not know it’s bad, but some of them do and rent it for a good laugh.”
Movies that “are so bad that they’re good” is a long standing cinema tradition. Ed Wood’s cult classic “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” considered by some the worst movie ever made, still receives retrospectives and screenings. In January, the DIVA in Eugene showed the film as part of its “Odd Sunday Film Seminar” series to an audience of more than 30 people. Many such films also received new levels of attention during the run of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” a show where bad movies were given merciless running commentary.
“I had one customer tell me that he liked to see movies that are so bad he could have made them himself,” said Matt Stilde, a guest service representative at the Willamette Street Hollywood Video. “Some people also just want escapism or to be anesthetized. After a long day at work or school, they want a movie they don’t have to think about.”
Stilde cited the “Resident Evil” movies and “Open Water” as recent bad movies that are popular, despite critics’ warnings against them.
Videos are not the only venue through which people ingest bad cinema. Often, heading to the theater for the experience of watching a movie on the big screen is preferable.
“We get requests for all kinds of stuff, particularly teen comedies from the 1980s,” Bijou Art-Cinemas manager Louis Thomas said. “But when we show them, no one shows up. What is popular is some of our 3-D movies. We’re planning on showing some 1970s 3-D porn movies. They’re
terrible, but they’re in 3-D, so it’s fun.”
Thomas said the attraction to such films mostly rests in humor.
“They have to be bad enough that they are hilarious,” Thomas said. “It has to be bad in the acting, the writing, the costumes, the sets — 100-percent terrible. Then it’s not a guilty pleasure; it becomes genuinely funny.”

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