Everybody loves good movies, but what about those on the other end of the spectrum? Bad plots, bad acting, bad directing and bad editing are always, well, bad, right? However, some movies are so bad, they’re good. When all the terrible stars align, we’re given awful gems like these — our best of the worst movies.
“Manos: The Hands of Fate” is a 1966 horror film written, directed by and starring insurance/fertilizer salesman Harold Warren. The plot follows a vacationing family who find themselves lodged in the home belonging to a pagan cult. The plot was supposedly created as the result of a placed bet by a cast with no experience with filmmaking whatsoever. Oh boy, does it ever show. “Manos” is abysmally made, with poorly framed shots, stiff acting, inane dialogue and atrocious editing. The film is a shambling mess that lurches from one nonsense scene to another, and seeing it try to tell a basic story is frequently hysterical. It’s hard not to sputter when you see a clapboard quickly dart out of frame or an actor repeat his lines for the third time in the same scene. A popular episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” featured the movie, and I certainly recommend it. But if you want undiluted schlock, the full movie is available on YouTube. @@http://www.mst3k.com/@@
“Waxwork 2: Lost in Time,” recommended by Ben Kendall @@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105792/@@
“Waxwork 2: Lost in Time” doesn’t take itself too seriously. That’s its strength. The plot isn’t over important (tied very closely to the first “Waxwork,” a late ’80s horror piece), and it draws from many different genres. It goes from modern day to Victorian era to sci-fi, fantasy, Japanese monster movie, silent film, zombie attacks … you name it. It rips off most of the movies it apes — but it’s an homage to them. And they’re done so tongue-in-cheek you can’t help but like it. Starring Zach Galligan of “Gremlins” fame,@@http://press.comedycentral.co.uk/daily-fix/where-are-they-now/zach-galligan-billy-from-gremlins@@ there really isn’t all that much in his performance from anybody else in the film — except for the wheelchair-bound character “Sir Wilfred.” I want to be like him when I grow up. I would love to be zooming around after a life of adventure, still attacking werewolves despite age or disability. There are even weird cameos by Drew Barrymore, Bruce Campbell and Marina Sirtis.@@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000642/@@ I love this movie and still own it on VHS. @@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002090/@@ @@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105792/fullcredits#cast@@
“Kung Pow: Enter the Fist,” recommended by Kevin Piaskowski @@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240468/@@
It may seem a little unfair to select a poorly made martial-arts spoof as my pick. However, the poorly dubbed film is just so laugh-out-loud funny it just negates any criticism you could possibly throw its way. While it’s nothing remotely close to being the legendary movie you’ll potentially be telling your kids about, it’s definitely worth sitting down and having an uncontrollable amount of laughs over. If you don’t find at least one moment of this film funny (or at least mildly amusing) you’re taking life too seriously.
“Tremors,” recommended by Rebecca Sedlak @@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100814/@@
Giant killer worms in the desert. It sounds absurd, but this 1990 science fiction/horror/comedy flick strangely makes it work. Some call it a B-movie cult classic (It did go on to spawn two sequels, a prequel and a short-lived TV show), but the laughable special effects, bad acting and kooky characters put it more in the “so-bad-they’re-good” category, in my mind at least. Welcome to Perfection, Nev., a small, ex-mining town home to only 14 residents, including a general store owner, a graduate student and a hilarious survivalist couple. Val (Kevin Bacon) and his friend Earl (Fred Ward) are tired of working as poor handymen, so they visit the next town only to discover along the way several strange deaths. Thinking there is a murderer on the prowl, they return to Perfection to warn the others, ultimately uncovering the truth: Giant sandworms are hunting people down one-by-one through the earth. The only question is, how can they be stopped?
