The Absolute Worst Films of All Time!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I mentioned Ed Wood's films in my first post, saying they are abysmally made and genuinely some of the worst films ever made but are, nevertheless, enjoyable. I think that has something to do with his enthusiasm and belief he was making good films and also, to use the clichéd phrase, because they are 'so bad they're good'.

[James Morton]

Originally Posted by InDogWeTrust

Speaking of Terry Gilliam...I did not like 'The Imaginarium Of Doctor Ponasssus' probably not one of the absolute worst of all time so it may not deserve to go on this list but i still didn't like it.

I agree with you about TIDELAND
it was a mind****, whish I hadn't bought it even though it was going cheap
only 12 MONKEYS and BRAZIL are the only films I like from Gilliam

[Demoncrat]

wow. i quite like Tideland. TIODP i could live without, though it had some good visual ideas to my mind....

[InDogWeTrust]

Originally Posted by James Morton

I agree with you about TIDELAND
it was a mind****, whish I hadn't bought it even though it was going cheap
only 12 MONKEYS and BRAZIL are the only films I like from Gilliam

I forgot about 12 Monkeys...That's a great movie!!!

[JunkMonkey]

Originally Posted by InDogWeTrust

Anyone suggested the films of Ed Wood yet?
I mean he has been dubbed the 'worst director of all time'
But I personally like his stuff...I would much prefer to watch Night Of The Ghouls or Glenn Or Glenda then something like those Transformers movies (The live action ones, Not the animated one)

Ed Wood is a real hero of mine. No question his films are bad but in an era when making a film was not as simple as it is today (get three mates, one with a decent digital camera and start shooting) he almost single-handedly made full length feature films. Okay, at least one of them didn't get seen for 20 or so years because he couldn't afford the lab fees and they held on to the negative, but he got them made. He did the best he could with such a strong belief in himself that you have to just sit back and admire the chutzpah of the man. For all their awfulness they aren't 'knowingly' bad He doesn't wink at the audience as so many 'bad', no-budget film makers do these days. There's not a cinematic reference to any previous films in his entire ouvre.

For a film to be truly bad it has to have no excuses. There should be money, and an experienced crew, and everyone involved should know better* - and still end up making an unwatchable pile of crap.

Having said all that the amateur 'horror' wankfest that is Zombie Women of Satan is my current worst film of all time, though Mutant Chronicles is coming up fast on the outside edge.



*Notwithstanding William Goldman's dictum that 'Nobody knows anything'.

[Susan Foreman]

Yes, it is supposed to be the 'worst film ever made', but that is only by people who take everything that was said by the Medved Brothers as gospel. Personally, looking past the dodgy acting, the continuity errors and the wobby sets, I seriously would challange that accusation.

Completed in 1957, the film is an anti-war movie, making many intelligent statements regarding nuclear weapons and the fact that the Planet Earth runs the risk of destroying itself. Although these issues were subtley addressed in other movies of the 50's, such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'This Island Earth', 'Plan 9' was much more up front and blatant about things.

Consider one of the dialogue exchanges in the film:

"Colonel Tom Edwards: Why is it so important that you want to contact the governments of our earth?
Eros: Because of death. Because all you of Earth are idiots.
Jeff Trent: Now you just hold on, Buster.
Eros: No, you hold on. First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade: you began to kill your own people, a few at a time. Then the bomb. Then a larger bomb: many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb, split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself. Now you can arrange the total destruction of the entire universe served by our sun: The only explosion left is the Solaranite."

or:

Colonel Tom Edwards: ...Why, a particle of sunlight can't even be seen or measured.
Eros: Can you see or measure an atom? Yet you can *explode* one. A ray of sunlight is made up of *many* atoms!
Jeff Trent: So what if we *do* develop this Solanite bomb? We'd be even a stronger nation than now.
Eros: [with disgust] Stronger. You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!

Now, put that kind of rational with what we are seeing in parts of the world nowadays. A better bomb makes a nation a more powerful place. Edward D. Wood was 50 years ahead of his time.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing gets overlooked because of the fact that Bela Lugosi died and was replaced by a chiropractor, or because zombiefied Tor Johnson emerges from a grave which is only about 6 inches deep...and then he knocks over his headstone!

The kind of people who are extremely happy and gleeful to point out the mistakes in 'Plan 9' are the kind of people who get extremely defensive when anyone points out the mistakes in 'Star Wars'

[WillCarter]

Two of the worst films I've seen recently are Autopsy: A Love Story and Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader. Autopsy is the better of the two, mainly due to a striking performance from Martin Sheen's brother Joe Estevez (Charlie Sheen's uncle) but that's pretty much where the good ends, it's not so much that it's bad... which it is, it's more about how dull it is. I would tell you what happens at the end, but I may have fallen asleep, so that could prove a little tricky.

As for Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader I can only guess that it got made thanks to it's frankly amazing title because no one in their right mind would have helped finance this if they'd read a few pages of the script. It's abysmal, repetitive and worst of all it tries to be clever... and fails.

[napalm-in-the-morning]

Originally Posted by thehamish

wow. i quite like Tideland. TIODP i could live without, though it had some good visual ideas to my mind....

TIODP was almost unwatchable. On the other hand I just watched the Blu 20th Anniversary edition of Baron Munchausen and thought it was very good. The best presentation of the film yet (unlikely to ever look better) and some good extras. Only paid £8 for it and would recomend. Has some truly outstanding production design and Michele Soavi's second unit stuff is great.

[RoXX0rz]

Without a friggin' doubt, this has to go to a movie called Undefeatable, a martial arts flick... or what's meant to be one anyway! It's rubbish! Also, one called Maniac nurses... oh boy.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by James Morton

I agree with you about TIDELAND
it was a mind****, whish I hadn't bought it even though it was going cheap
only 12 MONKEYS and BRAZIL are the only films I like from Gilliam

I think saying gilliams movies are the worst films of all time is a little dumb, sorry . I can totally understand people disliking them, especially his later ones like tideland and imaginarium.

But theres a difference between 'the worst films of all time' and 'a film I didn't like'

Stick tideland or imaginarium next to manos the hands of fate, beast of yucca flats or anything by ed wood and gilliams are clearly better movies, if only from a technical perspective. Perhaps re-title the thread 'films I hated' or 'films that were totally overrated' for which I would happily nominate the vastly overrated attack the block (not anywhere near the worst film of all time, but I would certainly stick it in the most overrated category) Salo, red dragon, the shining...