Hi, I’m Adam. one third of the Geekscape podcast Horror Movie Night. I want to talk to you today about a matter that is near and dear to my heart: Bad Movies.
As long as I can remember I have loved bad movies. My love for garbage dates back to a little locally owned movie rental store in my town called “Have You Seen?” This particular shop put its movies in very specific sections: French, Noir, French Noir, UK television, Adult Comedies and so forth. But the section that captured my interest the most from the first day I walked in was “Exploitation/Extreme And Bad Movies”. This section lead me a lot of places in my life – It helped nurture my love of horror, my love of shock cinema, and helped me discover some of my favorite films. But that’s not why we’re here.
Now my journey began the same as many shit afficiandos with Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room”. We’ll touch on that later, as it has been talked to death. From there, I then found Jon Waters’ “Pink Flamingos”. A movie no sane person would call a masterpiece, but a movie that I think is important to understand where we’re going from here.
I hated Pink Flamingos the first time I tried to watch it. In fact, I turned it off when I got to the chicken sex scene. I came back to it again, and with time grew to understand what Waters was trying to do here. He’s making shock cinema, to offend the senses of those not within his particular circle, and to entertain those who are. I think Waters’ circle has grown a lot since the production, which is something I doubt he expected. Now it isn’t just Drag Queens and gays and 1970’s social outsiders who are privvy to Jon’s weird world, it’s people like 16 year old me, sitting in a basement watching a mans anus open and close to “Surfin’ Bird” and a man dressed as a woman eating fresh dog shit.
Now if those things sound unappealing to you, you’re right. They are. If you wonder what type of movie would prominently feature scenes like these: a bad one. But a bad movie made by friends for friends and in jest and with a helping handful of irony. But it exists in a weird paradox of being both sarcastic and sincere. The ideas of the movie, acting, the plot are sarcastic and biting. But the drive behind putting them to film are sincere. A fuck you to the social norm and a welcoming to the freaks of the world. Thats what drew me in, thats what brought me back.
Bad movies, the good breed of bad movies, are made with sincere intentions.
The Room is now known worldwide. It’s shown in theatres in every country with fanfare and involement. Its been opened up to a huge audience because people understand the context behind it. Wiseau made The Room with the intention of making a moving, heartfelt masterpiece. Instead he produced a movie of wooden automatons having awkward sex behind the back of an alien Jesus figure.
But with the knowledge tommy posseses now, I fear for his follow up: Best Friends Movie. Made with Room star Greg Sestero, this comes after the release of Gregs book Disaster Artist that details The Room phenomenom and the making of a movie about it. Will this knowledge affect how Tommy makes this new film? Will it lose its sincerity? If we take a look at other example you’ll see it almost always does.
https://youtu.be/P-y53CRSF9Q
Birdemic: Shock and Terror is out and out garbage. That people took their time to commit one minute of it to film is a testament to humanity’s lack of true purpose in the universe. But it’s also one of the most baffilingly amusing movies you may ever see (do yourself a favor and skip past the opening credits). James Nguyen thought that he was making an impactful statement on our effect on the enviroment, and his urge to virtue signal was so strong that he ignored all other logic in his quest. Clip art bird effects litter the screen, which im sure he assumed would look better in post. I’m also sure that upon seeing the final effect he thought the message of the film would shine through. So strong was his sincerity in his vision that he allowed it to pass standard and make it in the final product, and for that I salute him.
I also say fuck him because Birdemic 2 came out and it was the EXACT. SAME. THING.
His knowledge that his message failed but his failure succeeded lead him down a path of insincerity to try and rest on the laurels of his accidental trainwreck masterpiece. He lost the entire reason and heart that made the first one watchable.
Kung Fury is a bad movie. I may be in the minority here but I feel it is a bad movie in all respects, and I find no qaulities redeeming. It wears a sneer of sarcasm on its face from second one, it makes references for no other reason than to make them, it fails to have a reason for its being other than “Look how silly and random this is”. I don’t feel it was made with a sincere message behind it, or with a sincere spirt. I feel like it was written by people laughing at the stupidity of it, throwing any ideas out and letting them stick without giving them any purpose or second thought. “Tricera-cop sounds funny and the effect will look funny, so do it.” They went in with the idea to make a “bad” movie, and it failed.
If you want an actual love letter to the eighties, and their beautiful absurdity, watch “Turbo Kid”. Many everyday moviegoers would consider bad, but it was made with so much heart and reverence that it is immpossibly charming.
Often a bad movie is wonderful simply because of your perception of it. Deep Blue Sea was meant to be a heart pounding thrill ride but if you root for the sharks its a hilarious story of revenge perpetrated by bird eating, oven operating monsters. The Happening is supposed to be a horrifying look at a worldwide disaster but if you don’t take it too seriously its a movie about whacky ways to suicide, conversations about hot dogs and running from the breeze. Zardoz is supposed to be a deep look into social hierarchies, but if you look at is as a bad attempt to explain the deep meaning you found in an acid trip one time its far more enjoyable. “Yeah but like, the rich live forever and like, we’re the savages controlled by guns and like….oh shit I lost it.” Even the director doesn’t quite remember what his point was anymore.
These films had a sincere purpose and idea going in, but if you the viewer ignore and avoid it, you can create your own fun. Theres a whole world of impossibly good bad movies out there, and this article has only mentioned a few of the most well known ones. Dig deeper, find the sincerity that lurks beneath these supposedly bad movies, and see the joy in it.