Movie Monday: Bad Movies

One of my favorite podcasts is Pop Culture Happy Hour, which covers movies, TV, books, music, and more in a fun, informal group discussion each week. I look forward to each new episode and was thrilled a few weeks ago when their discussion centered on Bad Movies - movies that are so bad & so poorly made that they're actually fun to watch!

I was so tickled to hear them talk about Bad Movies because I have a long, fun history with this kind of movie!

First, back in college, my best friend and I inadvertently stumbled onto some really bad movies, just by going to our tiny college town movie theater at the wrong time and later making bad choices back home at the multiplex.

After graduation, I moved to New Orleans, where I met my future husband and a bunch of great friends who remain my closest friends now, almost 30 years later. We started a Bad Movie Night tradition. One of us would host the group at our apartment, with a line-up of the worst, most obscure movies we could find (back then on VHS!). We'd start with a classic cartoon warm-up, like Gumby & Pokey or the Elmer Fudd/Bugs Bunny operas (never seen these? They are amazing!). Then, we'd watch 2 or 3 Bad Movies. Being in our early twenties, there was plenty of beer & snacks, too. Those were fun nights...

So, here is a partial list of some of the memorable Bad Movies I've seen over the years (with links to IMDB for full - often hilarious - descriptions):

Liquid Sky (1982) - bizarre movie about tiny aliens who come to earth looking for heroin but decide they like hormones secreted during orgasm better - even stranger than it sounds! My college friend and I walked out of it once then went back to see the rest another night.

Repo Man (1984) - Emilio Estevez stars as yup, a repo man and wackiness ensues. We actually walked OUT of Liquid Sky and ended up in this one!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) - Just what it sounds like & very silly. One of the first movies we watched on Bad Movie Night - a classic. I think we watched a couple of its sequels, too (yup, there were sequels, though I see we missed Killer Tomatoes Eat France!).

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) - Martians steal Santa. Because they want him for themselves, duh! A young Pia Zadora stars.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) - Aliens who look like clowns terrorize a small town - a horror movie but also hilariously funny. Mummifying their victims in cotton candy cocoons is worth the price of admission. This one debuted on Bad Movie Night, but we've actually seen it a few times (and own the DVD) - really awesome watching it with my mom after her back surgery when she was heavily medicated! Probably a really bad idea if you have a clown phobia.

Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989) - Starring Adrienne Barbeau in a typically skimpy costume. A modern retelling of The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (seriously! my friends didn't believe me when I shouted that out during the movie, but it's true - very literary stuff here).

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1952) - We just watched this one last year (the link is to my own review). We didn't intend to have a Bad Movie Night, but it turned out that way...and it was OK because we saw it with our old friends from New Orleans. A Dr. Seuss musical ostensibly for kids but really, really weird.

(You can find awesome trailers for every one of these on YouTube).

So, those are some of the highlights (or lowlights?) of my Bad Movie experiences.

How about you? Have you seen any movies so bad that they were amusing to watch? Have any favorite Bad Movies or traditions of your own? Bad Movie Night might just become your tradition, too!

Trailer for Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, a classic Bad Movie: