Bad Movie Logo
"A website to the detriment of good film"
Custom Search
HOMEB-MOVIE REVIEWSREADER REVIEWSFORUMINTERVIEWSUPDATESABOUT
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 08:36:30 PM
713374 Posts in 53058 Topics by 7725 Members
Latest Member: wibwao
Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  A Particular Genre of "Bad" Bad Movies. « previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: A Particular Genre of "Bad" Bad Movies.  (Read 2691 times)
Flick James
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 489
Posts: 4642


Honorary Bastard of Arts


« on: February 14, 2012, 03:21:45 PM »

Over the last few years I’ve seen a few supernatual thrillers/horrors that are just plain bad, but I find myself scratching my head as to what produced such crap. They are films that are in the The Ring mold, have leads in them that are in that borderline A-list/B-list category (I call them B+ stars), but they are just horrible movies that are not even watchable as guilty pleasure. I’ll give three examples:

Mirrors (2008) with Keifer Sutherland
Dark Water (2005) with Jennifer Connelly
Haunting at the Beacon (2008) with Teri Polo

Now, I thought every one of those was terrible, but I ranked them in order of least horrible to just plain Godawful. Haunting at the Beacon was so full of bad writing and cliches that I would only recommend it to my worst enemies and then bellow out a maniacal, vengeful laugh after they left the room.

Films like these leave me scratching my head. Here are three stars that are capable of better things. I mean, Keifer was in the legendary Lost Boys for crying out loud. What goes horribly wrong in the process that films like these exist? I must assume that there was an expectation of a profitable, watchable film by somebody somewhere along the line. At what point did Keifer, Jennifer, or Teri realize “Oh my God was did I get myself into?” Now, Teri Polo may not be the fairest example because she is firmly B-list and probably doesn’t exactly have the freedom of options that Keifer or Jennifer do, but still.

They just seem to be part of a genre of really bad horror/thrillers starring well-known stars. The really bad, truly b-movie horrors are at least entertaining in their sheer badness. These ones I’m talking about are just a complete waste of time. Even my mother-in-law, who is a major Keifer Sutherland fan with a crush, agreed that Mirrors was garbage.

Just a head-scratcher that I felt like sharing.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2012, 03:23:47 PM by Flick James » Logged

I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org
indianasmith
Archeologist, Theologian, Elder Scrolls Addict, and a
B-Movie Kraken
*****

Karma: 2591
Posts: 15182


A good bad movie is like popcorn for the soul!


« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2012, 11:23:45 PM »

I'm with you on DARK WATER, but I loved MIRRORS.  It creeped me out big-time, and I thought Sutherland did a great job!  I guess that just goes to show that I am shamefully easy to please when it comes to movies.  However, I will say the sequel (MIRRORS 2) was just plain awful!
Logged

"I shall smite you in the nostrils with a rod of iron, and wax your spleen with Efferdent!!"
Flick James
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 489
Posts: 4642


Honorary Bastard of Arts


« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2012, 01:16:37 AM »

Well, Indy, I did say that I thought Mirrors was the LEAST horrible. I guess that's some common ground, sort of.
Logged

I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org
indianasmith
Archeologist, Theologian, Elder Scrolls Addict, and a
B-Movie Kraken
*****

Karma: 2591
Posts: 15182


A good bad movie is like popcorn for the soul!


« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2012, 07:27:48 AM »

I think that bad good movies are worse than bad bad movies.  GANGS OF NEW YORK got all kinds of critical acclaim, and I found it to be unwatchably awful.  Drawn out, melodramatic, and boring!
Logged

"I shall smite you in the nostrils with a rod of iron, and wax your spleen with Efferdent!!"
Flick James
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 489
Posts: 4642


Honorary Bastard of Arts


« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2012, 09:49:11 AM »

I think that bad good movies are worse than bad bad movies.  GANGS OF NEW YORK got all kinds of critical acclaim, and I found it to be unwatchably awful.  Drawn out, melodramatic, and boring!

I liked Gangs of New York, but I didn't think it was as good as the critics said. It had some considerable flaws, such as the bizarro casting of Cameron Diaz. That made no sense. But overall I found it watchable I guess.

I am guessing you probably didn't or wouldn't like There Will Be Blood.
Logged

I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org
JayJayM12
Regulary relieves himself on hospitality...
Bad Movie Lover
***

Karma: 96
Posts: 690



WWW
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2012, 12:20:53 PM »

Films like these leave me scratching my head. Here are three stars that are capable of better things. I mean, Keifer was in the legendary Lost Boys for crying out loud. What goes horribly wrong in the process that films like these exist? I must assume that there was an expectation of a profitable, watchable film by somebody somewhere along the line. At what point did Keifer, Jennifer, or Teri realize “Oh my God was did I get myself into?” Now, Teri Polo may not be the fairest example because she is firmly B-list and probably doesn’t exactly have the freedom of options that Keifer or Jennifer do, but still.

My personal opinion is that maybe a lot of these projects seem like they'll turn out pretty good at the script level.  The actor reads it, thinks it could be something worthwhile, and agrees to do it.  At that point, it's up to A TON of other people to make sure that the film itself lives up to the potential of the script.  That combined with studio interference can make a movie not quite what it should be.  But, by that point, the star is already too committed to do anything about it.  They probably figure that they'll just have to pull another winner out of their pockets to make up for these (while these movies may not have helped their careers, I don't think any of the actors have suffered as a result either).

I'm not necessarily commenting on the quality of script on any of thsse three in particular (haven't seen the finished product or read the scripts of any of them), but I've often thought about this when I see someone pop up in something that I know that they are too good for...
Logged

Check out my movie reviews and articles at:  www.cinedump.com<br /><br />Or, don\\\'t check them out - see if I care.  You\\\'re not my real mom anyway.  Unless, you are.  In which case, whatever, I\\\'ll do what I want.  It\\\'s my hot body.  Y\\\'all don\\\'t know me.
ulthar
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 368
Posts: 4168


I AM serious, and stop calling me Shirley


WWW
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2012, 03:07:30 PM »


My personal opinion is that maybe a lot of these projects seem like they'll turn out pretty good at the script level.  The actor reads it, thinks it could be something worthwhile, and agrees to do it.  At that point, it's up to A TON of other people to make sure that the film itself lives up to the potential of the script.  That combined with studio interference can make a movie not quite what it should be.  But, by that point, the star is already too committed to do anything about it.  They probably figure that they'll just have to pull another winner out of their pockets to make up for these (while these movies may not have helped their careers, I don't think any of the actors have suffered as a result either).

I'm not necessarily commenting on the quality of script on any of thsse three in particular (haven't seen the finished product or read the scripts of any of them), but I've often thought about this when I see someone pop up in something that I know that they are too good for...


That's pretty much what I was going to say.

There's no guarantee that the final dialog you hear in the finished movie, or even the storyline itself, is what is in the reading screenplay when an actor is hired.

I also think a lot of this falls on the studio's shoulders.  They "hey, I bet it'd be cool if we did x" process, where x usually sounds like a good idea but falls flat.  So many of these things happen on the fly during production that that momentary pause these guys 'should' have gets rushed.

The Simpson's parodied this part of the process well with "Poochy."
 
Logged

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Hathaway:  I noticed you stopped stuttering.
Bodie:      I've been giving myself shock treatments.
Professor Hathaway: Up the voltage.

--Real Genius
alandhopewell
A NorthCoaster In Texas
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 341
Posts: 3157


Hey....white women were in season.


WWW
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2012, 01:35:25 PM »

     I rented this a while back....

Small | Large




      This has the be the most boring, limp-wristed , so-called horror movie I've ever seen,. To add insult to injury, I got the sense that this mess was trying to be politically relevant, but I was too disgusted to care.

     This,  on the other hand, came roaring out of a corner, and blew the roof off....

Small | Large




     If you've never seen it, take it for a spin.
Logged

If it's true what they say, that GOD created us in His image, then why should we not love creating, and why should we not continue to do so, as carefully and ethically as we can, on whatever scale we're capable of?

     The choice is simple; refuse to create, and refuse to grow, or build, with care and love.
InformationGeek
Leader of the Friends' for Info
B-Movie Site Webmaster
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 441
Posts: 5349


Let's all be Friends.


WWW
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2012, 10:44:15 PM »

     This,  on the other hand, came roaring out of a corner, and blew the roof off....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG_bMvPbaeE



     If you've never seen it, take it for a spin.


Isn't that the only film that made Rob Zombie walk out off a theater because it was scary?  Damn.

Logged

Website: http://informationgeekreviews.blogspot.com/

We live in quite an interesting age. You can tell someone's sexual orientation and level of education from just their interests.
Pages: [1]
Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  A Particular Genre of "Bad" Bad Movies. « previous next »
    Jump to:  


    RSS Feed Subscribe Subscribe by RSS
    Email Subscribe Subscribe by Email


    Popular Articles
    How To Find A Bad Movie

    The Champions of Justice

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

    Manos, The Hands of Fate

    Podcast: Todd the Convenience Store Clerk

    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

    Dragonball: The Magic Begins

    Cool As Ice

    The Educational Archives: Driver's Ed

    Godzilla vs. Monster Zero

    Do you have a zombie plan?

    FROM THE BADMOVIES.ORG ARCHIVES
    ImageThe Giant Claw - Slime drop

    Earth is visited by a GIANT ANTIMATTER SPACE BUZZARD! Gawk at the amazingly bad bird puppet, or chuckle over the silly dialog. This is one of the greatest b-movies ever made.

    Lesson Learned:
    • Osmosis: os·mo·sis (oz-mo'sis, os-) n., 1. When a bird eats something.

    Subscribe to Badmovies.org and get updates by email:

    HOME B-Movie Reviews Reader Reviews Forum Interviews TV Shows Advertising Information Sideshows Links Contact

    Badmovies.org is owned and operated by Andrew Borntreger. All original content is © 1998 - 2014 by its respective author(s). Image, video, and audio files are used in accordance with the Fair Use Law, and are property of the film copyright holders. You may freely link to any page (.html or .php) on this website, but reproduction in any other form must be authorized by the copyright holder.