List of films considered the worst

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Plan 9 from Outer Space, infamously considered "so bad it's good", is a contender for Worst Movie Ever Made.

The films listed here have achieved a significant level of infamy through critical and popular assertion as being among the worst films ever made. The films have either been cited by a combination of reputable sources as the worst movie of the year, or been on such a source's list of the worst movies of all time. Examples of such sources include the Golden Raspberry Awards ("Razzies"), Roger Ebert's list of most hated films, Rotten Tomatoes, and the Internet Movie Database's "Bottom 100" list.

Original films

B-movies

Although B-movies are not generally presented or accepted as fine cinema in the first place, some of the films from this genre have become known for being markedly worse than others, sometimes being referred to as Z-movies.

Some B-movies have become cult classics, partly as a result of their peculiarities. Fans of low-budget cult films often use the phrase "so bad it's good" to describe movies that are so poorly made that they become an entertaining "comedy of errors". Unlike more mundane bad films, these films develop an ardent fan following who love them because of their poor quality, because normally, the bevy of errors (technical or artistic) or wildly contrived plots are unlikely to be seen elsewhere.

Glen or Glenda (1953)

A semi-autobiographical quasi-documentary about transvestism, starring and directed by Ed Wood. After a nightmarish dream sequence, Glen undergoes psychotherapy to help cure his affliction. Béla Lugosi appears in this film, as he did in several other Wood films toward the end of his career. Many of Wood's fans and critic Leonard Maltin insist that this was far worse than Plan 9 from Outer Space; Maltin considers it "possibly the worst movie ever made". In his book Cult Movies 3, Danny Peary suggests that this is actually a radical, if ineptly made, film that presents a far more personal story than is contained in films by more well-respected auteurs. This film was included in the 2004 DVD documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made.

Robot Monster (1953)

A science fiction film, originally shot and exhibited in 3D, featuring an actor dressed in a gorilla suit and what looks almost like a diving helmet. The film, produced and directed by Phil Tucker, is listed in Michael Sauter's book The Worst Movies of All Time among "The Baddest of the B's." It is also featured in The Book of Lists 10 worst movie list, in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and in the 2004 DVD documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made. The Golden Turkey Awards confers its main character the title of "Most Ridiculous Monster in Screen History" and, listing its director Phil Tucker among the runners-up to "Worst Director of All Time" (the winner being Ed Wood), states that "What made Robot Monster ineffably worse than any other low-budget sci-fi epic was its bizarre artistic pretension". Noted film composer Elmer Bernstein wrote the score for this film. It was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was fondly remembered by author Stephen King who quotes, and agrees with, a review in Castle of Frankenstein magazine ("certainly among the finest terrible movies ever made", "one of the most laughable poverty row quickies").

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Ed Wood's Plan 9 was labeled the "Worst Film Ever" by The Golden Turkey Awards. This movie marked the final appearance of Béla Lugosi. Wood idolized Lugosi, and before Lugosi's death, he shot a small amount of test footage of Lugosi. This was then placed in the movie and repeated several times. Following Lugosi's death, the character was then played by Tom Mason, the chiropractor of Wood's wife at the time, who played his scenes holding the character's cape in front of his face. Wood was apparently undeterred by the numerous physical differences–such as height and build–that distinguished Mason from Lugosi; e.g., that Mason was nearly bald while Lugosi retained a full head of hair until his death. Years later, one video distributor made light of this, adding the blurb "Almost Starring Bela Lugosi" on the tape box. Due to difficulty in finding a willing distributor, the film was not released until 1959. It has played at the New Orleans Worst Film Festival and was included in the 2004 DVD documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made. Plan 9 was also mocked on the television series Seinfeld by Jerry in the episode "The Chinese Restaurant," in which he said, "This isn't like plans one through eight. This is plan nine, the one that worked! The worst movie ever made!"

In 1994, Tim Burton directed Ed Wood, which included some material about the trials and tribulations of making Plan 9. In the television series The X-Files, Fox Mulder watches Plan 9 whenever he needs to focus on a difficult problem, claiming that the film is so incredibly bad that it shuts down the logic centers of his brain, allowing him to make intuitive leaps of logic. In the 1996 edition of Cult Flicks and Trash Pics, the authors state that, "The film has become so famous for its own badness that it's now beyond criticism."

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

A film by Coleman Francis shot silently with added narration. It features a seminude prologue (which implies necrophilia) completely unrelated to the rest of the film, and a scientist turning into a monster played by Tor Johnson. Leonard Maltin's TV and Movie Guide calls it "one of the worst films ever made". Bill Warren said "It may very well be the worst non-porno science fiction movie ever made." It was also featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Manos: The Hands of Fate has an opening nine-minute sequence in which nothing much happens but endless driving through the countryside, due to the opening credits being left out.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

This holiday staple was the creation of Nicholas Webster. When Martian children get to see Santa Claus only on TV, their parents decide to abduct Santa to make them happy. Like many others in this category, it has been featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is also included in the IMDb's worst 100. Also cited on a 10-worst list in The Book of Lists, in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and in the 2004 DVD documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made.

"Manos" The Hands of Fate (1966)

A low-budget horror film made by El Paso fertilizer salesman Hal Warren, about a family on vacation that stumbles upon an isolated house inhabited by a polygamous cult. Among its most notorious flaws, besides poor production qualities, is an opening sequence with little dialog in which the family drives through the countryside for several minutes looking for their hotel. Also, a teenage couple is seen making out for no apparent reason nor with any connection with the plot. John Reynolds, who played the character Torgo, supposedly a satyr, wore a rigging for his legs that made his performance extremely awkward. The film gained cult popularity by being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It has held the #1 spot on the IMDb Bottom 100 repeatedly. It also has a 9% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and the one positive review linked on Rotten Tomatoes is for its Mystery Science Theater appearance rather than the film itself (which the reviewer, Mike Bracken, calls "unwatchable").

Poorly executed adaptation

Many directors adapt a book, play, or story from another medium into a film, with varying results.

Howard the Duck (1986)

Howard the Duck was loosely based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and starring Lea Thompson, a young Tim Robbins, and Jeffrey Jones. The film retains only two central characters: the eponymous duck and Beverly Switzler, and goes to no effort to make them look or behave similarly to their counterparts from the comics. Executive producer George Lucas disowned it shortly after its release. In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin calls the film a "hopeless mess of a movie." The film was also among Siskel and Ebert's picks for the "Worst Films of 1986." The film was adapted by Willard Huyck and his wife Gloria Katz and directed by Huyck, with no input from Gerber, who "was hoping against hope that the script and the movie itself weren't as bad as I thought they were. Or at least, that they wouldn't be received as badly as I thought they would," citing that many films he hated were at least successful. Huyck and Katz were once considered "luminaries", but have not made a film since. The film was nominated for seven Razzies and "won" four, including Worst Picture, New Star, Visual Effects, and Screenplay.

Catwoman was one of the most critically panned movies of 2004.

Catwoman (2004)

Based on the DC Comics character and starring Halle Berry, the film retains next to nothing of the Batman antagonist and the source material. In the movie, Catwoman has actual superpowers, which she lacks in the comics. The lycra catsuit was replaced with slashed leather pants, a bra, and a mask-cap, and she leaps from rooftop to rooftop in stiletto heels. As the movie character differs so widely from her comic source, the character has been cited as "Catwoman In Name Only". It has a 9% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and was declared "arguably the worst superhero film ever made" by the Orlando Sentinel. The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) put it this way: "Me-ouch!"

It is the winner of four Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director (Pitof), and Worst Screenplay. Berry arrived at the ceremony to accept her Razzie in person (with her Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball in hand), saying:

"First of all, I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit, god-awful movie . . . It was just what my career needed."

Alone in the Dark (2005)

When Uwe Boll directed this movie– loosely based on a series of video games by Infogrames/Atari, and released in January 2005– critics panned it for a variety of reasons, including poor script and production values, overuse of slow-motion and quick cuts to optimize the gory content, almost no connection to the game, and bad acting. On the commentary of the DVD, Boll remarks that several of the scenes weren't depicted quite as he'd imagined them. One review said the movie was

"so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the straight-to-DVD level."

This movie received 1% at Rotten Tomatoes and is regularly on the IMDb Bottom 100. Critic Rob Vaux states that this movie is so bad that

"the other practitioners of cinematic drivel can rest a little easier now; they can walk in the daylight with their heads held high, a smile on their lips and a song in their hearts. It's okay, they'll tell themselves. I didn't make Alone in the Dark."

Screenwriter Blair Erickson wrote about his experience dealing with Boll and his original script, which was closer to the actual game itself, and Boll's script change demands on the comedy website Something Awful.

BloodRayne (2006)

Directed by Uwe Boll and loosely based on the video game of the same name, the film opened in 985 theaters throughout the United States on January 6, 2006; it was originally planned to be played at up to 2,500 theaters, but that number dropped to 1,600 and ended up lower due to prints being shipped to theaters that had not licensed the film. In its opening, the film only made $1,550,000. BloodRayne has received poor reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an overall rating of only 4%. The film ended up grossing $3,591,980 as of June 2006. The movie was criticized for not having much of a story, and for hiring prostitutes to stand in as actors to reduce production costs. The movie was also criticized by fans for having little in common with the game. The film has ranked as low as number 53 on IMDb's Bottom 100 list, although as of December 2007, this movie is no longer on the list. It was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Kristanna Loken), Worst Supporting Actor (Ben Kingsley), Worst Supporting Actress (Michelle Rodriguez), Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. Actor (Michael Madsen) who was also in the movie did not get nominated for worst actor. Madsen even said in several interviews that he disliked the movie very much.

Star vehicles

Some films listed here starred A-list actors whom critics felt were either badly miscast, paired or grouped with other stars with whom they did not share viable chemistry, or cast in an otherwise poorly made film that relied entirely on their star power.

The Conqueror (1956)

A Howard Hughes-funded box-office featuring John Wayne as Genghis Khan and the redheaded Susan Hayward as a Tatar princess. The movie was filmed near St. George, Utah, downwind from a nuclear testing range in Nevada and is often blamed for the cancer deaths of many of the cast and crew, including Hayward, Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz, and director Dick Powell (although according to an A&E Network Biography episode, Wayne also typically smoked five packs of cigarettes a day). The film appears in Michael Sauter's book The Worst Movies of All Time and made the 10-worst list in The Book of Lists. Hughes thought the movie was so bad that he bought up every copy (which cost him about $12 million), and he refused to distribute the film until 1974, when Paramount reached a deal with him. This would be the last film that Hughes would produce.

Sextette (1978)

An adaptation of Mae West's Broadway musical of the same name is widely considered one of the most embarrassing sex comedies ever made, which Variety dubbed "a cruel, unnecessary and mostly unfunny musical comedy", as an overweight 83-year old (at the time of filming) West maintained her sex kitten role while uttering quips such as "I'm the girl who works for Paramount all day, and Fox all night", and who croaked a duet with new sixth husband Sir Michael Barrington (a 34-year old Timothy Dalton), a disco rendition of "Love Will Keep Us Together". The film also featured cameos by Ringo Starr, Tony Curtis, a makeup-less Alice Cooper singing Van McCoy's "Next, Next" while dressed like Elton John, and Dom DeLuise warbling The Beatles' "Honey Pie."

Heaven's Gate (1980)

The cast included stars Isabelle Huppert and Kris Kristofferson, in addition to Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, Willem Dafoe, John Hurt, Mickey Rourke, and Sam Waterston among others; and was directed by Deer Hunter's Michael Cimino. The film was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards - with Cimino winning for director - as well as an Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration by Tambi Larsen and James L. Berkey. The film received such a poor showing at Toronto Film Festival that the cast and director were escorted away to avoid harm. The film grossed slightly less than $3.5 million in the United States of its more than $40 million budget, caused the end of United Artists as an independent studio and Cimino's career has never been as celebrated as his success prior to the film. The movie's title has become a synonym for total failure.

Inchon (1982)

Although the movie had a cast of prominent stars, including Laurence Olivier (during the twilight of his film career, in which he had taken many critically panned roles. This was due to Olivier's failing health, meaning he could no longer act on stage, and so only films were left), this war epic "won" four Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Olivier), Worst Director (Terence Young), and Worst Screenplay. It was named Worst Movie of the Year by Esquire. This movie was also criticized for being financed and produced by the Unification Church, and UC head Sun Myung Moon was a "special advisor" to the film. It has never been released on video or DVD.

The Lonely Lady (1983)

This film, based on the book by Harold Robbins and starring Pia Zadora, is criticized for bad acting, a clichéd storyline, and bad writing—the awards ceremony at the beginning and end of the movie is literally called 'The Awards'. It won 6 Razzies for worst actress, worst director, worst musical score, worst original song, worst picture, and worst screenplay. It was also nominated for worst actor, worst original song, worst supporting actor, worst supporting actress, and in 1990 it was nominated for worst picture of the decade and in 2005 nominated for the "Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years" Razzie. It has never been released on DVD.

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)

Sort of a self-parody, this movie portrays the making of a movie considered extremely horrendous by its director (Eric Idle). Since his name is Alan Smithee, he can't put that name in the credits, and he destroys all copies of the movie. Also starring Oscar winners Sylvester Stallone and Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Chan, and Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O'Neal, this film was widely panned by critics upon its release. It won five Razzies, including Worst Picture. With an estimated budget of $10 million, Burn Hollywood Burn only grossed approximately $45,000, making it a tremendous box office failure. Roger Ebert gave the film a zero out of four stars, calling it a "spectacularly bad film — incompetent, unfunny, ill-conceived, badly executed, lamely written, and acted by people who look trapped in the headlights." It is also on his "most hated" list. In the documentary Directed by Alan Smithee, director Arthur Hiller stated he had his credit replaced with the pseudonym Alan Smithee because he was so appalled with the botched final cut by the film's producers.

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Based on the first half of L. Ron Hubbard's thousand-page novel of the same name, starring John Travolta, Forest Whitaker and Barry Pepper, this film had the third worst 3,000-plus-theater opening weekend up to that time. It was criticized for its poor script, hammy acting by Travolta, overuse of tilted camera angles, laughable dialogue and several plot inconsistencies. More than one reviewer called the film "Travolting". Rob Vaux called the film a "crime against celluloid". Several describe the pain experienced while watching it. It has a three percent Rotten Tomatoes rating (listing 3 positive reviews out of 96). The film won seven Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Screen Couple (John Travolta and "anyone on the screen with him"). In 2005, an eighth Razzie (for Worst "Drama" of Our First 25 Years) was awarded to the film. Maxim magazine printed, "Even Quentin Tarantino couldn't revive Travolta's career after this movie."

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)

This action movie, starring Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas, was universally panned by critics, earning a rare zero percent rating (with 103 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes editors also ranked the film as the worst-reviewed film listed on the website. Critics variously described the film as "A picture for idiots", "Boring to an amazing degree", "A fine achievement in stupidity and dullness", "Dreadful", "Gives new meaning to the word incoherent", and "the film is bad on just about every level". One critic even called it "Simplistic: Bullets Vs. Humans."

Swept Away (2002)

After director Guy Ritchie won critical acclaim for back-to-back British gangster flicks Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, he went on to cast his wife, Madonna, as the female lead in a remake of 1974's Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August. It has a six percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes, an 18 out of 100 on Metacritic.com, and won five Razzies: Worst Movie, Worst Director, Worst Actress (tied with Britney Spears in Crossroads), Worst Screen Couple (Madonna along with Adriano Giannini), and Worst Remake or Sequel. It also went direct-to-video in the UK (Ritchie's home country and Madonna's adopted home.)

Gigli (2003)

A movie featuring Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck that was declared by many to be the worst movie of 2003. Originally a black comedy with no romantic subplot, the producers demanded script rewrites throughout filming, hoping to cash in on the Lopez-Affleck romance that was big news in celebrity-watching publications of the time such as Us and People. This film only grossed $6 million, making it one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. Many especially avoided it because they thought it was just a vehicle for the Lopez-Affleck relationship. Some reviewers dubbed the film "The ultimate turkey of all time" — perhaps aptly, considering one notorious scene in the film involved Lopez's character's sex talk to Affleck's character as she invited him to perform oral sex on her: "It's turkey time." "What?" "Gobble, gobble." Winner of seven Razzies (including 2005's Worst "Comedy" of Our First 25 Years).

Redline (2007)

An action film about racing exotic cars. It has a zero percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and has a 3 out of 10 star rating at the IMDb. This movie stars Eddie Griffin, Nadia Bjorlin, and Nathan Phillips and became best known for Griffin's behind-the-scenes incident, when he crashed a rare Enzo Ferrari worth over $1 million for the movie's promotion.

I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

This Lindsay Lohan thriller received almost universally negative reviews and Richard Roeper ranked it #1 on his list of the Worst Films of 2007. The film earned nine Razzie nominations in 2008, and took home eight of them (breaking the record previously held by Showgirls and Battlefield Earth), including Worst Picture, Director, Remake or Ripoff, Screenplay, and new category Worst Excuse for a Horror Film, while Lindsay Lohan took home three awards: two for Worst Actress and the third for Worst Screen Couple. The film has an 8% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and a 16% rating at Metacritic. Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter commented that "enduring this ponderous, convoluted thriller is pure torture," and wondered what Lindsay Lohan was thinking when she accepted the role. On a budget of $12 million, the film only made back $7.5 million during its theatrical run but managed to earn back the other $4.5 million through home video rentals.

Bad crossover

Sometimes stars in other fields, such as music, will attempt to parlay their existing fame into a movie career. If this works well enough the star can have a dual career in both fields, or move on exclusively to a film career. Other times, this turns out to have been a mistake and they often stop after the first try.

Glitter (2001)

A semi-autobiographical movie about Mariah Carey in which she plays Billie Frank, a very thinly-veiled Carey-like performer. Critics universally panned it for seeming to be a vanity film intended only to enhance Carey's singing career. Carey had pushed for the project as early as 1997, but its release just ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, coupled with the poor reception of Carey's next album (her first since signing a $100 million recording contract), not only damaged Carey's career, but may have been a factor that drove her to a physical breakdown. Website Retrocrush commented, "Only Mariah Carey could play herself in a movie and fuck it up." Metacritic.com gave it a 14 out of 100, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7% rating, and it earned five nominations and one "win" for Carey as Worst Actress at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards. Jimmy Fallon reported on SNL's Weekend Update that the FBI was searching for Osama bin Laden in theaters showing Glitter, because he was believed hiding in a remote and vacant location.

The hastily-made movie From Justin to Kelly opened on June 20 2003 and spent until July 4 2003 in cinemas.

From Justin to Kelly (2003)

American Idol finalists Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini starred in this movie musical. It stayed in theaters for only two weeks before being released to stores on DVD six weeks later. The film was rushed into production to capitalize on the popularity of the TV series American Idol. When asked about why she did the film, Clarkson told Time Magazine, "Two words: Contractually obligated!" On Metacritic.com, it has a score of 14/100 points; Rotten Tomatoes lists only 5 positive reviews out of 57 in total. As of early-January 2008, it is in the number 14 position in the IMDb bottom 100 with a score of 1.8 out of 10. The film was awarded a special Razzie (for Worst "Musical" of Our First 25 Years) in 2005; however, it was nominated for four Teen Choice Awards. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "for the panting masses of American Idol fans who imagine winning and going to live happily ever after in Lotusland, the message couldn't be clearer. You, too, might one day end up starring in the motion picture equivalent of Cheez Whiz."

Bad comedy

Some comedic films fail because they are simply not funny to a wide enough audience. Sometimes they fail due to poor writing or acting, or because they just "try too hard". Other times they fail because of an attempt by a comedic actor to try something different or a non-comedic actor to attempt comedy. Finally, some "comedy" films cross into bad taste in their attempt.

Leonard Part 6 (1987)

Writer and star Bill Cosby appeared on various talk shows denouncing the movie and warning people against wasting their time or money on it. Scott Weinberg at DVD Talk said, "Movies this bad should be handled with Teflon gloves and a pair of tongs." It won three Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Cosby accepted the awards in person, on the condition that they be made from 24-karat (99.999%) gold and Italian marble. This film was also one of Cosby's last forays into feature films before his semi-retirement from the silver screen. He followed the film up with Ghost Dad, which also received extremely negative reviews.

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)

A comedy starring Sylvester Stallone along with Golden Girls star Estelle Getty, about a cop whose elderly mother meddles in his life, to the point of going on raids and chases with him. The film won three Razzies: one each for Stallone and Getty, as well as for Worst Screenplay. It also has a 6% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. In a 2006 interview with Ain't It Cool News, Stallone himself referred to it as "maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen", that "a flatworm could write a better script", and "in some countries – China, I believe – running [the movie] once a week on government television has lowered the birth rate to zero. If they ran it twice a week, I believe in twenty years China would be extinct."

Underground Comedy Movie (1999)

A comedy based on a cable access show from 1988. Director/main actor Vince Offer constructed this film out of a series of tasteless, lowbrow skits (including Gena Lee Nolin loudly using the restroom and a superhero named "Dickman", who dresses in a giant penis costume and defeats his enemies by squirting them with semen). In 1999, Offer filed a suit against 20th Century Fox and the co-directors of There's Something About Mary, Bobby and Peter Farrelly, claiming that 14 scenes in Mary were stolen from his film. The Farrellys released this statement: "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney." It is only rated 2.9 out of 10 on IMDb as of October, 2007. In a review in The Village Voice, Rob Davis called the film "lunkheaded and amateurish" and stated that it was "for masochists only."

The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)

The Eddie Murphy vehicle endured numerous script revisions and languished for two years after filming was completed, until its release in August 2002. The movie cost $110 million to make and market, but earned just $7.1 million worldwide. A majority of critics lambasted the awful acting, terrible dialogue, and lack of humor. It was nominated for five Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Murphy, who was also nominated for I Spy and Showtime), Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy with Owen Wilson in I Spy, Robert De Niro in Showtime, and himself cloned in Pluto Nash), and Worst Director (Ron Underwood). Murphy did not promote the film upon its release. Pluto Nash has a 6% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Entertainment Weekly called 2002 Eddie Murphy's "annus horribilis" (a play on the term "annus mirabilis") due to the critical and commercial failure of his three films released that year. In 2007, the Murphy vehicle Norbit was nominated for eight Razzies and won three for its crass racial and sexual stereotypes.

Dirty Love (2005)

Written by and starring Jenny McCarthy, it "won" four Razzie awards, for Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Mallory Asher), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Actress (McCarthy). It also has a score of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert said in his review, "On the basis of Dirty Love, I am not certain that anyone involved has ever seen a movie, or knows what one is," and on star Jenny McCarthy, he wrote, "I feel sorry for her." He also calls the film "so pitiful it doesn't rise to the level of badness."

Epic Movie (2007)

Reviews toward the film were overwhelmingly negative, despite the movie's initial commercial success.Mark Heager stated that the film's initial box office success was a telling statement about modern moviegoers. The film was the recipient of a 2% "Rotten" rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Recently, it was also ranked as the 13th worst movie ever reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes. As of May 24, 2008, the movie is ranked #75 on the IMDb's Bottom 100 list.

Meet the Spartans (2008)

The film received extremely negative reviews from critics. As of March 22 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 2% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 41 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 9 out of 100, based on 11 reviews — indicating "extreme dislike or disgust" and being the worst received film by the director on the site. British film critic John Hays said "About as awful as putting a pine up your bum." One reviewer in The Sunday Herald gave the film a score of zero, while an Australian newspaper review described it as being "as funny as a burning orphanage". The Times reviewer Wendy Ide suggested that the producers of the film were not aiming for 'laughs' but 'a simian grunt of recognition from an audience that must have been practically brain-dead to fork out £10 to see a film that can’t even master the concept of out-takes?'. Critic Daniel Etherington said "The comedy in this film scrapes the bottom of the barrel so vigorously it digs a hole right through into the ground." Most of the film's criticism centered on it lacking actual jokes, but instead using pop-culture references. Several recurring gags were criticized for being overused, such as throwing various celebrities down the Pit of Death or the ambiguous homosexuality of Leonidas. The overly long end credits were also criticized.

The Hottie and the Nottie (2008)

The film, starring socialite Paris Hilton, has been critically lambasted, with a 5% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 6 out of 100 on Metacritic. IGN gave it a 0 star review, saying "Hottie and the Nottie presents a problem because there are just no words to adequately express how clumsy, trite and deeply offensive it is from start to finish". Film critic Scott Feinberg reported that a colleague muttered, "Shoot me in the fucking face", during a Boston press screening of the film. As of June 21, 2008, the film holds a 1.5 rating at IMDb and is ranked #10 on the Bottom 100. The film was also a commercial flop, grossing only $1,067,710, well below its $9,000,000 budget.

Exploitation

Filmmakers sometimes try to overuse content considered taboo or shocking by the general populace as a means to draw in curious film-goers (see shock value). When executed poorly, this method can backfire. These films are commonly cult classics, however, as the overdone scenes of nudity, death, violence, and gore are often so poorly executed that they become more humorous than shocking.

Myra Breckinridge (1970)

The 1970 film based on the book of the same name by Gore Vidal and starring Raquel Welch, Mae West, and Farrah Fawcett provoked controversy due to scenes that seemed a bit questionable for the time period. It also started with an X but then had to be cut down to an R. Some stars from the 1940s and 1950s were also shocked to see footage from their films seen as sexual in-jokes, even some, like Loretta Young, suing them to remove the footage. There were also conflicts between Raquel Welch and Mae West on the set. Critics have panned the film, with Time Magazine saying "Myra Breckinridge is about as funny as a child molester. It is an insult to intelligence, an affront to sensibility and an abomination to the eye." Gore Vidal blamed the movie for a decade-long drought in book sales.

Showgirls (1995)

A large amount of hype was put behind promoting the sex and nudity in this NC-17 film, but the results were critically derided. Most of the hype revolved around the film's star, Elizabeth Berkley, who only two years before had been one of the stars of the teenage sitcom Saved by the Bell (in which she played a young feminist). The film won seven of the thirteen Razzie Awards for which it was nominated. It almost ruined the career of Elizabeth Berkley, and the writer, Joe Eszterhas, has had difficulty living down the embarrassment as well. The film, however, has garnered a cult following over the years. The edited R-rated version removes much of the gratuitous nudity and replaces it with story elements which attempt to make the plot understandable. In a bold move, TBS broadcast the film on television in their prime time schedule, but added digitally animated solid black underwear to hide breasts and genitalia. It is now regularly broadcast by VH1 as part of their Movies That Rock series.

Sequels, prequels, remakes, and clones

Often, an attempt is made to capitalize on the popularity of a successful film by making a sequel (or prequel), writing a new script loosely based on the ideas of the old one, or if the film is old enough, remaking the movie altogether. Sometimes these films do not live up to their predecessor. Some factors resulting in poor performance are:

• different continuity which makes a film a sequel in name only
• budgetary constraints
• the film may not feature the stars associated with the original
• the film may not be made by the same filmmakers
• the target audience's lack of interest in furthering the story of the predecessor
• declining actors attempting to reprise roles from the height of their career for which they are no longer suited
• a perceived attempt to capitalize on a popular concept with little or no original material
• the original was poorly received in the first place

While they are usually considered inferior to the original, others end up being poorly done movies in and of themselves and sometimes taint the film they were meant to emulate or continue.

Family films

Barney's Great Adventure (1998)

The film was panned by critics,nominated for 2 Razzies,and is rated 1.9/10 on IMDb. It also scored 26% on Rottom Tomatos and is in the bottom 100,at number 35.

The Neverending Story III (1994)

The film starred Jason James Richter of Free Willy fame, as well as Jack Black. The storyline had no relation to any element in Michael Ende's original novel, neither any of the previous two films. The film was criticized amongst fans and considered the weakest entry in the film series and includes numerous scenes that are considered "annoying." It has a 2.6/10 on IMDb.

3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)

The fourth 3 Ninjas movie — and universally considered the worst of the series — starred none of the original actors, excluding a near-cameo role by Victor Wong, and was directed by teen-friendly director Sean McNamara. The film also starred Hulk Hogan and Loni Anderson. The movie has zero positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, is the 50th worst movie (with a score of 2.1 out of 10) as rated by the users of IMDb as of June 2008, and grossed only $375,805 domestically.

Son of the Mask (2005)

This sequel to the Jim Carrey movie The Mask, without Jim Carrey, is #51 on the IMDb Bottom 100 list as of June 2008, and has a 5% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Doogal (2006)

A CGI movie version of the French/British TV series The Magic Roundabout that was made largely to cash in on British adults that had enjoyed the TV series as children. This is the American version, as it is known as Doogal in North America. Although the original French/British version (titled there as The Magic Roundabout), has a 5.4/10 score on IMDb, the American version has a 2.6/10 score on IMDb, got 7% from Rotten Tomatoes,received an F rating from Entertainment Weekly magazine, and is considered to be one of the worst animated films of all-time.

Daddy Day Camp (2007)

This sequel to the Eddie Murphy movie Daddy Day Care had Cuba Gooding, Jr. recast in Murphy's role. Originally intended for stright-to-DVD release, it tested so well with preview audiences the studio decided to release it theatrically. So far, Daddy Day Camp holds 1% on Rotten Tomatoes with 70 user reviews and 18 on Metacritic with 18 reviews. It is also criticized for being a rip-off of the Bill Murray comedy, Meatballs. The film received a rare "F" from The A.V. Club, It holds 2.1/10 on IMDb, and holds the #46 place on the IMDb Bottom 100. On its first day of release, the film came in 9th place with a box office gross of $773,706. At the 2007 Razzie Awards, the film was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and "won" the award for Worst Prequel or Sequel.

Comedy sequels

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983)

The third chapter in the Smokey and the Bandit franchise was considered by many critics to be a rambling, incoherent flop. With only a brief cameo from Burt Reynolds, the film originally featured Jackie Gleason in a dual role as both Sherrif Buford T. Justice (Burt Reynolds' nemesis in the first two films) and "The Bandit". Early versions of the film were not well-received and some scenes were re-shot with Jerry Reed (who played Reynolds' sidekick, "Snowman" in the previous films) as "The Bandit," significantly altering the storyline. The resulting motion picture is a jumble of scenes that seem placed at random with little narrative coherence. Despite its status as a commercial and critical failure, the film is considered by some to be a reflection on Gleason's legendary comic timing and style in one of his last film roles. It holds a 3/10 rating on IMDb.

Caddyshack II (1988)

The sequel to the critically acclaimed 1980 comedy Caddyshack took home two Razzies for Worst Original Song and Worst Supporting Actor (Dan Aykroyd) and was nominated for two others including Worst Picture. It holds a 0% from 8 critics at Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 3.4 out of 10 on IMDb, as of June, 2008. The film was also listed on ESPN Page 2's "Worst Sports Movies Ever" at number 4, in contrast to the original Caddyshack being listed at number 8 on the "Top 20 [Best] Sports Movies of All-Time". Caddyshack II continues to appear on numerous "worst movies ever" and "worst sequels" lists including a number 2 spot on the Entertainment Weekly list of Worst Sequels Ever.

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)

Roger Ebert gave this sequel to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo a rare rating of zero stars and called it the worst film of 2005. In response to a poor review and being called a "third-rate comic" by Los Angeles Times film critic Patrick Goldstein, the film's star Rob Schneider referred to Goldstein as a "third-rate, unfunny pompous reporter", asking the critic what he had ever accomplished, in a full-page open letter published in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Ebert defended the LA Times critic by saying in his Chicago Sun-Times review, "Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks." Michael Medved also gave the film 0 stars and named it the worst movie of 2005, calling it "painfully unfunny" and saying "there's not a single laugh anywhere in this rancid, wretched, train-wreck of a film" The film claims a 10 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Superhero/science fiction movies

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

This sequel to the cult hit Highlander reunites the two original protagonists in a dystopic future even though one of them had died in the original film. Moreover, it took the premise of the first film (that immortal humans throughout the ages fought each other for a prize until only one was left), and retcons that they were actually aliens from another planet exiled to earth by an evil dictator. This change caused several points of discontinuity with the first film and arguably changed the genre from fantasy to science fiction. It was so badly received by the fans that several alternate versions were eventually made of it including one by the director himself. A widely quoted comment, alluding to the catchphrase of the original movie was "There should have been only one". The subsequent films in the series completely ignore this film and follow directly from the first film.

Batman and Robin (1997)

Based on the DC Comics series, this film has been criticized due to the coldly received puns by Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger)(Similar to that one right there), campy performances, and a ridiculous plot. Although somewhat financially successful (it made $107 million domestically), the unpopularity of this film brought Warner Bros.'s billion dollar Batman franchise to a halt, changed plans to release a second animated film theatrically to direct-to-video, and canceled plans for a fifth film in the series. Not until 2005 was a new Batman movie made, Batman Begins. This film was a complete reboot of the franchise, ignoring all four previous films. George Clooney said that he would personally refund anyone who saw the film. He often apologizes for the movie in interviews, and joked on David Letterman's Late Show that Arnold Schwarzenegger "helped me ruin the Batman franchise." In an article for MSN Movies, David Fear called it the "worst superhero film."

Other

Staying Alive (1983)

The sequel to Saturday Night Fever, was directed by Sylvester Stallone and starred John Travolta. Panned by critics despite bringing in $68 million at the box office, the film was ranked the Worst Sequel Ever by Entertainment Weekly and it has a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film was nominated for two Razzies, including Worst Actor (Travolta) and Worst New Star (Finola Hughes). The film is also listed on Roger Ebert's Most Hated list.

Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

The fourth film in the Jaws series ignores the events of the preceding and more successful Jaws 3-D, and uses a plot involving a shark seemingly plotting to kill the surviving members of the Brody family. At the end, the shark is heard to "roar" repeatedly (which is biologically impossible) before being hit with a sailboat driven by Sheriff Brody's widow and exploding. Michael Caine (who missed attending the Oscars that year to receive his first Best Supporting Actor award in order to keep the film on schedule) is seen freshly plucked from the ocean with his clothes and hair perfectly dry. A studio test screening in Houston brought in an unprecedented low score of 3% "excellent," which the studio promptly spun to The Hollywood Reporter as an amazing audience response of 97% (they didn't mention that 97% of the audience hated it). It was nominated for the Worst Picture award in the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards, and won an award for "Worst Special Effects." It has a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Basic Instinct 2 (2006)

A sequel to the widely controversial yet commercially successful 1992 thriller Basic Instinct starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas. Basic Instinct did well at the box office, while the sequel flopped, and "won" four Razzie awards, among them Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Sharon Stone), Worst Sequel, and Worst Screenplay. It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (David Thewlis) and Worst Screen Couple, those nominees being "Sharon Stone's lopsided breasts." It also boasts a 7% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Clones

Some movies, while not officially remakes, have been considered to be similar to other, better quality films but end up being sub par compared to the other film.

Mac and Me (1988)

The film is about a young boy in a wheelchair, who meets and befriends an alien who has crash landed on earth. The decision to make the film was based on the success of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (the title itself, Mac and Me, comes from the working title for E.T. — E.T. and Me.) and it served as little more than a vehicle to promote Coca-Cola and McDonald's. One scene in the film is a large, impromptu dance-off with the main character MAC the alien (dressed in a teddy bear costume), a football team, Ronald McDonald, and various other people inside and outside of a McDonald's restaurant. The film's cast list states "and Ronald McDonald as Himself." Mac and Me has a rating of 0 on Rotten Tomatoes and Leonard Maltin referred to it as "more like a TV commercial than a movie".

Soul Plane (2004)

The 2004 film was critically panned, with most critics trashing it for displaying stereotypes of African-American culture and being a rip-off of Airplane! It received a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Happily N'Ever After (2007)

The film was panned by critics. Most of the criticisms included poor animation, lazy casting, tepid jokes, and a large number of critics felt the plotline was ripping off Shrek and Hoodwinked!. On its opening weekend it only grossed $6.6 million. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it only has a 4% critical approval rating on the tomatometer (and a very rare 0% in the "cream of the crop" division), yet it received a 3.1 average rating.

Who's Your Caddy? (2007)

The film opened to extremely negative reviews. In particular, many critics have deemed it a "terrible rip-off" of Caddyshack. It holds an extremely low 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Audience polls

Certain sites attempt to gauge the opinion of their audience regarding the worst film ever via voluntary poll. However, since respondents tend to be self-selected, these polls are not scientifically rigorous and should not be considered definitive. Additionally, these polls tend to fluctuate wildly in reaction to recent films.

According to the IMDb's polls, as of August 05, 2008, the top ten worst rated movies are:

Rank	Film	Year	IMDb Rating
1	Alien vs. Hunter	2007	1.3
2	Kis Vuk	2008	1.4
3	Troppo belli	2005	1.4
4	Barschel - Mord in Genf?	1993	1.3
5	The Maize: The Movie	2004	1.4
6	The Apocalypse	2007	1.4
7	Zombie Nation	2004	1.4
8	Ben & Arthur	2002	1.4
9	Amoklauf	1994	1.4
10	Popstar	2005	1.5

Everyone's a Critic (EaC) utilizes a collaborative filtering algorithm to obtain film recommendations from people who share similar tastes in film. According to the EaC poll, as of May 11, 2008, the top ten worst rated movies are:

1. Battlefield Earth (2000)
2. Spice World (1997)
3. House of the Dead (2003)
4. From Justin to Kelly (2003)
5. Catwoman (2004)
6. Alone in the Dark (2005)
7. Glitter (2001)
8. Baby Geniuses (1999)
9. Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
10. Kazaam (1996)

Note: These lists update regularly.

Rotten Tomatoes' list of the worst-reviewed movies of all-time

Crossover ranks as the third-worst film ever on Rotten Tomatoes, the 18th worst on IMDB, yet is not ranked in the top 200 worst movies on everyonesacritic.net, an example of how results on various polls can differ wildly.

Rotten Tomatoes has the advantage over audience polls of gauging the reaction of critics, who, in addition to being (presumably) more qualified than most audience members, also typically have to watch and review a wide cross-section of movies, thus giving a broader sample. However, this list is not an ideal measure of which movies are considered the "worst ever:"

• Rotten Tomatoes only has comprehensive coverage for recent movies, and
• The list summarizes each review as fresh or rotten, and then ranks the movies in order of their percentage of bad reviews. As a result, the "worst-reviewed" movies are the ones that are universally disliked, but there is no guarantee that any of the reviewers consider it to be the "worst ever."

As of (date), Rotten Tomatoes' list of the ten worst-reviewed movies of all time is:

1. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
2. Alone in the Dark (2005)
3. Crossover (2006)
4. Pinocchio (2002)
5. King's Ransom (2005)
6. SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)
7. National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2003)
8. Twisted (2004)
9. The Master of Disguise (2002)
10. Zoom (2006)

See also

• Box office bomb
• Films considered the greatest ever

External links

• IMDb Bottom 100
• The Bottom 200 at everyonesacritic.net
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Roger Ebert
• Ebert's Most Hated
• Golden Raspberry Awards
• Metacritic: Worst-Reviewed Movies
• Cinema de Merde: Reviews and essays on bad and cheesy movies
• Worst. TV shows turned movies. Ever.
• Moviefone's 25 Worst Movie Sequels
• JoyOfMovies.com: The 10 Worst Films of All Time
• CNN.com - Connery tops bad film accent poll - Jun. 30, 2003
• The Ten Worst Superhero Movies of All Time : Apropos of Something
• The Ten Worst Best Picture Winners Of All Time | Film School Rejects
• The 10 Worst Comic Book Adaptations of All-Time | Film School Rejects
• Top 10 Worst Quotes or Lines from Films
• Terminals Worst 10 Movies of All-Time
• The 10 worst musicals of all time - Telegraph
• TOP TEN: Worst Movie Titles | Features | RopeofSilicon.com
• RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Get Carter tops worst film remakes list
• Ten Worst Christmas Movies Of All Time - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News
• ohnotheydidnt: 100 worst-reviewed films of all time
• The Ten Worst Movies Directed by Actors -- Vulture -- Entertainment
• Best and Worst Superhero Movies - Moviefone

• List: The 50 Worst Sex Scenes in Cinema
• The Five Worst Movies Ever Made