Certain movies have earned global fame for being awful. Flicks likeThe Room,Battlefield Earth, andBirdemichave become iconicprecisely because they’re so bad. However, they barely scratch the surface of the fathomless ocean that is atrocious cinema. While many readers will be aware of the more popular disasterpieces,there are plenty of more obscure stinkers that they find ironically entertaining.They range from misguided biopics to sluggish monster movies and everything in between.
Each of the following movies is unique in its missteps, from baffling plots and unconvincing special effects to dialogue that defies belief. They’re a reminder of how easily projects can veer wildly off course. Whether you’re a fan of so-bad-it’s-good cinema or just curious about the depths of Hollywood’s misfires, these titles offer a journey through the strange and sometimes hilarious underbelly of filmmaking.
10’Fire Maidens of Outer Space' (1956)
Directed by Cy Roth
“Prasus: Welcome my friends. Welcome to New Atlantis.” This sci-fi disasterpiece centers on astronauts who discover a colony of women claiming to be the last descendants of Atlantis on a moon of Jupiter. Initially welcomed with open arms, the men soon learn that the colony is under threat from a creature that resembles a lumbering Halloween costume.What follows is s mess of awkward dialogue, repetitive music, and wooden performances.
The special effects are also amateurish to the core and unashamedly cheap. For example, the shot of a spacecraft landing is achieved by simply playing the launch footage in reverse. The problems extend to the themes as well. Where many 1950s sci-fi flicks were speaking to issues of the time, particularly around nuclear weapons and the Cold War,Fire Maidens of Outer Spaceseems to have nothing interesting to say whatsoever. For all these reasons, the movie was panned on release and was later canonized as one ofthe worst films in the genre.
Fire Maidens of Outer Space
9’The Creeping Terror' (1964)
Directed by Vic Savage
“In a remote part of the county, the first of a series of tragedies took place; tragedies that could have been avoided had the public been warned.“The Creeping Terroris anothersteaming pile of sci-fi slop. It’s about a sheriff (Byrd Holland) and his deputies who attempt to stop a slug-like alien creature from consuming the residents of a small town. This premise might have created some tension - if the monster didn’t look so much like a pile of rugs. It’s also hilariously slow, with the attacks seemingly taking ages to unfold, yet the characters do little to get away.
This isPlan 9 from Outer Spacelevels of awfulness, but without the quirky charm. Instead, director/starVic Sagaserves up a clichéd plot and endless camp. The movie is marred further by technical problems. Apparently, much of the footage was lost, including the original dialogue track, so droning, monotone narration is tacked on to fill up the silence.
The Creeping Terror
8’The Last Vampire on Earth' (2010)
Directed by Vertaily Versace
“Stop or I’ll shoot. This is a good man and if you took the time to get to know him you would find that out.“Stephanie Meyer’s teen vampire romance sagaTwilightobviously dominated the late 2000s through much of the 2010s.Vertaliy Versace’sThe Last Vampire on Earthis an obvious, low-fi, unintentionally hilarious attempt to re-create the magic.
McKenzie GrimmetandMichael Bolestar in the direct-to-video fantasy horror romance about an ancient vampire romancing a teen girl. Sound familar?The Last Vampire on Earthisa so-bad-it’s good classicthat is mostly slept on despite being the focus of an episode ofRedLetterMedia’sBest of the Worstseries.
Watch on Tubi
7’Nukie' (1987)
Directed by Sias Odendaal and Michael Pakleppa
“I am Nukie, from the planet Airon. I come in peace.” This South African movie is essentially a ripoff ofE.T., though it’s arguably worse even than fellow copycatMac and Me.Nukiefollows the misadventures of an alien who crash-lands on Earth and embarks on a mission to reunite with his brother, who has been captured by the U.S. government.
If the unoriginal premise wasn’t bad enough, the film is brought down further by flimsy production values, mean-spirited dialogue, and a thoroughly perplexing plot.The alien design is grotesque too, with Nukie’s face resembling a melted candle wax sculpture, and the sound editing makes every word gratingly unpleasant. As a result,Nukiegoes beyond simply bad to being outright painful to watch. Still, this atrociousness has wonNukiea small, ironic cult following. A rare VHS tape of the film was evensoldon Ebay in 2023 for a whopping $80, 600.
6’Fatal Deviation' (1998)
Directed by Simon Linscheid and James Bennett
“I have to do this… alone.” Perhaps Ireland’s only martial arts film,Fatal Deviationis a wild mix of amateur fight choreography, melodramatic plotlines, and unintentional hilarity. The story follows Jimmy Bennett (James Bennett, who also co-directs), a martial artist who returns to his hometown to avenge his father’s death and participate in a deadly local tournament.Awkward camera work and choppy fight scenes are the order of the day.
Every shot, from the poorly lit interiors to the inconsistent, color-blinking outdoor scenes, underscores the film’s micro-budget origins. It was reportedly made on the equivalent of about $25, 000. But instead of using its limitations as a springboard for innovation,Fatal Deviationfeels like a half-hearted homage to genre tropes, stitched together without any clear sense of identity. Nevertheless, its sheer ridiculousness has earned it a spot in the ‘so bad it’s good’ history books. It’s arguably the worst Irish movie ever made.
Fatal Deviation
5’Parting Shots' (1999)
Directed by Michael Winner
“I’m dying, so I’m killing.“Parting Shotsfeatures musicianChris Reaas Harry Sterndale, a man diagnosed with terminal cancer who decides to exact revenge on everyone who wronged him before his death. He sets out, Beatrix Kiddo-style, with a gun and bucket list of targets. While intended as a black comedy, the uneven tone and poorly written script makeParting Shotsmore baffling than entertaining. It’s like ifTommy Wiseauhad directedFalling Down.
Critics eviscerated the movie, with many slamming it for glorifying vigilante justice and violent retribution. These are tricky ideas to play with, and co-writer/director Michael Winner (probably best known forDeath Wish) fails to address them with the requisite intelligence or satire. Even worse is the fact that the supporting cast is actually pretty star-studded, featuring a who’s who of British talents likeJohn Cleese,Bob Hoskins,Diana Rigg,Ben Kingsley, andJoanna Lumley. None of them is particularly charming here, however.
Parting Shots
4’Sex Lives of the Potato Men' (2004)
Directed by Andy Humphries
“Spuds and studs, mate. That’s us.” The wonderfully titledSex Lives of the Potato Menrevolves around a pair of potato delivery men (played byJohnny VegasandMackenzie Crook) as they navigate their mundane lives and romantic entanglements. While the film aspires to be a raunchy comedy in the vein ofAmerican Pie, its crude humor and lack of narrative structure make it a slog.The cast and crew fail at both the bawdy humor and the slice-of-life realism.
The performers are not bad, but the script gives them shockingly little to work with. While Vegas can be very funny in his standup, his comedic talents are absent here, and Crook fares a little better, coming off as utterly charmless. The supposed “gross-out” elements are neither shocking nor funny, just abject and pathetic, leaving the audience cringing for all the wrong reasons. As a result,Sex Lives of the Potato Menjust winds up being a little… depressing?
Sex Lives of the Potato Men
3’Run For Your Wife' (2012)
Directed by Ray Cooney
“Two wives, one man, endless trouble.” Speaking of movies that are pure drudgery to watch,Run For Your Wifetells the story of John Smith (Danny Dyer), a London cabbie who secretly juggles two wives (played byDenise van OutenandSarah Harding) in different parts of the city. When an accident lands him in the hospital, his carefully constructed double life begins to unravel, leading to a series of farcical misunderstandings. Rather than being goofily fun,the finished product is catastrophically funny, and feels a relic from an earlier time.
Where to begin? The humor is tasteless, the acting is atrocious, and the storyline is frustratingly convoluted. The cinematography is barely on the level of a canceled sitcom pilot. Once again, the movie’s general vibe is just off-putting too; similar in tone to the equally disastrousMovie 43. For all these reasons,Run For Your Wifeholds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Run For Your Wife
2’Guardians' (2017)
Directed by Sarik Andreasyan
“We’re not heroes. We’re experiments.“Guardiansis a Russian superhero flick about a group of genetically modified individuals, each with unique abilities, who come together to fight an evil scientist threatening global destruction.It’s like if the Avengers had been born in the Soviet Union and were also incompetent. The characters are absurd across the board, from a man-bear hybrid wielding a Gatling gun to a woman who can turn invisible in water.
The story is derivative and littered with plot holes, while the CGI is as bad as one would expect. Then there are the sappy, emotional backstories, played with over-the-top music that can’t help but be unintentionally funny. The whole affair is thoroughly bizarre, verging on self-parody, and makes one wonder what the hell the filmmakers were thinking. Unsurprisingly,Guardianswas widely panned, even in Russia, and went on to become a box office bomb. It makesMorbiuslook likeThe Dark Knight.
1’Get Even' (1993)
Directed by John De Hart
“Justice always wins… eventually.” Claiming the top spot on this list isGet Even(akaRoad to Revenge, akaChampagne and Bullets),a spectacularly bad vanity projectby writer, director, and starJohn De Hart. He stars as Rick Bode, a former cop seeking justice against the corrupt judge who framed him and caused his downfall. Along the way, Rick rekindles a romance, delivers a series of awkwardly choreographed action scenes, and performs an infamously bizarre musical number titled “Shimmy Slide”.
The film oscillates between absurdity and tedium,riddled with self-indulgence that’s hard to ignore. Yet, this very lack of self-awareness is precisely what makes it ‘so bad it’s good’. De Hart’s self-absorption and clumsy attempts to portray himself as a tough, confident hero become oddly fascinating. They provide an unintentional glimpse into his psyche if nothing else. Consequently, for aficionados of gloriously bad cinema,Get Evenis not to be missed.
