Genuinely horrible movies that inexplicably have huge followings

I’ve never understood why people think Annie is so bad. When I saw it on Broadway, that actually seemed like the messier version, but maybe it’s because I was raised on the movie.

Yes, "The Wiz" is unwatchable. It gets EVERYTHING wrong.

I'm shocked anyone can sit through "Pretty Woman" without screaming at the screen. It is an appalling movie.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is a joyless, nasty movie, its popularity surprises me still.

Forest Gump. Never understood the hype.

American Beauty P-U!

Titanic Oppenheimer couldnt have created a bigger bomb

I think in the early days of VHS, there were a lot of children friendly videos that could be bought cheaply. This would explain why so many gays of a certain age love Clue, Sister Act, and Hocus Pocus.

"Sister Act" is great fun, those other two really suck, and having seen both in a theater when they were released I can tell you the audiences hated them.

Top Gun: Maverick — a piece of shit. I don't care how much money it made.

The Wiz is a staple in black households. It was the first blockbuster tent pole type film to star African-Americans. And it had some of the biggest stars if the time. It flopped mainstream wise but forever remained a classic in black homes through tv broadcasts and then VHS.

R7 There are only 2 Sister Acts. You ok?

The Breakfast Club owns this thread.

Love, Actually. Except for a couple scenes it’s pretty bad.

Basic Instinct. After the first act it’s nearly unwatchable.

R13, completely disagree, it's very good entertainment from start to finish. The music, the setting, Sharon Stone's iconic performance, etc.

The Fast and the Furious crap. They just keep going and going and going.

And the most iconic of them all -

Crash

I wouldn't say it's horrible, but I never understood the appeal of The Big Lebowski and why it's just about every straight guy's favorite movie.

Touch of Evil.

Barbie

"The Big Lebowski" was a total dud for me too. I was expecting so much after hearing people rave about it. My neighbors do a movie night n their backyard every 2 weeks each summer. The night they did "The Big Lebowski" we started with at least 30 people, but by the time it was over there were only 4 of us left. I had to force myself to stay put all the way through the end of it. I just don't get what is so great about it. Jeff Bridges seems to be doing a third-rate Tommy Chong impersonation. The whole thing seemed like the filmmakers were trying to produce a John Waters-style lowlife comedy, but without any of the charm or humor of Waters' films.

I don't know that it was "genuinely horrible," but I was unable to be entertained in any way by The Usual Suspects. And this was before everything went wrong for Kevin Spacey, so I didn't enter into it with any preconceived notions about him.

R17 The Big Lebowski is brilliant.

The Wiz with the original cast was the second Broadway show my parents took us to growing up - I was in HS when they shot the movie and the production got a lot of press - including the relaunched LIFE magazine - because there was a fair amount of elaborate location shooting shooting in still sketchy NYC, which didn’t happen often.

A theatre-tech magazine we had in my HS library had a very detailed article on the sets built on soundstages and at the WTC, the old NYS Worlds Fair Pavilion, the Main Library — and discussed the custom printed Armstrong kitchen flooring used for the yellow brick road. As a budding cinema geek I ate this all up and couldn’t wait to see the film.

My god I was disappointed.

Beaches

r22 Maybe. But now we have to consider the source when we see the name Othello connected to matters of taste.

I remember The Wiz getting panned when it was released. I suppose people like it because it's bad.

Life is Beautiful. It’s a comedy about the Holocaust!

[quote] Beaches

I remember seeing it on a plane and everyone blubbering over it. Then watched everyone head to the bathroom to wash their face and regain themselves.

"Annie" was like the "Barbie" movie of its day. Just about every parent took their little girls to go see it.

R17 -The Coen Brothers have a very idiosyncratic sense of humor that is definitely not universal. The Big Lebowski is essentially a series of MacGuffins with no actual “real” underlying plot or payoff. It’s an endless shaggy-dog story with no punchline — which I find hysterical, but totally see how it can leave you flat.

Whenever anyone mentions "Annie" I can't help but think of this scene from "Serial Mom."

MAHOGANY…absolutely a terrible movie. Who told Berry Gordy that he was a film director? Too many ‘yes’ men around him.

Over one “memorable” Labor Day weekend the BF and I forced our way through both “Lady Sings The Blues” AND Liz’s “Cleopatra.” It became a test of will.

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. And add Parasite to the list.

The John Wick movies. Watching non-stop violence is not my idea of a good time (except for certain horror films). And if Keanu is such a great guy, why does he put such negativity into the world? Gun violence as entertainment seems so dated and irresponsible, especially since mass shootings keep happening on a regular basis. These films are like catnip for incels.

DAWSON’S FIFTY LOAD WEEKEND

[quote] The Coen Brothers have a very idiosyncratic sense of humor that is definitely not universal.

I remember seeing Fargo in the theater (Fayetteville, Arkansas) and the only time the redneck idiots would laugh were at the violent parts (woodchipper, where the wife was kidnapped, etc). The true humor went right over their heads. My friends and I were laughing hysterically by the quirkiness, accents, etc. I agree R30, some people just don't get the Coen Brothers humor.

Some of you are just listing bad movies, period.

I am asking about bad movies that for some inexplicable people STILL continue to rave over and that have a cult following. Neither "Cleopatra" nor "Mahogany" are among those.

You're wrong, R35. (But I still love you.) The first John Wick is legendary for a good reason and was a game changer in action filmmaking, like the first Matrix and Inception.

MAHOGANY definitely is a bad movie with enough of a camp factor to give it a cult following. Most critics at the time gave it horrible reviews and while it made its money back, it was not a massive hit either.

I totally agree with r35, I loathe the John Wick movies. It's just two hours over and over of nameless figures getting their heads blown off - I don't understand how anyone who loathes gun culture in this country can go and enjoy those films. I have sat through them all and agree that there are revolutionary things happening, and the fights that don't involve guns are fun (the one in the weaponry museum was cool, and the one in the driving circle) but those are far and few between. And when I saw a video of Keanu doing his gun training for one of them he seemed like a gun fetishizing freak

"Armageddon". It was the number one movie in the year it was released. I saw it in the theater and it was ... terrible. My god, it was so bad. I can't believe I paid to watch that utter and complete piece of shit. If someone tells me they loved this movie, I know to have nothing to do with them because they're fucking braindead morons.

Then "Prometheus" came out and knocked "Armageddon" out of the top spot of "worst movies I ever paid to see in a theater". Just utterly terrible. Pretty though, I'll give it that. Some very beautiful (momentary) visuals. But characters? Motivations? Plot? COMPLETE GARBAGE.

Sometimes bad films have a brilliant scene. And the wicked witch no bad news scene in The Wiz gives a profound statement on late 20th century contemporary life, commercialism, materialism, and capitalism all while being excellently choreographed. Brilliant.

R42 I love Armageddon.

A LOT of Adam Sandler’s filmography especially those that came out in the aughts.

R43, the subway sequence in The Wiz is genuinely creepy.

Touch of Evil??? That’s a masterpiece. My favorite movie by Orson Welles.

The Big Lebowski is an acquired taste but it’s a favorite of stoners, not really general straight guys.

Night Clit

I enjoyed Annie as a kid. It is a children's movie, and dated, but I don't think it was bad for its time. Does it really have a “huge following”?

Anything from James Cameron fits.

R44 then you're a complete fucking moron with no taste and no brains.

ARMAGEDDON was awful beyond belief. And I love apocalyptic movies. But this one was stinky bad.

The Big Lebowski is subtly brilliant. A slice-of-life character study. It's very quotable. Great meme-ing too. I can understand that a lot of people don't "get" it. It's fine. But it is not genuinely horrible. It's really good, just not everyone's cup of tea.

But then I also loved "Barton Fink" and thought it was freakin' brilliant. And "Naked Lunch" too. I tend to like a lot of these movies that most of the general public either hates or just has no clue what to make of.

[quote] I don't know that it was "genuinely horrible," but I was unable to be entertained in any way by The Usual Suspects. And this was before everything went wrong for Kevin Spacey, so I didn't enter into it with any preconceived notions about him.

It was really Benicio’s performance that made that movie worth seeing. Kevin Spacey overplayed his character and telegraphed the surprise ending in my opinion.

My mom took me to see The Wiz when I was kid because she was a big Lena Horne fan. I pretty much enjoyed the movie if I recall correctly. It had plenty of well known popular performers in the cast that even my kid self recognized. I think that alone created a lot of interest for people.

I know there are some movies that I think fit OP’s category, but I’m drawing a blank at the moment.

R50 oh my. Did you bump your fkin head this morning. You know better.

Grease 2. An AWFUL movie musical with a horrible cast. Michelle Pfeiffer looks totally '80s. Lorna Luft looks as old as Stockard Channing did as a teenager. The male lead might as well be invisible, he's so inept. The whole thing is poorly directed, and it looks cheap, as though it was written while they filmed. But, it has a huge following, based on constant rotation on cable in the '80s and '90s.

Some of these are just bad movies, they don't have huge followings. Maybe they were a hit when they came out but since then nobody cares.

R47, I was wondering if the poster that listed "Touch of Evil" was just trolling. Truly one of the greatest film noirs ever.

[quote] And the wicked witch no bad news scene in The Wiz gives a profound statement on late 20th century contemporary life, commercialism, materialism, and capitalism all while being excellently choreographed. Brilliant.

Sadly, Sidney Lumet photographs it like the KTLA news helicopter filming the Rodney King riots.

The Fast and the Furious movies

The Shawshank Redemption

Speaking as a white kid - I remember thoroughly enjoying "The Wiz" when I watched it at age 11 when it came out. Haven't seen it since, though. I remember something about a big toilet which I thought was hilarious at the time.

R2 i agree about Pretty Woman. Aside from Julia Roberts star power, it’s an ugly movie. Mean spirited.

I know I'm almost alone in this one but I saw Blue Velvet when it came out and couldn't believe it was already called a classic.

I do not understand the love for The Fifth Element. I hated nearly everything about it. Especially Chris Tucker’s character. He goes down as one of the most annoying characters of any movie I’ve ever seen.

I’m usually a big fan of sci if, but I didn’t get this one at all.

It's certainly not horrible but I've never understood the popularity of The Princess Bride. Saw it once and it was fine but I wasn't charmed. Maybe I was too old and missed out on the endless cable airings that feed the nostalgia?

R62 You beat me to it. Blue Velvet was awful.

Any Star Wars after the original trilogy.

Anything on the Hallmark channel. I'm not a mug cradler.

A Christmas Story

All of John Hughes' teen movies sucked and are overrated.

R63 Too bad you didn’t get it. It’s brilliant.

GREASE 2 has a big following??

R55 take that back or the Cool Rider will get you

The movie “Once Upon a Time in America” is a piece of doodoo ca-ca, yet is revered as genius.

Similarly the simmering pile of armadillo feces called “The Nice Guys” got great reviews as a rollicking comic farce. It’s shit.

Princess Bride whizzed right past me and it seems like everyone I know breaks out in huge smiles at just the mention of the name.

Mame, Marnie, Moment by Moment, most anything with Madonna... those are just the "M's"... An eye roll for me are fans whose fangs come out if they dare criticize a movie they champion that everyone else despises, like the musical version of Lost Horizon.

[quote]An eye roll for me are fans whose fangs come out if they dare criticize a movie they champion that everyone else despises

There's a Beyonce movie?

R75 Tread lightly.

I don't get why people around my age (i'm from 1995) consider "The Butterfly Effect" as a deep and complex film. I saw it just once and I thought it was an utter, pretentious piece of crap.

Also, the same goes for the "The DaVinci Code" franchise.

The Insufferable Avatari

[quote] I remember thoroughly enjoying "The Wiz" when I watched it at age 11 when it came out. Haven't seen it since, though. I remember something about a big toilet which I thought was hilarious at the time.

The big toilet? You're remembering Diana Ross's performance.

How *not* to shoot a dance-song which was already a hit. (Long shot, from the back.) "Ease on Down the Road"

[quote] GREASE 2 has a big following??

Only on Datalounge.

R79, Evillene's throne turns into a toilet after she's showered with water. One of numerous stupid decisions the movie made.

R81 Lorna Luft has a big folllowing on the DL

I saw the sequel to Hocus Pocus recently, not having seen the original. It was utter dreck.

I agree with you, OP, about Annie. I don't know how anyone could find a ragamuffin with a red Afro cute enough to watch onscreen for a couple of hours. And I also found Carol Burnett's performance very tiresome. The only good point to me is Ann Reinking's dancing.

R84, well, you have to see the movie it's a sequel to!! I mean really!

The Fifth Element is a fantastic movie in every respect, I've seen it dozens of times, and watch it at least once a year...

And The Princess Bride is beyond fantastic. I do not get or understand how anyone can not LOVE that movie. It's amazing, quotable, hilarious, moving, and just all around excellent.

These movies are in no way "genuinely horrible", you've just got really, really bad taste.

I recall Hocus Pocus constantly being on cable in the late 1990s and 2000s and when I was visiting my parents my mom would have it on as background noise but I never really watched it until a year ago. Man, it's really terrible. It has a nice atmosphere and serves well as background noise, but its a dull film.

I thought the much-loved-and-lauded "Crazy Rich Asians" was a steaming pile of feces.

R74 I doubt Mame or Moment by Moment have huge followings. Only for masochists. But I agree Marnie does because it is considered lesser Hitchcock with some great elements.

Why WAS Diana Ross and her short Afro cast as Dorothy???

She OLD!

While not "genuinely horrible" both Rear Window and Vertigo have always left me cold, the latter because of the plot holes large enough to put a giant redwood tree through and both of them for Stewarts's cornpone bullshit vocalisms.

Vertigo has some creepy atmosphere and Rear Window some deft comic moments but they are often cited among the greatest movies in the world and I can think of at least a half dozen other Hitchcock films I prefer.

I finally made it through Vertigo during Covid lockdown and was unimpressed. It looks great at times but it’s slow as molasses.

Rear Window is better but isn’t as rewatchable as other Hitchcock

Caddyshack

Everything Everywhere All At Once, was not a horrible movie, but it's not a good one either. It's worth watching for Michelle Yeoh. Although I didn't hate it, I didn't think it would win awards, let alone the Oscar.

Love, Actually was trite garbage.

I’ve caught bits and pieces of the TWILIGHT films on cable and they were as wretched as I expected them to be. I really really hate Kristen Stewart and Robert Shovel-face.

Hocus Pocus has a following because its one of the few halloween movies and financed by Disney, so it showed every year on Disney Channel (which went basic cable around time of HP, expanding its audience). Its fine for little children. Its a shitty movie.

CLUE is amazing. Its fine if some people don't like it--it's very broad comedy and that's not for everyone. But the cast is spectacular and the director, who was best known for Faulty Towers, went on to direct MY COUSIN VINNY. They showed it at Hollywood Forever maybe 6 years ago and it sold 4,000 tickets with tons of people showing up dressed as the characters. Also played frequently on cable in the 1980s

Predator. Director John McTiernan says he wanted to show how guns are bad but has no trouble having a Mexican guerilla village slaughtered by our heroes with guns. And this is even before The Predator shows up.

I went to a screening of Clue a couple months ago after not having seen it since the 80s. The performances really are excellent and the set design is great. I wish the mystery aspect was stronger but I can understand how it found a cult audience

Clue is mostly tedious, but it has a few moments that are so great they make the whole movie worthwhile: the singing telegram, but most of all "Flames... on the side of my face..."

R92, R93, thank you. I hate Vertigo so much and do not understand why it is considered to be a great film. Hey, hate, hate it. Hate seeing Jimmy Stewart being feeble and confused, hate seeing Barbara Bel Geddes treated as a Velma, hate the wooden Kim Novak. Blech.

Also appreciate the callouts for the piece of shit Love, Actually. Misogynist crap masquerading as entertainment. It’s utter SHITE.

I think Vertigo is wonderful up until when Kim Novak speaks. The scenes of Jimmy stalking her are great. But I hate Novak in it and still maintain Vera Miles would have been better.

The original Harry Potter movie stank. They got better as the kids grew up and they got rid of Chris Columbus

R100, I agree, I forgive Clue everything for Madeline's performance!

At least "Annie" includes most of the lyrics in the songs, unlike "Black Annie." But the latter is becoming beloved too.

Vertigo has that amazing soundtrack, a great opening credits sequence, wonderful photography of San Francisco and the scene by the redwoods tree that is genuinely chilling, like a real premonition of evil.

Other than that, meh.

You really want "genuinely horrible" and "undeserved huge cult following" in one same film? There you go...

Definitely "Love, Actually" and the "Twilight" series. (each move of the Twilight series is worse than the last, with the last one being so painfully bad I almost couldn't stand it... )

r106: It also has that great shot of Kim Novak in the green gown at Ernie's, one of the greatest filmed dream sequences of all time (the shot of Carlotta Valdes slowly turning her head away from Gavin Elstir to look at Scotty gives me chills every time I see it), the wonderful scene with Midge trying to cheer Scotty up at the asylum, and the famous 360-degree shot around Scotty and Madeline kissing before she runs away.

The "Clerks" movies.

R110, I ww’d you once, and if I could I’d give you 25 more.

Remember when Titanic was a national obsession? I saw the movie more towards the end of the craze. It was just awful! So boring! The titanic splitting in half as it’s going down was impressive and the scene where Jack dies is sad, but both scenes only take up a small portion of the movie.

Silence of the Lambs. Not so much for the movie itself, but Jodie Foster's performance. Truly one of the worst performances ever.

Clueless

I just watched "Clueless" again and I think it's completely delightful. Alicia Silverstone did a wonderful job. Tell us why you think it's "horrible".

Tar..

I think WHAT'S UP DOC? is one of the most annoying movies I have ever had the displeasure to be forced to sit through. Shrill with that shrew woman bouncing around like a cutesy maniac. The only saving grace was Ryan O'Neal was hot but that's dampened now knowing what a perv he was.

But then I also hate every Marx Brothers movie so I think I just have no patience for that kind of manic "comedy"

The Accused. It's essentially a made-for-Lifetime movie and Jodie didn't deserve the Oscar for it. Her accent in the movie is all over the place. And her dancing in the bar is so hilariously bad.

Agree with many of these assessments. The only watchable Twilight is the first one, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. It's just dark and indie enough to handle the drecky teen material, somewhat. It had a good soundtrack. The rest of them are horrible.

It's so true what's been said about Hitch films, and Rear Window and Vertigo. I thought it was just me, didn't know why these were so popular. Sure, the scenery/art in Vertigo is beautiful (and I get al the angles in the tower, etc) but the plot ? Ugh. Rear Window is boring and I can't really buy either Grace Kelly or Kim Novak wanting Howdy Dowdy Jimmy Stewart.

I also don't get the love for Beaches or Pretty Woman.

I *hate* Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Talk about an annoying character. And he is terribly to his best friend, Cameron - let alone his sister. Totally worthless character and I don't see why he's so smug.

I really do not get the love for Avatar 1 or 2 at all. They're crap too. Same with the John Wicks as well. I'm glad I'm not alone!

I do not get why anyone liked Deadpool (or its seqiel) at all. What a hideous character and breaking the 4th wall all the time as an excuse for a weak script.

I enjoy most Hitchcock films but I don't care for North By Northwest and Vertigo (James Stewart generally annoys me).

The John Wick movies are brilliant, and brilliantly executed. Amazing to watch.

Deadpool was tons of fun. The sequel slightly less so.

The first Avatar was good, I don't really get the hate for it. The second one just seemed unnecessary though. And overly long.

Beaches is a chick flick. It resonates with a certain kind of woman. And maybe some gay men.

The 1950s Hitchcock blonde period is wildly overrated, mainly because he cast boring actresses in his leads when he used to have very talented and dynamic women. Rear Window is the only one of the lot (Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, and North by Northwest) that merits the outsized acclaim it has. His best "late" works are Psycho and The Birds. His early American period is also hit or miss.

On the other hand, I think Sabotage and Lifeboat are both top tier Hitchcock that do not get the acclaim they deserve. Stage Fright is somewhat minor but IMO underrated. I still can't decide if Marnie is good or not.

There isn’t an Hitchcock movie that belongs to this thread, much less Vertigo, a movie several times chosen as the best movie ever. Sure, you may not like it, find it overrrated, whatnot, but i can see how anyone would call it genuinely horrible.

I nominate Titanic, Forrest Gump and Scent of a Woman.

DEFINITELY Forrest Gump. I don't know exactly why, but man, I hated that that movie.

r122 Highly accurate comment. I love Lifeboat too.

Forest Gump is beyond awful.

Lifeboat is hilarious.

MOONSTRUCK…what a 💩 of a movie that was. Cher’s Oscar was also undeserved. What a fucking cornball flick. Frau B.S.

I wasn’t a fan of Labyrinth

The Wiz had a great score, really?

I’m still waiting for r7 to tell me what movie he thought was Sister Act 3.

r130: Yep.

"Ease on Down the Road," "Home," "The Feeling We Once Had," "No Bad News," "Brand New Day"... it's a terrific score.

r7 here, I was referring to the other two movies mentioned in that post, Hocus Pocus and Clue, but you knew that.

Well R38, what you’re describing - that would be BARBIE.

I guess you all know that Wuz really stands for “piss”.

^^Wiz

Super Troopers was awful.

Napoleon Dynamite.

Interstellar.

Inception.

I just saw Jurassic Park for the first time at the Alamo Drafthouse. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Tickets were $4 so I thought I didn’t care whether it was any good, but I regret it anyway.

I saw Profumo di una Donna and thought it was so god awful I couldn't believe it was turned into an American film. And then Pacino wins an Oscar for one of the most annoying characters ever. I didn't see the American version however. I wish I hadn't seen the Italian.

I saw Louden in Annie. Burnett in the film was so terrible in comparison I really started disliking her. Now I loved her as a kid but now I find her intolerable.

"American Sniper"

It's about a psychopathic murderer.

It's akin to "Forrest Gump," popular with a Rah Rah! 'Mur-i-ca! crowd who believe that unquestioning loyalty, patriotism, and stupidity are better than using critical thought, questioning motives and priorities, and being informed.

I agree with "Ferris Buller's Day Off." It's mean and mistakes world-weariness for humor.

BLOOD FEAST. I love it because it’s so terrible. Shocked at the cult following that it has though. A favorite of John Waters too IIRC.