There are different categories of films – absolute masterpieces for all time, just good films, one-day movies that you forget about literally the second day after watching, frankly bad movies… But there is also a separate cohort of bad films, which have so many shortcomings that they somehow grow into greatness.
Our selection today is dedicated to exactly such films, the greatest among the bad, which once failed at the box office, and were totally ridiculed by critics – but over time, acquired simply iconic status among movie lovers. So, look through the Top 25 Probably Greatest Bad Movies Ever!
More info: Reddit
#1 Manos: The Hands Of Fate (1966)
A low-budget horror film made as a result of a bet between two acquaintances, it would’ve sunk into oblivion if it hadn’t been included in the popular early 90s comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which made fun of B-movies.
No, “Manos” never discovered any new artistic merits, but since then the film has rightfully entered the category of “Greatest Bad Movies.”
Image credits: Cult Cinema Club
#2 Howard The Duck (1986)
Interestingly, the producers of “Howard The Duck” originally planned to make a full-length animated film, but decided that a movie with quite a decent cast and George Lucas in charge of special effects would be a box office hit. Well, they were dramatically wrong…
Image credits: Att Se film
#3 Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
And here’s the legend! Ron Wood made perhaps the worst movie ever made, where absolutely everything is bad. Nevertheless, within a couple of years, “Plan 9” entered folklore as the standard of bad movies – and remains so to this day.
Image credits: SGL Entertainment
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.
#4 Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
With its primitive sets, hideous makeup, and bizarre satirical jabs at the national space program, it’s no wonder the movie was a resounding failure. Critics still consider it one of the worst sci-fi films of all time.
Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
#5 Sharknado (2013)
Incredibly, in five years, from 2013 to 2018, SyFy managed to make six Sharknado movies, turning it all into a whole franchise. All six films about how a tornado grabs sharks out of the ocean and throws them into a city (yes, the plot practically never changes) featured “Beverly Hills 90210” star Ian Ziering, and “The Big Lebowski” and “American Pie” star Tara Reid.
Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
#6 Maximum Overdrive (1986)
A script by Stephen King, a soundtrack by AС\DС, Emilio Estevez in the lead role… it would seem that what could go wrong for a sci-fi horror film from the late ’70s? But as it turns out, you can be a brilliant writer, but a mediocre director and producer. Stephen King didn’t make any more films after that, concentrating on writing.
Image credits: JoBlo Horror
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.
#7 Super Mario Bros (1993)
The first ever film adaptation of the cult video game was not bad in its own way, with a good cast, excellent special effects and costumes for its time – but it was a resounding failure at the box office. Bob Hoskins, who played Mario, even later admitted that he was ashamed of this movie.
Image credits: ONEDASHONE 716 subscribers
#8 Showgirls (1995)
Paul Verhoeven’s film was widely considered to be the worst movie of the ’90s, although many arthouse critics were already pointing out that it was actually a brilliant satire on contemporary Hollywood. Over time, “Showgirls” gained fame as a truly iconic movie, but the seven “Golden Raspberries” still remained.
Image credits: HBO Max
#9 Troll 2 (1990)
A low-budget attempt to make a sequel to a fairly popular fantasy horror film of the 1980s, but with no direct plot connection to the original. The film’s low budget is also reflected in the characters’ costumes – for example, the goblins simply wear cheap plastic masks.
Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
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 …”
#10 The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
Another terrible example of a low-budget sci-fi horror film that flopped at the box office and was brought back to life thanks to “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. However, if you want to laugh heartily – stock up on popcorn and watch it!
Image credits: Discape
#11 Masters Of The Universe (1987)
The feature-length adaptation of the popular animated series wasn’t a hit, but it wasn’t exactly a bad movie either. The main roles here were played by Dolph Lundgren, who immediately followed up his iconic role as Ivan Drago, and Courteney Cox, who had ten years to wait for the first episode of “Friends”…
Image credits: Unseen Trailers
#12 Mac And Me (1988)
The attempt to repeat the success of “E.T.” predictably failed. But the movie already has a unique 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, got two “Golden Raspberries,” and is full of product placement – guess what corporation the alien hero of this film is named after?
Image credits: Amazon MGM Studios
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.
#13 Batman & Robin (1997)
A huge number of superstars, a colossal marketing budget, proven superheroes… as it turned out, the key figure for the entire franchise at that time was Tim Burton. Joel Schumacher’s movie turned out to be frankly bad, and even today, despite numerous attempts by Marvel and DC Comics, it is still considered one of the worst superhero movies of all time.
Oh yeah, those nipples on Batman’s suit… Why, oh why did they do that?
Image credits: UltimateBatChannel
#14 Mommie Dearest (1981)
It’s a rare case of a successful big-budget film, a biographical drama, making it onto this list. The movie was a huge success at the box office, but critics left no stone unturned in the movie, concluding that it was one of the worst films of the decade.
Image credits: British Secret Agent 007
#15 The Wicker Man (2006)
One of the first films of the era when Nicolas Cage went absolutely wild, transforming himself from Hollywood superstar and Oscar winner into bait for producers of low-budget action films. However, this remake of a ’70s horror movie is still not as bad as many of Cage’s later films…
Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
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?
#16 Reefer Madness (1936)
An attempt to make a propaganda film about the dangers of substance use by people who actually had little understanding of substances at all. Commissioned by a small church community in the mid-’30s, today it’s just another lame and bad movie, nothing more.
Image credits: thecoolidge
#17 The Room (2003)
Another legend of bad movies! Just agree, the nickname “Citizen Kane of bad movies” must be earned. However, for Tommy Wiseau, nothing was actually impossible. The picture became legendary almost immediately, and a decade and a half later, even a film about this movie was released, where Wiseau’s role was played by James Franco. Interestingly, this biopic collected six times more at the box office than the original…
Image credits: PoptartedNintendo
#18 Birdemic: Shock And Terror (2010)
The film, shot for $10K as a kind of homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, was a complete failure. Critics point out the absolutely weak acting, terrible sets and computer graphics… on the other hand, what did they expect for $10K?
Image credits: Severin Films / Intervision Picture Corp.
#19 Miami Connection (1987)
The low-budget crime thriller flopped at the box office – and would certainly have been forgotten if it hadn’t been re-released by enthusiasts in 2012. On a wave of post-irony, the movie became nearly iconic, but this still doesn’t cancel out the low quality of filming and acting.
Image credits: Umbrella Entertainment
#20 Hackers (1995)
The film received mixed reviews from critics upon its release, but the box office was merciless – with a budget of $20M, the film collected only a little over seven. All this despite a pretty good cast and a young Angelina Jolie in one of the main roles.
Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
#21 Ishtar (1987)
The comedy with Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman started well at the box office, but then everything turned into a commercial failure. Some people say that this result is only a consequence of the directorial competition between Beatty and David Putnam, who headed Columbia Pictures that same year, and some – that the movie is just bad. If you want to form your own opinion, just watch it yourself.
Image credits: Sony Pictures Entertainment
#22 Road House (1989)
The original 1989 film was a box office success but received mixed reviews from critics. However, over time, the film has gained cult status, and a remake with Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor was also released in 2024.
Image credits: Amazon MGM Studios
#23 Samurai Cop! (1991)
Full of cliches and unintentional humor, this movie was released straight to video and acquired classic status over time. A quarter of a century later, even a sequel was released, but it didn’t have the same “success”.
Image credits: entertainmentone
#24 R.o.t.o.r. (1987)
Just imagine a low-budget mix of “Terminator,” “Robocop” and “Judge Dredd” and you have “R.O.T.O.R.” There were plenty of low-budget sci-fi action movies in the ’80s, but only a couple were successful. This one is definitely not one of them.
Image credits: Shout! Studios
#25 Spice World (1998)
Yes, the film made its money at the box office and even turned a profit, but it’s worth remembering that it was 1997, when the Spice Girls were at the height of their fame and turning everything they touched into gold. As for the purely artistic component of the movie, the incoherent plot, not very good acting and failures in direction ensured that it was a critical smash.
Image credits: FT Depot
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