Last year, the Snakes on a Plane phenomenon reiterated the truth that bad cinema is fascinating, even endearing, unlike other bad art. Snakes on a Plane sucked, drew queues of film-goers who knew it was going to suck, and will shift boxloads of DVDs to people who will invite friends around to marvel repeatedly at its suckiness.
Judging by its YouTubed trailer, this year's certain anti-hit, the thriller Zyzzyx Rd, also sucks. However, the cult following it will acquire is due not to creative shortcomings, but to its catastrophic commercial performance. Zyzzyx Rd, a $2m production starring Leo Grillo, Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl, is the lowest-grossing American cinema release ever. Total box office takings: $30 (£15.46).
Naturally, since this story was broken by the film website chud.com, the momentum often lent to failure by irony has given Zyzzyx Rd a prominence it scarcely deserves, and that its stars might have hoped would elude it. Grillo, who also produced the wretched thing, has sportingly given interviews explaining that his film's extremely limited screen release - one week at a Dallas cinema in February 2006 - was a technical necessity to comply with Screen Actors' Guild regulations (he also cheerfully admitted that two of the six tickets sold were purchased by crew members, who thought it was a free screening). Further excitement has been generated by a dispute with the producers of a new film called Zzyzx, who are understandably tired of being associated with the box-office disaster of its near-namesake.
There is something about terrible movies that inspires affection in the way that unlistenable records and unreadable books do not. Possibly, it is the sheer scale of the folly. Only a relatively small amount of fools and their money are necessary for the propagation of awful music and dreadful literature. Films cost millions, and employ hundreds - all of whom must spend the duration of the shoot choking back the urge to exclaim, "Man, this is gonna eat it." Zyzzyx Rd will mesmerise, like all such mass, organised stupidity does. And, in dying so spectacularly, it will doubtless live longer than its perpetrators dreamed possible.