The INSIDER Summary:
- Some movies are just so bad that they become fun to watch.
- Many of the movies on this list have developed a cult following that loves them for how awful they are.
- Some of the best examples include "The Room,""The Happening," and "Coyote Ugly."
There are good movies and there are bad movies. But at some point, a movie gets so bad that something amazing happens: Everything reaches a tipping point of terrible that makes it fun to watch again. This phenomenon has resulted in a special pool of films that we love even though we understand that they are also basically garbage. In fact, we love them exactly because they are garbage.
Before we get started, there are a few rules and guidelines we used to compile this best worst movies list:
- It can’t be intentionally bad. Sorry, Sharknado. We want our bad movies to come with a heavy dose of sincerity.
- There can’t be a large number of people who sincerely like the movie. This cancels out a few great best worst options, like "Point Break,""Bring it On," and "Adventures in Babysitting."
- It had to be a theater release — so all Lifetime movies were eliminated. They are still terribly wonderful, though.
- It can’t be just boring or just confusing or just low-budget. We were looking for movies that are actually entertainingly bad.
- We couldn’t list every single Steven Seagal movie, so we just listed one that represents them all.
Ready? Click through to see if your favorite (least favorite?) made the list.
"Fear"
This 1996 suspense thriller is absolutely stunning in its weirdness. Sixteen-year-old Reese Witherspoon meets an older boy at a party (Mark Wahlberg), but it turns out that he’s a crazy person who won’t let her go. Without giving anything away, there is an amazing scene on a roller coaster and an amazing scene with a dog. Sorry, but that’s all we can say.
Bonus badness: We love the complete and utter mid-'90s aspect of this movie — it might be the scariest part.
"The Wicker Man"
There should be an entire subgenre of movies that are so bad they are good that contain Nicolas Cage. We totally understand that he’s a very talented actor, but the thing is that sometimes he also totally sucks (even though he’s obviously trying very hard). This particular film stars Cage as a sheriff who stumbles upon an island of pagans who are trying to sacrifice his daughter. It doesn’t sound funny, but don’t worry, it is. Even if that wasn’t the intent.
Bonus badness: If you love bad Nicolas Cage, please watch this montage of him freaking out.
"Howard the Duck"
Who doesn’t like a film starring a cigar-smoking humanoid duck-alien? We sure do. This movie from 1986 borders on the unbelievable. Despite the PG rating, there is some duck sexual harassment, people having sex in a hot tub (?) and, yep, some duck-human action. And a lot of other stuff that is just extremely, extremely weird. Definitely one that makes you wonder how it was written and produced without someone saying, “This is insane! We can’t do this!”
Bonus badness: At some point, there are some duck boobs. Not duck breasts, duck boobs. We are confused too.
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