16 Movies That Are So Bad They’re Good

‘Fear’

This 1996 suspense thriller is absolutely stunning in its weirdness. Sixteen-year-old Reese Witherspoon meets an older boy at a party (Mark Wahlberg), but it turns out that he’s a crazy person who won’t let her go. Without giving anything away, there is an amazing scene on a roller coaster and an amazing scene with a dog. Sorry, but that’s all we can say. 

Bonus badness: We love the complete and utter mid-’90s aspect of this movie — it might be the scariest part. 

‘The Wicker Man’

There should be an entire subgenre of movies that are so bad they are good that contain Nicolas Cage. We totally understand that he’s a very talented actor, but the thing is that sometimes he also totally sucks (even though he’s obviously trying very hard). This particular film stars Cage as a sheriff who stumbles upon an island of pagans who are trying to sacrifice his daughter. It doesn’t sound funny, but don’t worry, it is. Even if that wasn’t the intent. 

Bonus badness: If you love bad Nicolas Cage, please watch this montage of him freaking out.

‘Howard the Duck’

Who doesn’t like a film starring a cigar-smoking humanoid duck-alien? We sure do. This movie from 1986 borders on the unbelievable. Despite the PG rating, there is some duck sexual harassment, people having sex in a hot tub (?) and, yep, some duck-human action. And a lot of other stuff that is just extremely, extremely weird. Definitely one that makes you wonder how it was written and produced without someone saying, “This is insane! We can’t do this!” 

Bonus badness: At some point, there are some duck boobs. Not duck breasts, duck boobs. We are confused too. 

‘Hard to Kill’

Like Nick Cage, action movie star Steven Seagal should probably have his own subgenre of terribly enjoyable films. In fact, all of his films are guilty pleasures as far as we know. But Hard to Kill, the first one that features Seagal’s ponytail, is our favorite. The movie follows Mason Storm, an LA detective who is — you guessed it — very difficult to kill. The mob tries to off him and his wife, but Mason emerges from a coma seven years after the attack, and he is super-pissed. 

Bonus badness: If Hard to Kill isn’t bad/good enough for you, you may wish to level up to Seagal’s amazingly bad flick, On Deadly Ground.

‘Starship Troopers’

Sure, there is a bit of an argument that this movie might have some intentionally corny parts. But it is one of our very favorite guilty-pleasure action films. Why is it so good? It might be the wonderful mix between the over-the-top bug special effects, the gratuitous violence and nudity and the simple and silly plot juxtaposed against the pretty clutch acting and writing. 

Bonus badness: Rumor has it they are rebooting the 1997 version, but we have absolutely no idea why you would remake a perfect thing. We just hope that it is good (and by good, we mean bad). 

‘The Butterfly Effect’

This movie from 2004 kind of masquerades as a normal blockbuster, but it is not. Starring Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn, this is a sci-fi thriller about a young man who often has strange blackouts that he doesn’t understand. It turns out that he can alter the path of his life, and boy does he. This one takes some very weird turns. 

Bonus badness: Part of the delight of this movie is that as the future changes more and more based on Kutcher’s character’s meddling in the past, and the storyline becomes more and more ridiculous all the way to the end. 

‘The Happening’

Of course we’re going to get an M. Night Shyamalan flick on this list, and why not one with best/worst movie veteran Mark Wahlberg in it to boot? This movie might be called The Happening because absolutely no one knows what happened, including whomever named it. Not only does it have a baffling plot that deals with… evil pollen?… but it also has absolutely amazing moments of terrible dialogue. 

Bonus badness: If you loved (hated?) watching this, try some of Shyamalan’s other bombs, like The Village or Lady in the Water. Be careful, though, some of his other movies are for-real good. 

‘Trolls 2’

This 1990 horror comedy is considered one of the best worst movies ever by crappy movie connoisseurs the world over. It doesn’t even have any trolls in it. Just goblins. This was a straight-to-video release, we admit, but we just had to include it. You really have to see this one. 

Bonus badness: The child star of the film, Michael Paul Stephenson, made a documentary about the movie called Best Worst Movie in 2009 that is worth a viewing even though it’s not bad. 

‘Con Air’

Nicolas Cage returns to our list for Con Air. This 1997 action movie was a big-budget blockbuster, but even with an amazing cast and lots of high-quality special effects, this movie is terrible (and also terribly good). Cage has a plainly awful Southern accent, the action sequences are over-the-top and the dialogue is word garbage. 

Bonus badness: Want even more bad Nicolas Cage? Try out the 2014 movie adaptation of Left Behind. But don’t say we didn’t warn you. 

‘Dark Web’

With a run time of 89 minutes and a plot about millionaires who hunt abducted women, you’d think that Dark Web would fly by. Instead, this 2016 release feels like it lasts about four hours. But there’s lot of fun to be had laughing at the low-budget effects, the poor writing and the terrible sound editing. You usually don’t notice sound editing, right? Well, in this movie, you do. 

Bonus Badness: Despite that it seems like a very, very low-budget, this movie contains a world-weary Danny Glover (who is obviously in front of a green screen). Poor guy. 

‘Cocktail’

Cocktail made $171.5 million at the box office in 1988, but believe us, it is horrendous. The movie was likely a success because of the star power of Tom Cruise, who was wildly popular at the time. Although it made money, it also racked up awards at the annual Golden Raspberries, including Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay (Tom Cruise and director Roger Donaldson were also nominated for Worst Actor and Worst Director, respectively). 

Bonus Badness: Just listen to how boring this plot is: A bartender moves to Jamaica to make money to open his own bar (which he wants to call “Cocktails and Dreams”). He meets a pretty woman on vacation and they fall in love. Many cocktails are mixed. 

‘Road House’

What a guilty pleasure. This 1988 film stars Patrick Swayze as an amazing bouncer hired to clean up a bar that has gotten too rough. Then things escalate. It is so cheesy that you’ll wish you brought tortilla chips: disastrous dialogue filled with cringeworthy one-liners, poor acting and a silly plot are just starting points. At the same time, there’s something about this crappy movie that we love so much to the point we watch it every time we scroll past it on television. 

Bonus badness: This movie contains one of the best worst lines of dialogue ever: “Pain don’t hurt.” Think about it for a while. Let it sink in. 

‘Coyote Ugly’

Here’s another box office success for our list: 2000’s Coyote Ugly. This film seems to be nothing more than an excuse to watch very attractive women dance around on bar tops in revealing clothes. And you know what? We don’t really mind. The poor acting, dull plot and bad dialogue are fun when put in the context of a movie about bartending, and we totally admit to watching this and having a great time somehow. 

Bonus badness: We don’t want to spoil anything, but a 17-year-old LeAnn Rimes is somehow let into the bar at the end to sing a song, and yes, it is both good and bad. 

‘Mac and me’

This totally awful and totally wonderful 1988 film makes the list for a specific reason: It is a blatant rip-off of one of the greatest movies of the century, E.T. As you might guess, it’s about a young boy who forms a relationship with a space alien who needs some help. The alien, if you can’t guess, looks a lot like E.T. did. 

The movie is also noted for its blatant product placements, which get more and more hilarious as the movie wears on. 

Bonus badness: The movie ends in the corniest way possible, with Mac blowing a bubble that reads, “We’ll be back!” but the sequel was canceled after the movie bombed at the box office. 

‘Center Stage’

There are so many dance movies that are so bad they’re good. Many of them are super-cheesy, many of them have plots thinner than a 2017 phone book and many of them suffer from terrible dialogue. Our favorite pick is Center Stage (2000), which is about a bunch of hopefuls in ballet school. While the script is utterly uninspired, the dancing is amazing. And while the plot is unbelievable, there is something that keeps us coming back. 

Bonus badness: Do you love wonderful/terrible dance movies? There are plenty more. Try out Honey, Footloose (the original and remake) and Saturday Night Fever for starters. 

‘The Room’

Last but not least may be the best worst movie of all time, The Room (2003). This movie is so bad/good that it has a large cult following, a book written about the making of the movie (The Disaster Artist), a video game making fun of the movie and a movie based on the book about the movie (which is in production now). The movie, which was written, directed and produced by Tommy Wiseau (who also stars in the film), is filled with inconsistencies, weird subplots and lots of utter nonsense. You have to see this one to believe it. 

Bonus badness: This cult film often has live viewings where audience members participate in a Rocky Horror way. You should go, but don’t forget to bring your spoon and a football.