Watching a good movie is something that almost everyone enjoys. It’s fun to go see something in theaters with friends, to watch some new movie on Netflix that everyone is talking about. There’s a sense that brings people together when everyone is watching something together as it gives everyone something to talk about. However, there is another side to the coin, a far more niche pastime that people like myself greatly enjoy: watching horrible movies. There’s somewhat of an art for movies that are terrible, “Sharknado” or “Jurassic School” are both great examples of movies that are just horrible but are incredibly entertaining. That’s the main point I want to make, entertainment. Sure, these movies might be horrible and a waste of time to even consider watching, however they are all incredibly entertaining.
Great movies can be hard to watch. Films like “Whiplash,” “La La Land,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” or even “A Clockwork Orange” are all fantastic films with thought-provoking themes and absorbing writing/directing/acting, however, I wouldn’t recommend everyone should watch these. They might be boring, depressing, or just hard to watch and disturbing, so while they are all fantastic they wouldn’t really be enjoyed by everyone. That’s where movies that are so bad they’re good to come in, as they are far more entertaining. They typically have horrible directing, worse acting, and a borderline incomprehensible story, but they are way more fun to watch. Probably the best example is something like the infamous “Birdemic,” “The Room,” or more unknown films such as Neil Breen’s masterpieces “Double Down” or “I Am Here…. Now.” Yes, these movies are incomprehensible messes with no sign of a cohesive story, but they are incredibly entertaining. That’s kind of the point, as you go into the film knowing that it’s going to be bad and just enjoy the ride.
Another thing that these horrible films reveal is far more interesting than anything a huge project could offer. Lots of big-budget movies are bad, but they’re predictably bad. Take something like the Halloween series or early superhero movies. Lots of these movies feel like they are carbon copies of each other, with lazy writing that just exists to fill the corporate checklist of what makes a Halloween movie. They’re still bad movies but no longer fun to watch. This completely contrasts with other “so bad they’re good” movies, as typically they have incredibly low budgets. Take, as an example, “Cool Cat Saves The Kids,” a horrible film directed by the borderline insane Dereck Savage. Yes, the movie is horrible, with almost no story and acting that is so bad that the kid actors give the best performances. So while it’s fun to watch, it more importantly gives the audience a window into the director’s mind, as the film is so low budget that every aspect of the film is a direct cause of what Derek Savage wanted to do. This legitimately makes the film more interesting, as you consistently find yourself asking “how in the world could someone ever think about this? In what sane mind is this a normal kids’ movie?” and there is no answer to these questions. Watching movies like these provide an experience of watching some crazy person’s unfiltered insane ideas for any movie, which is something that nothing else is really capable of offering.
The point of this article is to get people to watch more trash. I think that people take good movies for granted and that we all need to come together and watch something horrible. Horrible movies make you appreciate better media, as going from watching a Neil Breen film to like, anything else will probably make the thing you watch after the most amazing movie in the world. This is why we need to promote terrible films, it makes all other films better by comparison.