25 Bad Movies That Went So Low That They Actually Went Down In History

You can find more than one thread on the Internet where netizens exchange opinions on which films are so bad that they are even good. Some of the threads become quite popular - for example, this one, where the topic starter asks: "What's your top ‘so bad it's actually good’ movie?” and as a result, gains almost 2K different comments.

Today, we’ve tried to put together a selection of such films for you, based on this and several other online threads, as well as our own modest knowledge of cinema. So please get comfortable, grab some popcorn, and scroll it down.

A significant portion of the films in this selection are low-budget sci-fi and horror movies from about half a century ago, when directors and producers had the desire to make something both fantastic and scary, but there was no money or imagination for high-quality special effects and sets. Sometimes, they even had to save on scripts…

In fact, the ‘70s gave the world of cinema many sci-fi masterpieces, when there was also not enough money for sets. For example, it’s widely known that in "Star Wars," potato tubers were sometimes used to depict asteroids. But George Lucas was a genius, and the creators of numerous poor imitations were always lacking something.

Another category of films from this list are fairly well-known movies, where the critical reception and box office didn’t coincide dramatically. For example, Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls" was quite a big-budget film, but experts subjected it to devastating criticism.

Some people still believe that the show business of the mid-nineties wasn’t yet ready for the openly cynical and shameless view of itself that Verhoeven offered.

However, over time, "Showgirls" truly acquired the status of a cinema legend and a genuine work of art. On the other hand, Elizabeth Berkley, who played the main role in the film, never became a superstar - and the role of the "Showgirls" failure in this is also difficult to overestimate. However, history doesn’t know the word "if ..."

Well, here we cannot fail to mention "Batman and Robin," which once again emphasized the role of the director's personality for the success of literally any movie. Neither the superstar cast, nor the big budget and decent special effects could compensate for the departure of Tim Burton, who had one way or another contributed to the three previous Batman movies.

Joel Schumacher, who took over from Burton, later even apologized for the fact that his brainchild didn’t live up to fans' expectations, and DC Comics lovers had to wait more than a decade for Christopher Nolan to take over the universe... And the ridiculous nipple covers on Batman's armored suit still remain the quintessence of one of the most resounding failures in the history of cinema.

However, "bad movie" doesn’t actually mean that choosing one of the films on this list to watch automatically guarantees you a bad evening. Well, quite the opposite - the number of shortcomings here, according to an old philosophical rule, sooner or later turn into quality. And you will definitely enjoy it - at least from sincere laughter.

Well, anyway, now please feel free to read this list to the very end, and maybe drop your own examples of the greatest bad movies in the comments below. Who knows, maybe your comment will help someone else have a great movie night as well?