Worst2First: My Top Ten So Bad They're Good Films

Worst2First: 

My Top Ten So Bad They're Good Films

 

We all have that movie, the one we watch in secret, the one we appreciate more than anyone else.  The film that we fight tooth-and-nail for in favor of it being good, but deep down we know - they're terrible.  Then there are other films that are just so awful, they're unintentionally hilarious and therefore are enjoyable to watch just for the sheer stupidity of it.

With that in mind, here are my personal top ten so bad they're good films, worst2first...

**THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS**

#10

2012

The end of the world never looked so hilarious.  According to the Mayan calendar, the world was meant to end on December 21, 2012.  Almost five years later, it looks like the world is still ticking, but when this film came out in 2009, some people actually considered it a blueprint on how to survive the apocalypse.  It's so bad it's good because seeing John Cusack maneuver his way around an earthquake, a mega volcano, and all the other furies of nature is just ridiculous, but hilarious at the same time.  When the end really does come, I hope I'm near John Cusack when it does.

#9

Zoom

 How is "Zoom" so bad it's good?  Because it's the dumbest down superhero movie ever (with the exception of the "Fantastic Four" series, ironically both starring Kate Mara).  Tim Allen stars as Zoom, a former superhero who enlists a bunch of young superheroes to battle his brother, who used to be a superhero, but was sent to another dimension and is coming back for revenge.  The fighting is laughable (especially compared to recent superhero films), the dialogue is cringe-worthy, but I can't help but find myself watching this film over and over.

#8

The Box

What's in the box?  No one really cared to find out, and this film is so bad it's good because the film flies off the rails in such spectacular fashion it's got to be seen to believed.  The premise is a simple one, and the subject of an episode from "The Twilight Zone" - a couple is presented a box, if they press the button in the box, someone they don't know will die, and they'll be awarded with a million dollars.  The ethical issues are thought-provoking, but then the film just takes off and goes in so many different impossible directions it's unintentionally hilarious and yet somehow a film you can't turn off.

#7

Swimfan

Maybe this is more a nostalgic film for me, but I remember first watching "Swimfan" with a bunch of friends from college, and we still make fun of it to this day.  This modern high school version of "Fatal Attraction" finds a swimming star caught up with a psychotic girl he had a fling with, and her unstoppable desire to be with him.  It's so bad it's good because the whole premise is so over-the-top here that you can't help but laugh and make fun of it.

#6

Wish Upon

I had given a spoiler-filled review, saying you should stay away from this piece of crap.  Even I make mistakes, and I now realize that this is one of those "it's so bad it's good" films, because it is just, absolutely, inane.  A girl finds a Chinese wishing thing that grants her seven wishes, but someone close to her dies after every one.  Yet she...still...makes...wishes.  It's the most nonsensical story, with one of the most unlikable characters ever, but it's one that needs to be seen with friends so you can all have a good laugh and wonder how this film was made in the first place.
 

#5

Maximum Overdrive

Any film that features the Green Goblin from Spider-Man on the front of a sentient truck is just begging to be good.  Based off a novel by Stephen King (who also directed), "Maximum Overdrive" tells the story of inanimate objects suddenly coming to life and turning on their masters.  Emilio Estevez stars in this campy essentially 80s film that's so bad it's good because of the outlandish story and over-the-top acting.  Plus, where else would you find death by shooting pop cans from a vending machine?

#4

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

This is actually one of my childhood favorites, one that I've watched over and over again through the years, but that doesn't make it good - not by a long shot.  Before the revamped movies that are just terrible in their own right, the 90s saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in corny costumes you'd find at any Halloween store, learning the mystery of their existence, going against enemies old and new, and of course the cameo by Vanilla Ice doing the Ninja Rap. 

#3

Left Behind

 I could've done an entire list of awful Nicolas Cage movies, and it was a close call between this and "The Wicker Man," but I chose "Left Behind" because it's so over-the-top and insane that it merits repeat viewing just to wonder how the heck this was made in the first place.  A pseudo-Christian film, "Left Behind" deals with people left behind after the Rapture - when the godly men, women and children are swept up to heaven.  Cage plays a womanizing pilot who must come to terms with his own convictions in order to gain his own pass to heaven.  There's one particular scene where a girl throws a Bible at a window - and shatters it - that's just carpet-rolling laughter.  Especially since it was paperback.  This is one that needs to be appreciated with a group of friends, to totally value the absolute insanity the film delivers.

#2

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

When I was younger, I would have a bunch of friends over for parties, and usually around 3 am I would put in "Kung Pow," and no matter how many times we saw it, we found ourselves laughing hysterically.  Maybe it's due to the sleep deprivation, but this film is the essential so bad it's good film.  Blending an original story with an old Chinese action film, "Kung Pow" centers on a man who travels the land looking for the people who killed his family, but it's so satirical and nonsensical it's absolutely funny, and even though it's not by any means a good film, it's one you find yourself watching again and again - and maybe even quoting it in everyday life like I do.

#1

The Room

You don't get the distinction of being called "the Citizen Kane of bad movies" for nothing, and this incomprehensible film earned that illustrious title due to its zany, over-the-top acting, nonsensical story, repetitive dialogue, high school play style settings, and basically everything else about this film.  Although it's heralded as a great go-to film to laugh at, it wasn't designed to be that way - but that's the ultimate outcome.  It's truly so bad, it's great!