They may or may not be bad at first glance. They may walk a fine line between good-bad and bad or good.
Here are my top 10 movies I think are bad under the surface, or obviously bad but kind of rehabilitated over the years, or accepted as a higher level "bad" movie one doesn't have to feel guilty about liking. Or something like that.
1. 300 (2006) ~ Sweaty chesticles in front of a CGI backdrop. Peplum throwback with silly hyper masculinity from start to finish. It's a farce, but entertaining.
2. Saw (2004) ~ The return of torture porn with stylized yucks and wicked turns, but we were laughing tears during the final 30 minutes. Nobody noticed how bad Cary Elwes' acting was? We did.
3. The Butterfly Effect (2004) ~ Feels and looks like a bad 1990s cable TV movie with stiff overacting and ROFL moments. All this makes for a fun film but damn, that IMDb rating needs to go down.
4. House of Sand and Fog (2003) ~ Ben Kingsley won the Oscar for this and deservedly so, but it is his emotional over-the-top breakdown that had us in stitches from laughing. Does one seemingly unintentional funny moment make House of Sand and Fog a good bad movie? Probably not, but I can never unlaugh that scene.
5. Point Break (1991) ~ not sure what is funnier, the cheesy (back then cool) 1990s style from a dated time period or the constant torture of Keanu Reeves throughout the movie. Either way, all this works in its favor and is simply brilliant.
6. Event Horizon (1997) ~ this one is a real headscratcher. Why people think Event Horizon is the scariest is beyond me. It is basically a Hellraiser rip off with high production values, gross out effects and questionable acting from Sam Neill.
7. Road House (1989) ~ another case of ridiculous hyper masculinity, miscast with Patrick Swayze. Is it good-bad? Is it bad-bad? Is it the movie transgender of a good-bad-bad-bad movie? You decide.
8. The Village (2004) ~ The big twist is a insultingly stupid slap to the viewers face. Sigourney Weaver called it the scariest movie she ever made. Was she being sarcastic?
9. Alien³ (1992) ~ Sigourney Weaver part 2: "but it is directed by David Fincher" so what? "but the studio interfered" maybe they were trying to fix it? maybe they made it worse? doesn't matter. It is what it is.
10. Deep Blue Sea (1999) ~ the very definition of a good-bad movie? or does the honor belong to Mortal Kombat (1995)?
Honorable mention:
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) ~ you either love it with all your heart, or you hate it. There's no in between.