What is the best intentionally crappy B-level movie of all time?

[Roma_Victrix]

So help me god, if you say Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) I'm gonna smack you hard enough that you fly right out of this thread and beyond the stratosphere, definitely not with weak little kiddie gloves like with Will Smith and Chris Rock.

In your opinion, what is the best intentionally crappy B-Level movie of all time? By that I mean a movie with a director, producers, and actors that are totally self-aware that it is ridiculous and deliberately aimed at making you laugh at the charm of its awkward nature or poor quality. That would immediately disqualify cult classics like The Room (2003), since its kooky director Tommy Wiseau was apparently totally serious in his approach. There are some major productions that turn into box office bombs that certainly evoke the same feelings, such as Dan Aykroyd's Nothing but Trouble (1991). As a Warner Bros film that had a $40 million budget in the early 1990s, one could argue it is not exactly a B-Level film, but it at least borders on that territory and definitely has that B-Level campiness appeal:



Barring that, here are some legit notable candidates in chronological order (but by no means is this an exhaustive list, please add your own suggestions):

The Toxic Avenger (1984)



They Live (1988):



Frankenhooker (1990):



The Dark Backward (1991):



Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002):



Machete Kills (2013):



Return to Nuke 'Em High (2014):

[Cyclops]

Star Wars. Trash script, attractive young actors, a bag guy with a tape deck on his chest, and an alcoholic has been in a wig.

[Roma_Victrix]

Star Wars. Trash script, attractive young actors, a bag guy with a tape deck on his chest, and an alcoholic has been in a wig.

You know what? I'll allow it! The conversation at least, even though I disagree in principle with your silly proposal.

The film's budget was only $11 million, which wasn't exactly peanuts in 1970s after adjusting for inflation, since that would be like $50 million now. You could argue that's a low budget for a major production and only a step above a B-Level film budget. Also, before making Star Wars (1977), Lucasfilm Ltd. wasn't yet a major powerhouse and only had one film under its belt: American Graffiti (1973). The latter was certainly a B-Level film given its budget of $770,000, but it proved to be a popular cult classic and put George Lucas on the map as it grossed an impressive $140 million at the box office. However, this paled in comparison to Star Wars, which grossed over $775 million! Adjusted for inflation, that would be like $3.6 billion today! It is still one of the highest grossing films of all time, the second-highest grossing film in all of North America after Gone with the Wind (1939).

Aside from the financial angle, yes, the campiness of the film in certain respects is something one should consider in terms of arguing for B-Level status. However, the production values and special effects for the time (i.e. 1970s) are honestly way too good for it to be considered a B-Level film. It would be like arguing Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) was a B-Level film, and coincidentally the latter had roughly the same budget: $11 million. It also fails another criteria of my thread: Star Wars is not intentionally crappy! In fact, I wouldn't argue that it's crappy at all, but simply has some corny elements to it (unsurprising for a film billed as a "space opera"). Lucas and the filmmakers involved were certainly not making a film like Troma Entertainment's The Toxic Avenger with over-the-top stupid gags for cheap laughs. Overall it's a serious film with a legendary musical score.

[alhoon]

I would say "Cowboys versus Aliens" is a good candidate.

[Cyclops]

Well I thoroughly enjoyed Sword and the Sorcerer and Beastmaster, neither was the most expensive film ever. They Live and Toxic Avenger were definitely B and definitely great. Ditto those Evil Dead films, the first was a bit more po-faced but 2 and 3 rocked hard.

Would Flash Gordon be B grade? Score by Queen of course, and some of the cast were acting royalty.

Most of the Arnie films were poorly written and cheaply shot but I guess they count as blockbusters because of the Actinator being in them. Conan and Terminator were classics though.

[Roma_Victrix]

I would say "Cowboys versus Aliens" is a good candidate.

The premise of Cowboys & Aliens (2011) is obviously silly, but that doesn't make it a B-Level film. It's a dual Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures production with a budget of $163 million, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, and Sam Rockwell. Mind you, some B-Level films have big-name actors. However, this one had an all-star cast in a Hollywood blockbuster that simply didn't make a lot of money ($174 million, barely over its budget relatively speaking).

Well I thoroughly enjoyed Sword and the Sorcerer and Beastmaster, neither was the most expensive film ever. They Live and Toxic Avenger were definitely B and definitely great. Ditto those Evil Dead films, the first was a bit more po-faced but 2 and 3 rocked hard.

Would Flash Gordon be B grade? Score by Queen of course, and some of the cast were acting royalty.

Most of the Arnie films were poorly written and cheaply shot but I guess they count as blockbusters because of the Actinator being in them. Conan and Terminator were classics though.

I feel pretty dumb for not already including Evil Dead II (1987) or Army of Darkness (1992) by Sam Raimi, so thanks for mentioning those. Either one of them are easily the candidates for the best B-Level films of all time. In fact, that might even conclude this entire thread. So yeah, shame on me for having a brain fart and not even thinking to include them.

For that matter, my dumbass even forgot to mention Mad Max (1979), which only had a budget of $400,000 and yet made $100 million at the box office! How the hell did I manage to do that? Although not intentionally crappy productions for comedic effect, it's perhaps unforgiveable that I also failed to mention Reservoir Dogs (1992) by Quentin Tarantino, his earliest, or his most quintessential B-Level film Pulp Fiction (1994), which became a huge success in comparison.

As for Flash Gordon (1980), I would say it wasn't B-Level, since it had a budget of $20-27 million in 1980 versus the $11 million Star Wars had in 1977. Adjusted for inflation, these are not tiny amounts of money for a film production back then.

As for the earliest titles with Schwarzenegger, Conan the Barbarian (1982) was a Universal Pictures & 20th Century Fox production that had a budget of $20 million. While it wasn't a true blockbuster in terms of its revenue/sales, it was still moderately successful at the box office. It's also funny to think about how it had a larger budget than Star Wars for that era (made only five years apart). So yeah, definitely not a B-Level film. Very few B-Level films make a huge lasting impact on mainstream culture like this film did or for that matter Star Wars. I'd say Pulp Fiction probably wins in that category since it only had a budget of $8.5 million and made $213.9 million at the box office and has been parodied by MadTV and dozens of other comedy groups/shows/movies.

In comparison to Tarantino's films, I'd say Desperado (1995) by Robert Rodriguez is a worthy B-Level shoutout, albeit not a crappy film made for comedic effect. It's one of those B-Level movies that has a sizable cast of big-name actors (albeit not an all-star cast). Its budget was only $7 million and yet it made $58 million at the box office. It didn't make the same impact on popular culture that Pulp Fiction, though.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

BloodRayne ^^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodR...lm)#Production

From Uwe Boll worst living regisseur ever.

20 Million production costs, star line up, but defintely a very bad b movie.^^

[Roma_Victrix]

BloodRayne ^^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodR...lm)#Production

From Uwe Boll worst living regisseur ever.

20 Million production costs, star line up, but defintely a very bad b movie.^^

I've never heard of this before, but if it's got Ben Kingsley in it, I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the mention.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

Boll movies aren't cult because they are good, but because they are soooo bad.

[Morifea]

BloodRayne ^^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodR...lm)#Production

From Uwe Boll worst living regisseur ever.

20 Million production costs, star line up, but defintely a very bad b movie.^^

This Flick has even Meatloaf in it.

Uwe Boll is a good call, this Guy has a very interesting approach to the Art of Moviemaking.

[Cyclops]

Is Rocky Horror Show a B grade movie? I mean that's the the main theme, along with sexual liberation.

That and Blues Brothers (prolly B Grade, SNL is mostly trash) were Friday and Saturday night cult classics at the Valhalla cinema in Richmond, people went to great lengths to dress up and play along with the show, maybe a third of the audience was cosplaying (we didn't call it that then, it was just making an arse of yourself) down to people in speedos for the 20 second beach shot. IIRC a woman came dressed as Princess Leia for the sewer kiss scene (that was pretty meta-once again we didn't call it that then, we were just like "woah"). Also the Jake cosplayer kept kissing after the screen Jake dropped his Carrie Fisher in the mud, to many cheers.

[John Doe]

Wayne's world, period

[Halie Satanus]

Bad Taste. Brain Dead. Dead Alive.



All directed by some fella called 'Peter Jackson.' Wonder what happened to him...

[conon394]

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra?

[Roma_Victrix]

Is Rocky Horror Show a B grade movie? I mean that's the the main theme, along with sexual liberation.

That and Blues Brothers (prolly B Grade, SNL is mostly trash) were Friday and Saturday night cult classics at the Valhalla cinema in Richmond, people went to great lengths to dress up and play along with the show, maybe a third of the audience was cosplaying (we didn't call it that then, it was just making an arse of yourself) down to people in speedos for the 20 second beach shot. IIRC a woman came dressed as Princess Leia for the sewer kiss scene (that was pretty meta-once again we didn't call it that then, we were just like "woah"). Also the Jake cosplayer kept kissing after the screen Jake dropped his Carrie Fisher in the mud, to many cheers.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was definitely B-Level (budget of $1.4 million), and while I like Blues Brothers (1980) a lot more, it technically was not a B-Level film despite its inherent campiness, due to its budget of $27 million. That was more than twice the budget of Star Wars made just three years prior.

Wayne's world, period

Love the movie, but its inclusion in the B-Level realm is slightly debatable. I would say a $20 million budget in 1992 (equivalent to about $40-42 million today) places it squarely above the B-Level. Despite that, I'll admit the movie does have an obvious B-Level feel to it, but this is more of an issue of subject matter and context as a movie based on an SNL comedy sketch. A much better argument could be made for Airheads (1994), which only had a budget of $11.2 million, and yet had a near all-star cast, some of whom were regulars on SNL like Sandler.

Bad Taste. Brain Dead. Dead Alive.



All directed by some fella called 'Peter Jackson.' Wonder what happened to him...

Jackson's Dead Alive is so awesome, love that movie! He somehow managed to make one of the goriest movies I've ever seen and yet it's not repulsive but rather mostly funny, with hilarious personalities like that priest guy who kills a bunch of zombies while saying: "I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!" With a budget of only $3 million in 1992, it is most definitely B-Level status, and yet they manage to do quite well with the special effects. Jackson's directing is also top notch, a precursor to his later greatness.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Mortal Kombat? I guess by your metrics it is too expensive to be truly B film level though. Roughly $37 million in 2022 dollars.

[Halie Satanus]

[I]Jackson's Dead Alive is so awesome, love that movie! He somehow managed to make one of the goriest movies I've ever seen and yet it's not repulsive but rather mostly funny, with hilarious personalities like that priest guy who kills a bunch of zombies while saying: "I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!" With a budget of only $3 million in 1992, it is most definitely B-Level status, and yet they manage to do quite well with the special effects. Jackson's directing is also top notch, a precursor to his later greatness.

Zombie baby flying into a frying pan, I think. It's been 30 odd years.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

Nobody will love you like your mother... ^^

[Roma_Victrix]

Zombie baby flying into a frying pan, I think. It's been 30 odd years.

Nobody will love you like your mother... ^^

So many great scenes. Yes, the bloated zombie mother at the end was horrifying. Loved the scene where he just tears them all up with a lawnmower.

Mortal Kombat? I guess by your metrics it is too expensive to be truly B film level though. Roughly $37 million in 2022 dollars.

That's perhaps the best candidate so far that can unfortunately be immediately disqualified due to its budget, but it's somewhat close to B-Level.

I suppose The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) deserves a worthy shoutout, because the director/producers definitely added elements of hillbilly cheesiness to a film that is otherwise terrifying and gory. It only had a budget of $140,000 and yet made $30.9 million at the box office back then.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Horror is indeed probably the best genre to find some stupid, cheap that ended up randomly being really good