This past weekend I was at the 2007 Toronto Fan Expo, and one of the highlights of the event was taking in a screening of the new horror/slasher film “Hatchet” which is getting some critical praise at the moment. Right off the top I should tell you that I really enjoyed watching the film, it was a fun experience. But later upon reflection, I realized it really is a terrible movie. And yet I liked it.
We’ve all had those movies… many of us have at least one or two of those movies every month. Movies that are admittedly horrible, poorly done films that somehow achieve what they were aiming for and we end up having a positive experience at the theaters.
Let’s look at Hatchet for a second just as an example. The movie is a standard 80’s style slasher film. The acting is abysmal, the dialog is poor, the story itself is paper thin with no real horror mythology depth… it’s just sort of “Hey everyone! This is what the movie is about… oooooo… look… here comes that guy I just told you about with an axe and he’s going to start killing us all. AAHHHHH!!!”
And really… that’s all the movie is. Some funny one liners, and a progression of scenes where an insane axe murderer kills people. Not exactly hard cinema to make… and yet… I loved watching it. It was fun… totally forgettable for sure… but fun nonetheless.
Doug and I have this ongoing debate. He thinks a movie should be judged on what it was TRYING to do. To me this makes no sense, since by that logic, if a director is TRYING to make a bad movie, and achieves that…. then you’re supposed to say he did a great job. But at the same time there is some validity to what Doug (and others) are saying. When a movie like Hatchet just sets out to give you some laughs and cheesy slasher kills, and gives you just that… can’t you sit back and say, despite the obvious flaws and weaknesses, can’t you sit back and say you appreciated the film for what it was and what it gave you?
Personally, I’ve yet to give or hear a solid definition for what makes a bad film good… but I do know there are a lot of them out there. Movies that are “bad” by some of the traditional measurements like script, acting, plot ect… and yet end up being quite enjoyable. Here are some notable ones for me:
– Mortal Kombat (man… sooooo bad… yet I loved it)
– Armageddon
– Megaforce
– Baseketball
– Red Dawn
– Point Break
– Bloodsport
– Leprechaun
But you get my point. It’s a tough thing to nail down. So I’ve got 2 questions for you:
1) What common elements have you recognized that can make a bad movie really good?
2) What are some of YOUR films that you’d classify as bad… yet you loved them?
