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Drawing in the Empire
date posted: Oct 06, 2005 3:42 PM  |  updated: Dec 15, 2005 10:51 PM
Bad Movies I Love! Part Two
Just remember, "He who breaks the law (or watches these movies) goes back to the house of pain!"

If you missed part one of this blog feature you can check it out here - Bad Movies I Love! Part One

Let's pick up where we left off. Next up on my list is...

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 remake) - This movie is so bizarre, not in a good way necessarily, but I think that's what makes it so interesting to me. You can just see the principle actors thinking 'What the (insert expletive here) am I doing in this picture?' I don't even think Brando is really even acting in this one. They probably filmed this on his own island so the producers would make sure he would just show up. And I wouldn't had put it past him that he probably really had a little naked man with a tail who payed duet on his piano. Brando is just unbelievably weird and creepy here. It's fun watching Kilmer slowy go insane throughtout the movie because I get the feeling he probably did for real too. A clueless David Thewlis kind of just exists in this picture and probably is thinking "everyone IS going crazy". Ron (Hellboy) Perlman is actually cool for his few scenes as the "Ram-man" leader of the man-animals.

But what makes this movie watchable every time it comes on cable for me is Fairuza Balk. Meow (literally, see the movie)! I love her in anything she does. Something about her that just captivates me. I think it's her eyes, lips, raven dark hair, the sexy, whiny, raspy voice... OK, I could go on but I digress.

This movie has a great moody and haunting score (a soundtrack I actually own on CD). With it's beautiful scenery and the scenery chewing actors, this film is an experiment (an experiment gone bad perhaps) in viewing and not for everyone.

Speaking of Fairuza...

The Craft - Cheesy fun but regardless a bad or perhaps just mediocre movie that, for better or worse, undoubtedly inspired recent witchy TV fare like Charmed. Also starring are Robin (End of Days) Tunney along with Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich of future Scream fame. I like this one alot mainly for Ms. Balk though. She's captivating as the bad seed of the group of young witches hellbent on acceptance and revenge. So sue me.

House on Haunted Hill (1999 remake) - I really like Geoffrey Rush as the Vincent Price character in this movie though he comes off more like "Snidely Whiplash". He indeed shines (pun intended) here and you can tell he's playing it all for laughs. But he instills into the character enough evil and believability that you still invest in his character and just can't wait 'til he gets it. He also has great chemistry with sultry Famke Janssen in their scenes together and the ensemble cast make the most out of the decent horror-fare material.

I liked this much better than the other William Castle remake Thirteen Ghosts. That one was OK but not enjoyable enough for me to call it a "bad movie I love", just more of a "bad movie". Though the creature designs and ghost effects were pretty cool and the trap design of the house itself was interesting in that remake. They really should remake the Castle classics Homicidal or The Tingler. As fun as those flicks are I would pay to see those get updated and makeover treatment.

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars and Vampires - Now what elevates these from just bad movies to bad movies I love and kinda love respecitvely are Natasha Henstridge and James Woods (again, respectively). Heck, even Ice Cube in GoM is enjoyable. Not so much for his bad acting but for the pompous swaggering and bad attitude he usually brings to his characters in films. It works well enough for him here.

But Natasha actually acts circles around everyone in this film and looks sooo good kicking butt at the same time. Sorry Jason (The Transporter, Snatch, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) Statham. I like you in this movie but she steals the show here. A glorified cameo by eternally sexy and tough Pam Grier, though she comes off quite man-ish here, rounds out a decent ensemble cast.

And Jimmy Woods in Vampires is so cool and funny in this movie that without him this flick would have derailed even further than it already had. He plays his character to a "T", almost too over the top but not quite. And it even features the beautiful (and scantily clad) Sheryl Lee to help get you though the painful Baldwin brother scenes.

Honorable mentions and other guilty pleasures -

They Live - This Carpenter movie turns into a wrestling match for fifteen minutes halfway through the plot for no other reason than to have "Rowdy" Roddy Piper show off his skills... and to get Keith (The Thing) David to wear a pair of special sunglasses. I love it.

The Ninth Gate - This Roman Polanski misfire is truly a gem just for watching Johnny Depp go to town with his 'book detective' character. And Frank Langella, who was actually great as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe (though that one is so bad it doesn't make my list - sorry!), is reliable and enjoyable as the satanic-minded book collector.

Con Air - See also The Rock and Gone in Sixty Seconds for similarily guilty, face-wincing, brain numbing Nicolas Cage experiences.

And last but not least,

The Beastmaster - From horror genre cult director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep) and a pre-V Marc Singer, no film does bad better than this movie. If you haven't seen this epic masterpiece of fantasy then shame on you. Though you should be able to catch it on a weekend afternoon just about *anywhere* on the planet with basic cable service. As a matter of factly, I just watched it on Skin-emax the other night.

That's all for now but feel free add your picks to this article in the comments below. I know there must be dozens more on my list since I really do enjoy bad movies, some may have been just so bad I probably blocked them temporarily from memory though.

The Dark Moose
Moose Poodoo
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 4:28 PM
They Live is classic if for no other reason than you can memorize the entire soundtrack by humming 5 bars.

Dun dun-dun dun-dun daNA na-na dun-dun dun-dun

Can I be a heretic and throw in Snake Pliskin Escape From Whereever I Am movies? I do truly love them. They are SO so bad.

Favorite line - Snake is in the middle of a warzone, and has commandeered a chopper to get everyone out. The chopper blades are howling overhead, gunshots everywhere, explosions, people screaming.

So he whispers in Snake-like fashion to people running up to him: "Get in the chopper."

Sorry.what? I can't..hear you...what? I'm just gonna get in the chopper, ok? cool.
NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 4:53 PM
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension 1984 - Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Clancy Brown, Vincent Schiavelli, Ronald Lacey (Raiders of the Lost Ark)...amazing. Title, date and cast should be enough explanation.
Totally offbeat, proud of its low-budget look and act. John Lithgow - brilliantly bizarre. Peter Weller - Flugelhorn - that's really him playing.
Apparently enjoyed by many in the closet.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for this film and a few little reminders... A headband, a t-shirt, a button and several very fond memories of Peter Weller. *sigh*

LM

PS - 5th Element, yep!
  Graffiti
Somewhere on the Other Side of Mos Eisley
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 5:02 PM
I love They Live! Best Roddy Piper movie ever! By the way, all the movies on your first blog are major guilty pleasures for me.

Good call, NerfHerdersAnonymous. Buckaroo Banzai is definitely a classic.

Just to add further to the list, I'm not ashamed to say I think Last Action Hero is brilliant! Arnold Schwartzenegger playing himself playing action hero Jack Slater, not realizing he's a fictional character until he's pulled out of the screen into the real world.
Joe Corroney
Drawing in the Empire
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 5:31 PM
Awesome! Great minds think alike, Graffiti ;)
They Live is definitely Roddy's best film ("I came here to kick a** and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum.")
But what about 1987's Hell Comes to Frogtown? :) That one has to be seen to be believed.
I love Last Action Hero too :) I can't believe I sat through it in the theatre when it was first released but it's grown on me ever since.
Buckaroo Banzai definitely makes the list! A cult classic and a smorgasboard of genre movie talent. As does Escape from L.A. (bad, bad movie but enjoyable only to see the return of Snake Plissken) but Escape from New York is "A+" material! One of Carpenter's absolute best! Shame on you Moosie!! :)
  Master_Kenobi17
Takin Over For Talon
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 5:49 PM
AHAHA I saw Escape from New York and I actually thought it was great!! Also, I have to watch Con Air every time it's on television, if for no other reason than to see the hilarious slow-mo action scenes, where everything blows up and Cage always has this casual look on his face.
  lia_nailo
Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 9:00 PM
The Tingler[/] ... wasn't that where Castle had some theaters specially rigged with little electro-zapper thingies (the technical term for them :D ) so that at key parts in the movie, audiences got shocked? That is such an awesome idea.

I like House on Haunted Hill ... I own both versions. I love the old Vincent Price movies, and the remake for some reason scared the bejeesus out of me in theaters.

As much as I love the show ... Transformers: The Movie really upped the cheese factor. Although Ultra Magnus' "Open! Dammit, open!" is still amusing. :D

I'm sure there's others I'm not thinking of right now ...
Joe Corroney
Drawing in the Empire
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 9:35 PM
Yep! Castle was always pushing the envelope with new ideas and techniques to get folks into the theatre and scaring the bejeezus out of them :) He was a real show-man.

There is one scene in the original House on Haunted Hill that still freaks me the heck out. When the female lead is investigating a noise in a room and as the camera pans left and that creepy old woman jumps out and just floats out the door... freaky!!!

Transformers: The Movie rules!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE that movie :) The soundtrack rocks too (You've got the touch! You've got the poweeeeeeerrrrrrr! Yeaaahhhhh!!!!!)

Yes, I own it on CD.

gdg_kenobi
Granta Poodoo
date Posted: Oct 06, 2005 10:58 PM
dude. "they live" and "beastmaster." awesome.

i still think "they live" is about a homeless guy who loses his mind.
  lia_nailo
Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl
date Posted: Oct 07, 2005 11:13 AM
that post was so not meant to be in all italics ... that's what I get for posting when I'm tired.

Yep, I have the TF:TM soundtrack. I throw it in when I'm stuck in traffic. :D

I have found one movie I can't stand to watch, and that's "Battlefield Earth". I can't even MST3K-ize that movie enough to make it watchable.

Oh, if you like MST3K, I don't know if you've ever seen the one they did for BotCon of TF:TM ... I'm looking for the link and will post it if I find it. (I found and printed it when I was 17, but that was awhile ago and sure don't have it now.)
Joe Corroney
Drawing in the Empire
date Posted: Oct 09, 2005 2:09 PM
I have found one movie I can't stand to watch, and that's "Battlefield Earth". I can't even MST3K-ize that movie enough to make it watchable.

I hear ya, I'll never be able to stomach a second viewing of that horrible abomination of Scientologist inspired celluloid.

They MST3K'ed Transformers: The Movie? :( I'd rather see them give GI Joe: The Movie that treatment. I mean ,c'mon, GI Joe had Don Johnson and Sergeant Slaughter and Transformers had Leornard Nimoy and Orson Welles fer cryin' out loud!

Actually, after Star Wars toys fizzeled out for me in 1983/84 I moved on to both GI Joe and Transformers toys and comics so I'm a huge fan of both franchises :)
The Dark Moose
Moose Poodoo
date Posted: Oct 10, 2005 8:09 AM
I see no one has mentioned one...

Howard the Duck

:0) Conspicuous absence...
RojoTrooper
Star Wars Recycled Art Project
date Posted: Oct 11, 2005 7:44 AM
Has anyone seen The Returner? (reading subtitles has never been cooler)..
or Titan AE.. (cool)?
Starship Troopers 2..

(Joe u need to do Fear Factor..)
THX,
CE
  wartime consiglieri
The Headless Jedi
date Posted: Nov 09, 2006 9:45 PM
"I am here to kick ____ and chew bubblegum, and I am all out of bubblegum."
--'Rowdy' Roddy Piper in 'They Live'. And that wrestling scene, that's why directors never let actors into the editing room. But seriously, it's one of my favorites.

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