c/bad-movie-appreciation

TIL the real trick to watching terrible sci-fi is lowering your expectations twice

I kept getting mad at movies like "Sharknado 3" because I expected some level of logic. Then about 3 months ago I sat down with "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and purposely told myself it'd be the worst thing ever. I actually laughed through the whole thing because I wasn't fighting it. Anybody else find that going in with zero standards makes bad movies way more fun?

Showerthought: underwater basket weaving scenes in bad horror movies

I watched 4 low budget horror flicks last Saturday and every single one had a pointless scene underwater in a lake or pool that made zero sense for the plot. My roommate called me out for pausing to rewatch the drowning monster reveal from "Lake of Blood 4" because the effects were so hilariously bad. Anyone else notice how often bad movies throw in random water scenes just to show off cheap costumes?

Pro tip: That $3 thrift store VHS tape of "The Room" is way better than the $20 Blu-ray

Picked up a beat-up VHS copy of The Room at Goodwill in Columbus for three bucks last weekend and the tracking issues actually ADD to the experience. Anyone else find that watching bad movies on worse formats makes them MORE fun to watch?

I used to roll my eyes at people who watched The Room on purpose

A buddy convinced me to sit through it last winter (around 2am after a few beers) and I ended up quoting 'Youre tearing me apart Lisa' for a full week. It was so bad it circled back around to being legitimately entertaining. Has any other so-bad-it's-good movie actually surprised you like that?

Found out I was watching bad movies wrong for years

I used to always watch these cheesy sci-fi flicks alone in a dark room trying to take them seriously. After about 20 minutes of "The Room" I almost turned it off because I was so annoyed. Then my buddy Dave came over with a six-pack and we started pointing out every weird line reading and bad green screen effect. That's when it clicked for me. These movies are meant to be watched with other people who can laugh at the nonsense. Has anyone else found a specific movie that only works as a group watch?

I finally compared streaming a cult classic versus finding the DVD and the difference was night and day

I wanted to watch "The Happening" again because it's so bad it's funny. Streamed it on a popular service and the picture was all washed out. The sound was off too, like the audio levels were mixed for a theater not a living room. Then I found an old DVD copy at a thrift store for $2. Popped it in my player and the colors popped way more. The cheesy dialogue hit harder and the jump scares actually landed better. Sometimes the lower quality format just makes a bad movie more fun to watch. Has anyone else noticed a difference between streaming and physical copies?

Finally watched The Room with my buddies last Friday and it was even worse than I imagined

Me and three friends got together last Friday night specifically to watch The Room after hearing about it for years. We grabbed some pizza and cheap beer, ready to laugh at a bad movie. But man, I wasn't prepared for how every single scene just drags on with awkward pauses and terrible line readings. Tommy Wiseau's acting is like watching someone who's never seen a human before try to pretend to be one. By the end, we were all shouting at the screen and rewinding the football throwing scene like five times because it was so ridiculous. The best part was how seriously it takes itself, which just makes it funnier. Has anyone else had a group watch party for a famously bad movie that went better or worse than this?

TIL my buddy was right about 'The Room' being a blast with a crowd

I used to hate on Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room' for years, said it was unwatchable garbage. Then my friend Dave dragged me to a midnight screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas and we were throwing plastic spoons along with everyone else. Has anyone else had a bad movie click for them in a theater but not at home?

Rented a cabin in the Poconos and found a stash of VHS tapes from the 90s

We rented this run-down cabin near Lake Wallenpaupack last weekend, and hidden in a closet was a cardboard box full of VHS tapes. I'm talking about stuff like "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie" and "Killer Tomatoes Strike Back." The owners probably left them there 20 years ago and forgot. My buddy popped one in the old CRT TV in the corner, and the tracking lines made the whole thing look even more ridiculous. It felt like a time capsule of bad movie nights. Have you ever stumbled on a random collection like that somewhere unexpected?

Took me 3 hours to find a single scene in a bad movie, worth it though

I was trying to show my friend this one hilariously bad scene from "The Room" where Tommy Wiseau throws a football around in a tuxedo, but I couldn't remember exactly where it was. I spent 3 hours scrolling through the whole movie on my laptop, pausing every few minutes. Turns out the scene is only like 2 minutes long and happens way earlier than I thought. My friend fell asleep waiting, but I was cracking up. Have you ever wasted a bunch of time hunting down a terrible movie moment only to realize it's way shorter than you remember?

Went to a bad movie screening at the local theater and noticed the crowd was way too into it

I went to this theater in Portland last weekend that does a monthly "so bad it's good" night. They played this 80s horror flick about a haunted toaster or something. The audio kept cutting out during the big chase scene and the projector started flickering about 20 minutes in. Half the crowd actually cheered when the toaster finally attacked someone. I looked around and saw a guy in the front row eating popcorn with his eyes wide open the whole time. It was honestly more entertaining than the movie itself. Has anyone else been to one of these bad movie nights where the technical problems just made everything better?

My friend made me watch 'The Room' and I thought he was joking

He said it was the best worst movie ever, but I was sure it was just a regular bad movie. We sat down, and within five minutes I saw Tommy Wiseau throw a football like a weird doll and say 'Oh hi Mark' for no reason. The plot made zero sense, with random flower shop scenes and people laughing at serious moments. I spent the whole time laughing so hard I cried, and now I get why people love it. What's another movie that's so bad it becomes a full party experience?

Watched 'The Room' and 'Birdemic' on a double feature night

We made popcorn and started with 'The Room', which is a glorious mess of bad acting and weird plot holes, but then 'Birdemic' hit us with its terrible CGI birds and we were crying from laughter. The difference was that 'The Room' feels like a real movie that went wrong, while 'Birdemic' is just pure, unhinged chaos from start to finish. What's your pick for a bad movie that's more fun with a group?

Can we talk about the time a drive-in double feature ruined good movies for me?

I was at the Starlight Drive-In in Atlanta about six months ago, and they showed 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' followed by 'The Giant Claw'. The crowd was laughing and yelling at the screen the whole time. It hit me that I was having way more fun than at any 'good' movie I'd seen that year. Now I actively seek out stuff with bad puppets or wobbly sets for movie night. Anyone else have a place that turned them onto the joy of terrible films?

Just dropped $12 on a rental for 'The Room' and it was the best bad movie night ever

I paid $12 to rent 'The VelociPastor' and it was the best bad movie night ever

So last Friday, my friend and I were scrolling through streaming, totally bored. We saw this movie called 'The VelociPastor' for rent and the description said a priest turns into a dinosaur to fight ninjas. We laughed so hard we just had to see it, even for twelve bucks. The whole thing is shot like a home video, the CGI dinosaur is basically a guy in a cheap rubber suit, and there's a car explosion that's clearly a toy model. We were crying from laughing, not from the drama. It's so bad it wraps back around to being amazing. Honestly, that $12 was better spent than on any fancy new release that month. Anyone else have a 'so bad it's good' movie they'd pay to watch again?

Can we talk about the before and after of watching 'Birdemic' with friends?

I watched it alone a few years back and just thought it was a boring, badly made movie with weird effects. Then last month, my friend group in Austin decided to do a bad movie night and put it on. The change was huge. With everyone yelling at the screen, laughing at the wooden acting, and making jokes about the flying birds that look like clip art, it turned into a blast. What made it fun was the shared experience of seeing something so poorly done but full of strange choices. The 'before' was me being bored by myself, and the 'after' was a room full of people having a great time with the same film. It really shows how the right setting can flip a movie from bad to good-bad. What's a movie that got way better for you when you watched it with a group?

Appreciation post: A midnight showing of 'The Room' in Portland changed my whole view on bad movies

I was at a little theater in Portland about five years ago, dragged to a midnight showing of 'The Room' by a friend who promised it was an experience. I went in thinking it would just be a boring, poorly made drama. I was so wrong. The place was packed, and everyone was shouting lines at the screen and throwing plastic spoons. The scene where Johnny says 'Oh, hi Mark' for the tenth time had the whole crowd in stitches. I realized the movie wasn't just bad, it was a shared, fun event where the flaws were the whole point. That night taught me that a truly fun bad movie needs that special energy, where the audience is in on the joke. It made me seek out other movies like 'Troll 2' for group viewings. Has anyone else had a theater experience that turned a terrible film into a favorite?

Overheard a couple at the video store trash-talking 'The Room' and I had to bite my tongue

I was in line at the rental place on Elm Street yesterday and these two people were going on about how 'The Room' is just bad, not fun. One said, "It's not even worth the laugh." But that's the whole point. The weird line readings, the plastic spoons, the rooftop football... it's a shared experience. You watch it with friends and yell at the screen. Has anyone else had to defend a so-bad-it's-good movie like that?

My Tuesday night was saved by a movie about a killer tire

I had a rough day at work, so I grabbed a pizza and decided to watch something dumb. I picked 'Rubber', a film about a car tire that rolls around blowing things up with its mind. The plot makes zero sense, but watching a tire stalk people for 90 minutes was the perfect distraction. Has anyone else found a movie so bad it actually fixes a bad mood?

Watched 'The Core' and 'Armageddon' back to back last night

We did a double feature of two disaster movies about saving Earth, and 'The Core' is just on another level of bad but fun. The science in 'Armageddon' is silly, but 'The Core' has them piloting a ship made of 'unobtainium' through magma. The scene where the guy fixes a computer with a pocket knife had me laughing for a solid five minutes. It's the kind of movie where you just have to turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. What's your favorite 'so bad it's good' disaster flick?

I just learned that 'The Room' was in theaters for two whole weeks

I was reading an old article about cult movies and it said Tommy Wiseau paid to keep his movie playing in a theater in LA. He did it for 14 days straight to try and get an Oscar nomination. That's a lot of money for a movie everyone says is terrible. Has anyone else heard about weird stuff like this for other bad movies?

I just hit 50 bad movie nights with my friends

We started this thing back in 2019, watching one terrible flick a month. The milestone that got me was when we watched 'The Room' for the tenth time last week and everyone still shouted the lines. What's your group's most re-watched so-bad-it's-good movie?

TIL the best way to enjoy 'The Room' is with a crowd and a set of rules.

My friend in Portland made us watch it with a drinking game where you take a sip every time someone says 'oh hi' or a spoon appears on screen. The movie is a total mess, but laughing with a group and playing along made it one of the funniest nights I've had. What's your go-to 'bad movie night' ritual?

My cousin insisted we watch 'The Room' for movie night, said it was a masterpiece of badness. He was so right.