10 Movies So Bad, They're Funny: Is "Troll 2" really the Best Worst Movie?!

Of the thousands of feature films produced every year, there are many that aim squarely for our collective funny bones. Some hit the target, such as this year's The Hangover. Others miss the mark, for one reason or another, and don't get widespread appeal (Land of the Lost; I Love You, Beth Cooper; Miss March). But every so often, a film comes along that -- whether it's a casing of trying too hard, or clearly not trying hard enough -- fails on all levels in a way that actually makes you want to watch it over and over again. Usually, these were not meant to be comedies. It just "worked" out that way.

Here in New York City, Rooftop Films is "celebrating" the awfulness that was Troll 2 with two nights of special screenings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tonight, they screen the actual 1990 "horror" movie, Troll 2; and Friday, they'll screen the documentary Best Worst Movie, which explored the fandom that has sprung up around the film and tracked down the people who were a part of Troll 2 in the first place. But is Troll 2 really the "best worst movie" ever made? That's something that we can readily debate.

Let's meet some of the other contenders...

The Room (2003): Lindsay Robertson (late of Videogum, always at Lindsayism) has made quite the argument for Tommy Wiseau's opus, and you can the Videogum's full report on The Room, and even Charlie Gibson at ABC News anchored a report suggesting this 2003 gem as a diamond in the roughest.

Showgirls (1995): When Showgirls came out in 1995, it was meant to be Paul Verhoeven's dramatic look inside the world of Las Vegas showgirls -- we were meant to imagine his hit Basic Instinct, but even more edgy and daring. Instead, the vehicle made us look at Elizabeth Berkley, and swimming pool sex, in a whole new light. We watched it to mock it. Even they know it now, coming out with a V.I.P. edition of the film with its own party games for viewers to play along.

The Warriors (1979): Whenever this movie appeared on TV, it freaked the freak out of me. Couldn't figure out what was happening, why there were gangs in funny costumes creating mayhem in the streets of New York City, and determined never to ride the subways again. Of course, I was just a kid. Now that I'm growns up, and everyone else is, too, we all want to dress up as these guys for Halloween and say "Warriors, come out to pla-ay!" Naturally, it has become a videogame, and someone is trying to remake this, and it will just plain suck the second time around, instead of being the movie we love because of its awfulness. Then again, maybe New York City was really like this in 1979???

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): The "original" midnight movie has a fan site and all sorts of rules for viewers to obey, plus groups devoted to keeping the movie's spirit and screening alive. You don't want to mess with them by suggesting another film is more worthy of midnight madness, do you?

Snakes on a Plane (2006): This could be the first movie that was a best worst movie, even before it made it to the cinemas, as the Internet picked up on the simplistic concept -- people are scared by snakes and planes, so they'll be doubly scared with snakes on a plane! -- and ran with it. I remember going to a midnight screening, where everyone was so supercharged and ready for madness, only for everything to get weird when we all realized just how bad this movie was. Even with Samuel L. Jackson's line readings.

Clash of the Titans (1981): How could a movie with Sir Laurence Olivier and the Gods of Olympus be on this list? Perhaps the cheesy dialogue and stop-motion animation had something to do with it. First Burgess Meredith helps Rocky, and now he's aiding Harry Hamlin, with a robotic owl? Even as a child first watching this, I couldn't stop cracking up.

Evil Dead II (1987): When I first saw an appendage crawling across the floor to attack Bruce Campbell, and found out it was his own severed hand, I knew I was seeing something special. Although with a 98 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, can Sam Raimi's horror film even be on this list? Or maybe, just maybe, that's what makes this the best of the worst movies?

The Beastmaster (1982): One of the great things about cable television is its ability to find bad movies and play them repeatedly, in just the right time slots for impressionable young minds to see them and latch onto them. Marc Singer can talk to animals? Tanya Roberts skimps around in next to nothing? Perfect fodder for adolescent boys everywhere. In fact, I think it was on as much during the mid-to-late 1980s as Law & Order is on today. And that finally prompted a couple of sequels in the 1990s that nobody cares about as much as the original.

Flash Gordon (1980): It has a great theme song from Queen; it had a future James Bond in Timothy Dalton, and Max Von Sydow as the villain. What could go wrong? Everything. And yet, it's also awesome in every way. If you were to tell me it was on TV right now, I would watch it.

And here, is a look at Troll 2.

Of course, you probably have your own favorite films that you love for their awesome horribleness. Plan 9 From Outer Space, anyone?

And as I've written previously, there are groups out there willing to help you enjoy how bad some movies are with their live mock screenings, including the Raspberry Brothers and the many spawn of MST3K. Feel free to weigh in with your input, additions, subtractions, and theories as to why horrible movies can do as much for the comedy genre as actual comedy films.

Comments

[Lauren]

Starship Troopers has to rank up there. I have soe friends who know the entire movie by heart, and hearing them recite the horrible lines as they watch the movie has to be one of the funniest things I've ever experienced.

[Mindy B]

The only movie that should even be considered is "Black Roses!" I could watch that over and over and still laugh my a** off!!!! What's better than an evil heavy metal band that comes to town and takes over the minds of the local teenagers, who begin killing their parents???? ROTFL just thinking about it!

[Chesterton]

"Doctor, You've Got to be Kidding" with Sandra Dee and George Hamilton is the worst thing I've ever seen.

[Martin in LA]

"D.C. Cab" was the worst movie I ever saw. Released in the winter of 1983(?) and starring Mr. T. I took a girl I really liked and it was so bad it was hilarious. I pitty the fool who paid to see this flick.

[Sol]

Obscurity should disqualify any bad movie from lists like this. I think Scarface is the ultimate bad movie; the more it ages the more entertaining it gets.

[Sean]

Thanks, Sol.

Your mention of "Scarface" reminds me of John Mulaney's stand-up bit about people who love that awful movie (you can see him talk about it on Hulu when he was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 24).

Surprised by how many people are naming either obscure films or truly awful films. The whole point of this was debating the notion that "Troll 2" is the best of the worst. There are countless horrible films that you could not convince me or anyone else to watch a second time.

Granted, though. I'm thinking "Starship Troopers" is a great addition to the list. And I keep telling you that there's no winning in either including or excluding "Rocky Horror." Those fans are fierce. And a few comedians I know love to push "Road House" (and, for that matter, "Dirty Dancing" and all things Swayze).

And "Frankenhooker" is from the same guy who made "Basket Case 2," so I think he was going for comedy all along, even if it was all horribly done.

[J.H. Kranti]

Lol nice list. They're eating her! And then they're going to eat me! Oh noooooooooooooooooo!

[Ken Reid]

Frank Hennelotter who did Frankenhooker (ans Basket Case 2, as perviously mention) makes his movies in a particular intentional style, so I don't know if they are "best worst" or not. I am a huge fan of his "Brain Damage" movie as well.

I'm glad someone brought up Rock N Roll nightmare, I cannot stress enough how great that is. In Reid Manor we've developed a New Year's Eve tradition of watching Rock N Roll Nightmare every new Years so that the climax of the film is at 12am, I don't know why we started this, but it's been going strong for four years now. I recommend it to others.

[k]

monsturd. that is all

[biff diggerence]

I consider Julia Roberts' "Sleeping with the Enemy" one of my comedy favorites.

Especially the guy playing the "enemy". That crazy eye look.

[Padre Mickey]

Manos: Hands Of Fate is THE best bad movie evah!

[chesley calloway]

Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem (AVP-R)

Seriously, they added REQUIEM to the sequel's title to add some art house icing to this POS cake... it's just the worst movie.

I saw it in the theater the day it came out, it ruined everyone in the theater's Christmas. Just horrible.

[Guy Weknow]

The best worst: Cannibal: The Musical
also called Alferd Packer: The Musical for those in know at Univ of Colorado.

This is the first, student, work by Parker and Stone of South Park fame. It stars no one except Maki-san, a famous Boulder, CO sushi chef, as the indian chief that saves the Packer party. Typical of Parker and Stone, they (1) bag heavily on Mormons and (2) have great musical numbers.

The rest is history.

[movies]

Go ROcky Horror Show! The worst of ever- the best!!! I love it, I can watch it every weekend. Cool reviews man - DOn't be so hard on us Rocky fans- we just like to have fun- and lots of it hehehe

[viagra online]

Lighting a fire is only half the battle. The way you build a fire - that is, how you arrange the wood - can affect how long the fire will last and the amount of heat it'll give off during that time. This article will provide an overview of "fire architecture" so you can build the perfect fire for your circumstances.

[download movies]

Ha ha !! That was hilarious post! i am junky of those really bad horror movies, most of the films here i have on DVD's and i am a huge fun of Rocky Horror Picture Show, the best movie ever!