If there’s one thing that there’s no shortage of in Hollywood, it’s bad comedy movies. Every single year, it seems like Hollywood loves shoving their bad jokes down the collective throats of the public, luring them in with false pretenses of humour, forcing them to take in the awfulness of their bad jokes, which are somehow, inexplicably the best thing that their professional screenwriters can come up with. But let’s be fair, even the worst comedies, even the trashiest flicks, generally have a few moments that might make one snicker, and perhaps a moment or two that might prompt an actual laugh out loud.
With these bad movies there’s also the worst of the worst, the bottom of the barrel, the cringe that keeps on cringing, and the wounds that time will never heal.These are the worst, most unfunny comedies of all time, which are so unfunny that it feels like they were conceived either by bad AI, or a bunch of poo-flinging monkeys.
10’The Love Guru' (2008)
Directed by Marco Schnabel
The part that hurts the most aboutThe Love Guruis that it has a huge, A-list cast, includingJohn Oliver, Verne Troyer, Jessica Alba,and its main star,Mike Myers. So how could it have gone so wrong? Probably because of the nature of its jokes. Gross-out gags can work in moderation, but when they’re a constant feature of the film, it’s a big no-no, and can turn off a lot of people before the movie even has a chance to let them recover.
This entire film felt like one huge fever dream, one that just doesn’t end. It’s weird, repulsive, and most importantly, not funny.There’s only so many way one can say that something isn’t funny, but this movie will have viewers frivolously flipping through a Thesaurus to find out new ways to say it, because that’s how many jokes there are that are lame, humourless, unamusing, uncomedic, dull, dry, and pathetic.
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9’Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo' (2005)
Directed by Mike Bigelow
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigoloalready has a stupid title, and has become a role that actorRob Schneideris nearly synonymous with. As for the first movie: huge thumbs down. Awful. Beyond atrocious. For its sequel,Deuce BIgalow: European Gigolo? Well, to be frank, it makes the first movie look likeShakespeare. The raunchy sex comedy is pretty crass, and like, not in a good way. Schneider’s character is even more annoying than he was, and the plotline is entirely forgettable, probably because it’s the most generic route a comedy sequel can take.
It’s basically, “hey we have this comedy that was mildly successful, let’s make a sequel that’s about the main character’s vacation!” Seriously, how many movies do you know that have followed the same formula? Probably a lot. It’s one of the cardinal sins of comedy franchises, and is an almost guaranteed indication that the movie is going to bomb, and that it will not be funny at all.The bar for the first movie was so low that it was basically a tripping hazard at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, yet the second movie, shockingly, decides to go dig even deeper than that.
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
8’Freddy Got Fingered' (2001)
Directed by Tom Green
Serious question: who was this movie even for?Freddy Got Fingeredis a surreal black comedy written by, directed by, and staringTom Green. The main issue is that Tom Green’s sense of humour in this film is like someone described the idea of a joke to an alien, and the alien tried to make one of its own that no human, anywhere would understand. This movie wasn’t just unfunny, but absolutely befuddling, leaving audiences scratching their heads. Sometimes surrealist comedy can work, but it definitely didn’t here.
If its ridiculous title wasn’t an indication, many of the jokes weren’t just bland, but totally uncool, too. If they weren’t uncool, they were physically revolting, with one gross-out gag after another, constantly bombarding the audience with its suckage and disgusting visuals.Freddy Got Fingeredisn’t even one of those movies where you’re able to kick back, make a couple drinks, order a pizza, and laugh at how bad it is with your friends, because even that wouldbecome a miserable experience really quickly.
Freddy Got Fingered
7’Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' (2015)
Directed by Andy Fickman
The firstPaul Blart: Mall Copwas insanely unfunny on its own. There probably wasn’t a single person in the world who actively asked for a sequel, yet the filmmakers inexplicably decided to make one anyway. This was a sequel that nobody wanted, and that nobody liked. The first movie maybe had a few moments worthy of a chuckle, but notPaul Blart: Mall Cop 2.This is one of those movies where the writers seem to be under the delusion that the louder something is, the funnier it is, which is maybe true if you’re nine years old.
Heck, even said nine-year-olds were probably bored by the movie. Sometimes it feels like it forgets that it’s supposed to be funny, and hastily scrambles to make up for it, to make one joke, to remind you of its genre. But these jokes are met less with laughter and more with groans and eye rolls.This whole film is the equivalent of a dad joke–and not even the kind that dad finds funny.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
6’Bio-Dome' (1996)
Directed by Jason Bloom
Stoner flicks in general aren’t always terrible. Yes, they have their particular niche of fans, and they’re not always for everybody. But even fans of this genre can generally agree on one thing:Bio-Domeis terrible. This travesty features two idiotic, spaced out buddies that get themselves locked inside a scientifically experimental biosphere, and find themselves at odds with the environmental scientists with them, who are getting real tired of their antics. The plot is a little weird, but it could have worked and it could have been unique. Unfortunately, it didn’t and it wasn’t.
The main problem with it is that the two main characters–you know, the ones you’re actually supposed to like and care about?–are dreadfully obnoxious. Every line that comes out of their mouths is pure garbage, and their antics prove to be more of an annoyance than actual comedic value. Laid back, dim-witted rebels can be a totally okay archetype, but it has to be done right, and the characters definitely should not be contrarian and anti-social just for the sake of being that way. It makes them come off as jerks, not as relatable individuals.Even fans of stoner comedies should stay as far away from this film as they can, because not one joke has a good punchline.
5’The Emoji Movie' (2017)
Directed by Tony Leondis
Let this idea hang in the air for a second: someone actually came up with the idea to make a movie about Emojis, of all things, and sat down and wrote it. Not as a joke, either. Then, after they wrote it, someone read over the script and actually greenlit it, and sent it along to the animation team and a cast of A-list actors to voice the characters. There were so many opportunities for the studio to take a step back and say “Hey guys, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
The marketing campaign for the movie was terrible and in very poor taste, and the film was eventually bumped up in its release schedule because the creators wanted to justput it out of its misery. There weren’t a whole lot of people who actually believed in this movie, even behind the scenes. Look, when you go to see a movie with a concept as stupid asThe Emoji Movie, you’re pretty much going to get what you expect:unfunny, soulless drivel that’s meant to make money and not much else.Seriously, not even the kids it was trying to appeal to found this one funny.
The Emoji Movie
When their world is threatened to be deleted, Gene (TJ Miller) ventures off with Hi-5 (James Corden) and Jailbreak (Anna Faris) to save Textopolis and become an emoji with a single expression. Despite being critically panned, The Emoji Movie had a stacked supporting cast, including Maya Rudolph, Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick Stewart, Christina Aguilera, and Sofía Vergara, among others.
4’The Master of Disguise' (2002)
Directed by Perry Andelin Blake
The Master of Disguisewas the first and only directorial project ofPerry Andelin Blake, who is primarily a production designer. It would appear that the backlash he received from this film was enough to scare him off of directing forever. This movie was made by Happy Madison Productions,Adam Sandler’s company, which seems to have a propensity for taking talented comedians and producing unfunny comedies that don’t utilize any of their star comedian’s assets.
The Master of DisguisestarsDana Carvey, a comedian usually known for his impressions. This time, Happy Madison decided to actually use his talent for impressions to have him play the role of an individual who can swap disguises at the drop of a hat. The problem is, mamy of these disguises are unfunny, boring, or downright tasteless. This movie may have a short runtime, but it feels like an eternity goes by, which is a cliché thing to say, but it’s true.All of the bad humour, immature fart jokes, nonsensical dialogue, and baffling choices all culminate in one train wreck of a movie that can only be described as a wet fart: it’s probably inconsequential, but it’s absolutely embarassing.
The Master of Disguise
3’Son of the Mask' (2005)
Directed by Lawrence Guterman
Son of the Maskwas intended to be a sequel to the classicJim Carreysuperhero comedyThe Mask, only it added a supernatural plotline involving Norse gods, and got rid of everything that made the original memorable and actually, you know, funny. Carrey is nowhere to be found in this flick, but there is plenty of terrible CGI in every corner. This movie came out ten years after the original, so how is it that the CGI is actually worse?
The absurdist gags were probably meant to be funny, but the overexaggerated faces made via CGI just come off as either creepy, or downright terrifying. This is a movie that promptedmore screams of horrorthan hysterical laughter, but even in the moments that it wasn’t unintentionally scary, the jokes were overused and unfunny.Son of the Maskdidn’t feel like it even knew that it was supposed to be funny, and lacked the very basic fundamentals of comedy that you’d think would be taught in screenwriting 101.
Son of the Mask
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2’Jack and Jill' (2011)
Directed by Dennis Dugan
DirectorDennis Duganand actorAdam Sandlerwork very often together, and have produced several lackluster comedies laden with their own personal… er, “charm.” However,Jack and Jillstands as the very worst of their modern efforts, even withAl Pacinoguest starring. The movie was supposed to be a funny film about Adam Sandler in dual roles as a man and his twin sister. Drag comedies aren’t bad per se, as films likeMrs. Doubtfireare perfectly fine, but there just wasn’t a single thing about this movie that was even chuckle-worthy.
Amongthe worst movies of the last 20 years,Jack and Jillwas terrible in every aspect. The jokes could barely be called jokes, as they lacked any real punchlines or setup, the slapstick humour was bland and uninspired, and the movie seems to think everyone in the audience is an idiot, because it’s constantly having to explain its jokes or spell things out for people, which ruins it.Adam Sandler’s style of comedy might not be for everyone, but it’s pretty clear that this movie’s style of comedy was for no one at all.
Jack and Jill
1’Epic Movie' (2007)
Directed by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer
Epic Movie: it’s anything but. The movie, created by the “creative” minds behind theScary Moviefilms, have become notorious for their parody movies, many of which were box office flops. But perhaps none of them have been so tremendously terrible as this one. It was supposed to be a parody of the action-adventure movies that were becoming popular at the time, but every single joke, every single one-liner, and every single gag barely took off before landing poorly, one right after another.
The best way to describeEpic Movieis that it’s those little disgusting pieces of brown rice left over in the pavement pizza thatScary Movieleft behind after downing a burrito and two whole bottles of tequila. It’s a disgusting thing to imagine, but it’s still nowhere near as repulsive as the movie. Earning just 2% on Rotten Tomatoes,Epic Movieis the pinnacle of failure–it was trying to poke fun at the vast array of adventure movies, yet, it ironically became the butt of its own joke, and not in a humorous, self-aware way.
Epic Movie
KEEP READING:10 Worst Comedies of All Time, According to Rotten Tomatoes
