A good question

SynapticBoomstick · February 10, 2008, 05:13:24 PM

I was hanging around with my brother the other day and out of the blue he asked me what exactly it was that I saw in B-movies. I thought that I knew the answer to this question but after five minutes of starting the explanation over I realized, quite shockingly, that I didn't know exactly what it was that I saw in them

. I didn't feel that "because they are funny/because they entertain" was a good answer because some of them, for me, do not entertain and cause emotional anguish that I'll never get that hour of television back and missed the dinosaur show. In the end I said I'd have to think about it, something that's odd for a film category that requires very little of that. He thought it would be interesting to propose this question to the community and see what answers came up.

What do you see in B-movies/what do you get out of them?

The Burgomaster · February 10, 2008, 05:35:04 PM

If you ask me this question 10 times, I'll probably give you 10 different answers. But overall, my favorite B-movies are definitely 1970s drive-in flicks . . . and especially the European ones. I think there is something about low production values, jumpy film editing, and sub-par acting that gives movies a certain nightmarish look and feel. Larger budget movies are often too sleek and polished. I think the grittier a movie looks, the more it pleases me. I especially enjoy low-budget flicks that take place in isolated and/or rural settings (for instance, movies like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, and DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT on the horror side . . . THE PIGKEEPER'S DAUGHTER, SASSY SUE, and VIXEN on the sexploitation side). I also enjoy the ones that take place in Europe . . . especially in castles (LADY FRANKENSTEIN, MARK OF THE DEVIL, FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS, THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE, and just about any movie by Jean Rollin). There's just something creepy and/or sleazy about these types of movies that you just don't get when you watch "good" movies. Next week, I will provide a completely different answer to your question!

RCMerchant · February 10, 2008, 07:42:22 PM

B-movies are like..I dunno-comfort food for the soul. Kinda like what the Burgomaster said. I'll take a peanut butter and cheese sandwhich over a perfect steak any day.

indianasmith · February 10, 2008, 08:25:04 PM

My momma always said, B-movies are like a box of chocolates . . .

you never know what you're gonna git!

Actually, my mom never said that, but it does sum up what I like about this genre. Most of them are pretty generic, but every now and then one of them makes you sit up and go "WHAT did I just see?????"

and rewind and watch it again!

The Dungeonmaster · February 10, 2008, 10:08:34 PM

They are so much more fun and have a lot more heart than most of the big time stuff. Sometimes just the ideas they contain are so whacked out that it boggles the brain. I love to laugh at all the mistakes, failed attempts at ideas and etc... There is no simple answer. It's one of those things that you just either get it or you don't. Not to mention how great they go with

I love to watch VHS tapes because they take me back to the format I grew up with. When .99 cents was tough to come by (being too young for a job) and it was a serious gamble. Sitting on the rental store floor with stacks of tapes, reading synopsis' and trying to gauge the best ones off of the cover art and the little thumbnails on the back. I love the antiqued sound quality with that little VHS hum that's always going on. The often times wobbly and static picture quality. It's a mixture of nostalgia and deeper appreciation.

I can't really explain it but there's lots of us out there that "get it". To me, these films are always more entertaining than the new stuff coming out. And sometimes, I just have to laugh that certain movies ever even saw the light of day. Like, who in the hell green-lit that idea? And I especially love awesomely bad characters. It's like, we all know and love Chuck Norris because he is awesomely cheesy. Well, so is Tim Tomerson (one of my favs)!

We could probably go on forever about this but, for most of us, I think it's kind of like trying to describe what true love is like. Everyone will describe it in a different way but (those who have felt it) have an unspoken understanding of what it's like.

ulthar · February 10, 2008, 11:19:19 PM

I think part of it is b-movies tend to be 'guys with cameras' more than trying to be bigger than what they are.

Many of us played around with 8mm, Super-8 and/or video at some point; we've 'studied' the art of making visual effects work on film. We appreciate a "fun" story, whether it has social meaning or is just a campfire thriller.

B-movies, to me at least, seem truer to this "art" of just having fun with the visual medium than do most main-stream movies. The latter seem focused on making either a statement to money. Something often seems to get lost there.

Indiana said the fun is "what did I just see?" I think that's a big part of it for me too.

the ghoul · February 11, 2008, 12:31:24 AM

Kudos to Burgomaster for putting it so well. I like b-movies for most of the same reasons. They definitely have a more nightmarish quality about them. The things that make b-movies "bad" can also give them a surreal and otherworldly atmosphere which I find very entertaining. The ideas and situations in these films are also generally much more interesting and imaginative than the popular films of today, even if the execution isn't perfect. The slick production of modern, big-budget movies actually makes them look more fake to me. This is especially true of the ones that rely heavily on CGI, which other people seem to think looks totally real and natural. To me CGI effects look like cartoons with lots of detail. I'll take stop-motion, or a person in a rubber suit over that over-rated and overly expensive crap any day! I find it sad and amusing at the same time that there are actually people on this forum who don't seem to like b-movies at all. They take the name of the forum too literally and think this is a place to talk about how horrible the films are, and what a waste of time it is to watch them. Do they even realize it's actually a forum for people who really like these movies? Then there's people like that guy who went on and on about the Home Alone movies a while back. For the sake of humanity, I hope he wasn't serious.

CheezeFlixz · February 11, 2008, 12:53:11 AM

Quote from: SynapticBoomstick on February 10, 2008, 05:13:24 PM
What do you see in B-movies/what do you get out of them?

Seems like an easy answer ...
1. Unscripted needless nudity.
2. An undaunted belief by the cast and crew that they are actually making a good movie. (Plan 9 is the benchmark for this.)
3. Unbelievable monster/aliens/plot/event/etc. (See anything from the 1950's)
4. Unscripted needless nudity and ultra cheap sets (See 'Kiss Me, Quick')
5. Nonsensical dialog and/or made up words/history/legends/facts that are easily checkable.
6. Must use stock footage, footage from another film or footage from the same movie more than once.
7. Any expensive FX must occur just off-screen or behind a mountain/hill/house etc.
8. Either not enough or far to much blood must be used, never a believable amount. Guy gets shot 20 times he has 20 small red dots on him, get a arm cut off and you lose roughly 200 gallons of blood.
9. One girl that will, come hell or high water lose her top and fall down.
10. Scripts optional. (Here Uwe Boll)

peter johnson · February 11, 2008, 11:46:03 AM

I'm going to give a Zen answer to this one:
Just watch PUMAMAN!
Laugh. Fall down. Be amazed. Repeat.
If you have derived some deep enjoyment from this, then nothing I say will affect it.
If you have derived nothing from this, then nothing I say will affect it.
peter johnson/denny crane

Andrew · February 11, 2008, 12:01:22 PM

As for watching the bad ones, humanity has a macabre interest in the worst of things that almost matches its love of the best.

I love them because they try a lot of things that big budget productions would avoid (or wouldn't find worthwhile to attempt). Along with that, the skewed versions of reality that come out. Look at the alien overlords and their pet dinosaurs in "Future War" or all the masked wrestlers defending the world in the Mexican wrestling films.

And don't forget Ash, mighty champion of chainsaws and patron saint of S-Mart!

KYGOTC · February 11, 2008, 12:10:34 PM

I guess b-movies are like condoments. They're these little magical things that will last forever on the shelf, but once you open them up they go can bad, but for some reason you still use them and enjoy them. I guess I just don't understand....condoments.

asimpson2006 · February 11, 2008, 12:29:58 PM

I love movies that either bombed in the box office (If it was in the box office) and was good, or it wasn't in the box office and was just awful.

Watching things that people make that fail is enjoyable at times, even though at times I feel I have wasted my life watching it.

Oldskool138 · February 11, 2008, 12:42:09 PM

I like bad movies because it makes good movies even better. You can't appreciate something that's good without being well versed in the depths of badness.

Plus, I just get a kick out of B-movies...

GrandMaster · February 11, 2008, 08:26:55 PM

The comedy aspect is probably the main reason i enjoy watching them along with the combination of sex and violence of course.

Mr. DS · February 11, 2008, 08:36:29 PM

I enjoy them most for pure comedic relief and the fact anyone can make fun of them. Especially the ones that attempt to take themselves serious. I love a movie where I can say out loud "oh yeah right" when something ridiculous happens. I don't care if you have the best sense of humor or the worst, someone can always say something about B-movies and be humorous about it.