Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I’m obsessed with movies. Not just obsessed, but pretentiously so. I’m one of those nerds who watches art films and thinks he knows everything about how movies should be made. I’ve learned to accept that, because my taste is still probably better than yours. In all seriousness, I could go on and on about most of my favorite movies and tell you why I love them. But, there are some that… I just can’t explain why they’re some of my favorites. They should be everything I despise, but I love them so, so, so much.
The “so bad it’s good” phenomenon has plagued humanity for years, and it has only expanded further with the internet trickling its claws through every household in the world. From the embarrassing amount of times Rebecca Black’s “Friday” has gone through your head to the time you had to show your friend Sharknado, the most technically flawed and incompetent pieces of art have become a part of history for the better. But what is it that separates something bad from something amazing?
It’s hard to say. There’s a certain entertainment value that comes with laughably bad movies. Unintentional comedic timing, acting that could make a statue cringe, and special effects that are just a little too bad are a few elements that I consider when I go into a bad movie. All of these little elements have to be so bad that they couldn’t have been intentional, but not so bad that it’s frustrating to watch. There has to be just enough of a certain element to reach the uncanny valley of quality.
A prime example of “so bad it’s good” is the film Birdemic. Between the painfully bad lead actor, the drawn out cuts, and a sex scene that could have been better choreographed using ragdolls, it became more than simply a bad movie. There was an entire legacy built upon the senselessness of the film. There were coat hangers sponsored by the filmmakers. Severin Films spent more money promoting and distributing the movie than the overall cost of the movie’s budget. Bloody Disgusting called it “the best worst film you’ll ever see[.]” They even got the money to make a sequel (which was, sadly, so bad it’s bad)! This is an insult to movies all around the board, but it made rounds like no other.
However, that film was blatantly awful. It was so bad that it became a meme on its own. There has to be more to it than to just be plain bad. Are there movies that aren’t terrible in every way, but just enough in others? I’d say most definitely. Over the summer, I saw Lights Out in theatres, and I got exactly that. While the art direction was certainly above average, and there were a couple of characters to which I could attach myself, I found myself lauding the terrible acting of everyone in the family. It got to the point where I started to laugh whenever the young boy opened his mouth (and yes, he’s a kid, but there are good child actors and bad child actors). What started as a remotely tense sense of anticipation became plain and boring jump scares that even created an inside-joke between me and my friend. We would start counting the number of times someone would flip a switch to show the monster before they pop up in the screen. I would never in a million years say that Lights Out was a good movie, but I left the theatre smiling. Overall, I was glad that I saw it. There were enough beautiful shots and cuts to keep me looking at the screen, and enough stone faced acting to make me cover my eyes in shame – all while laughing myself to tears.
Of course, not all movies can be unintentional comedic gold. The aforementioned sequel to Birdemic was a failed endeavor in capturing the cult following and riding the meta train. They constantly rehashed the same boring jokes that everyone already made and pandered to the people who enjoyed the film for what it wasn’t. The sad thing is, nothing hit. The incompetence of director James Nguyen shone through yet again when he tried to make fun of his own incompetence. Critics panned the movie for its attempted self-awareness. As much as I would want a film like this to be hilarious, it was the same director who didn’t learn a thing from past successes. The moral of the story? Making an unintentionally great film is just as difficult as making an intentionally great film. If you don’t perfectly mess up in every single way, you’re leaving the audience with something that will only make them wish they didn’t support you fiscally by watching your work.
All in all, there will never be one bar to measure a bad-good movie. While some fail spectacularly, others have subtle bits of poor quality that will, at best, amuse you. Other films will fall short of the mark and just be bad, or be so poorly done that it isn’t even funny. There’s no exact craft to build a perfectly imperfect movie, but I will always respect the art of inadequacy. To those who make bad-good movies, don’t be discouraged! Even if people love your film for the wrong reasons, you should use this to your advantage and learn from your mistakes. You can either embrace what you’ve given the world or try your darnedest to make a movie that’s so good, it’s good. Either way, keep it up, and don’t be afraid of pursuing your dreams! Unless they suck...
