Go Go Movie Show: The Very BEST of "So Bad They're Good" Cinema

True "camp" is the combination of complete sincerity and utter ineptitude. When these rare qualities combine in the film medium what they create isn't merely a movie, it's an experience. I live for "So Bad They're Good Movies" and have experienced dozens, but these are the cream of the crop. Ranked in order of hilarity, I have never laughed harder than at some of these movies! (There are many more hilarious & awful films but these were selected for their capacity to provide big laughs and amusement consistently.)

1. The Room

Every time I watch this scene all worries are washed away and laugher rolls beautifully and uninhibited.  Best scene in cinema history.

"The Room" is required viewing for the world! It should be prescribed as an anti-depressant. Intended as a fairly straight-forward drama, this ego trip is simply the. funniest. unintentional comedy. EVER! It's so bad it almost defies description. Widely considered the worst movie ever made, the high rating it maintains on Netflix gives you an idea of how entertainingly bad this flick is. Watch the clip above for one of my favorite moments in cinema!

2.) Birdemic
The acting and bad editing in this film cannot be described. They must be seen to be believed.

Another movie often voted as "the best worst movie alive," the less spoiled about this film, the better. James Nguyen produced magic! Every scene lingers longer than necessary, the lead actor's delivery is eerily robotic, and the special effects! I won't spoil the surprise for you, just know when they explode in your face that Nguyen genuinely intended this movie to be a romantic horror action drama and NOT a comedy. He really thought this looked good! It's better to let this scene sneak attack while watching Birdemic, but just letting you know, I have never laughed harder at anything in my life while viewing that. I will spend the rest of my life trying to experience that bliss again. Le sigh.

3.) Showgirls

THIS is what real lady's conversations go like. Mmmhm. Riiiiiight. Anyone else eat "Doggie Chow"?

THE Camp classic, Showgirls is perfection. The studio felt so confident with Paul Verhoeven's (director of Robocop, which I LOVE), magnum opus that they released it with an NC-17 rating; The Kiss of Death to any movie's money-making potential. It fails on a colossal level on being a serious drama about the dark underbelly of showbiz as intended (the same plot was done far better in the classic All About Eve) but surpasses expectations as a raucous, over-the-top unintentional comedy. Everything in this movie is turned up to 9,000. The amount of full-frontal female nudity on display has to break records and the script and performances jarringly detached from reality, it's like watching robots or aliens trying to be HYOO-MANZ. You can tell Verhoven wants us to love and root for the lead character Nomi, but she's a repugnant inhuman monster that deserves to be obliterated by a train.There's so much hilarity to be had in this movie, but my favorite element is that Verhoeven and scriptwriter Ezterhas genuinely try to get into the mind of females and portray women's difficulties, but resulted a gauzy porn-like fantasy of what they wish women's problems were. It's the biggest budget unintentional exploitation (womansploitation?) film of our time and I can never get enough of it! (Wait for the infamous pool scene!)

4.) Twilight Series

Laughing so hard right now. I refused to believe Twilight vamps sparkled like Lisa Frank trapper keepers until this moment.

I refused to have anything to do with the book or movies for years, but was pleasantly surprised by Twilight. It fails utterly as any type of romance or drama but exceeded my personal expectations as one of the funniest damn things every filmed. The story is probably familiar to you but to recap: Bella Swan, the most sociopathic, selfish human on the planet (supposed to be portrayed as your average teen) can't choose between being a necrophiliac (Team Edward, her 100+ year old creepy controlling vampire pedophile lover) or committing bestiality (Team Jacob, a double minority as a Native American werewolf, played by a white underage boy with a tan who spends most of his screentime in gratuitous states of undress). That's the plot, and it's brilliant. I could write volumes about how hilarious these unintentional anti-feminist comedies are. Watch it, you might be surprised at how much you laugh.

5.) Undefeatable


This scene may be a close second for the hardest I've ever laughed in my life.

I love over-the-top testosterone fests like Robo Cop, the Rockie sequels, Rambo, and most things marketed for boys to play with in the late 80s. Undefeatable is a concentration of all the elements that make those movies lovable turned up to camp levels of ridiculously hilarious fun. It is gourmet 90s cheese at is finest. Undefeatable gets bonus points for starring Cynthia Rothrock, five-time world karate champion with six black belts and more accolades than I have time to list here. I don't care how narmy her acting is, I love her! She was the inspiration for Mortal Kombat's Sonya Blade, true story! 

You'll laugh watching these movies alone, but they're even better with a 12-pack and friends. Break out the popcorn and booze this weekend and have the funniest movie night ever! Make up some drinking games while you're at it.

Honorable Mentions: Battlefield Earth (best scene), Shark Attack 3: Megaladon (best scene- A MUST SEE, CLICK!), Troll 2 "(best scene- another MUST SEE), Mac and Me (best scene essence of 80s! product placement!) - and finally, best/worst death scene ever! Tears stream down my cheeks every time watching that one.

What is your favorite so bad it's good movie? I'm always looking for more, do recommend some if you have them! Watch these movies and let me know what you think! Everything but Undefetable is on Netflix.

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