# Recommend a terrible yet thoroughly watchable movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816 "2005-09-15T17:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/101 "2005-09-16T14:01:45Z")
Maybe **A Knight’s Tale**. Completely entertaining. Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad movie, but a lot of people seem to. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/102 "2005-09-16T14:37:31Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I actually like The Shadow. Not saying it’s a great movie, but I really enjoy it. I like it too–I can tell you that I’m the only person I know who actually owns it. 🙂 My take on movies is this: I want to be entertained. That’s the bottom line. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me think–just keep me busy. Any movie that can do that goes in the plus column. **Trunk** , I love _Knight’s Tale_, too. I remember seeing it in the theater and feeling iffy about it, but then I read a review that used a two-word phrase that made everything okay. That phrase was “deliberately anachronistic,” and all was well, and I could stare at Heath Ledger without guilt. (Though Alan Tudyk and Paul Bettany are the ones that really make that movie work.) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/103 "2005-09-16T15:44:14Z")
**State & Main** About halfway through, I decided that the teleprompter was only displaying one word at a time. The acting was as wooden as the petrified forest, and the love interest was as treacly as an oversugared lemon pie. And despite all that, I quite enjoyed watching it. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/104 "2005-09-16T15:52:58Z")
Cal, thanks for going to all the trouble of trying to straighten me out about Hell House/Haunting, etc. One of the links you posted _was_ **The Legend of Hell House** ; and I’m positive that’s the doogie one I saw, but the spoiler wasn’t given away on IMBD. How about **Wolf** starring Jack Nicholason? I saw it in the theaters, and just thought it was _bad_ not doog … anyone see it lately? Jack-o plays a werewolf, and I think Michelle Pfeiffer is his love interest. I think Sylvester Stallone rivals Kurt Russell in doogdom ( **Rambo** , anyone??) … I must nominate **Cliffhanger**. The opening scene is absolutely mesmerizing and terrifying and desipite the fact that John Lithgow makes an excellent villan… most of the movie just sucks out loud. At one point, Sly is swimming _under the ice_, barechested. It is so earnestly serious about being an action movie, and it’s just stoopid. Verra verra doog, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/105 "2005-09-16T16:16:51Z")
**Independence Day**. It’s so cheesy, but so fun. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/106 "2005-09-16T16:17:35Z")
Hang it, **Trunk** , I didn’t have time to post before breakfast, so you beat me to **A Knight’s Tale**. It’s pure dumb fun, no matter how much SCAdians hate it. Come one! The crowds doing the wave and singing Queen’s “We Will Rock You” before a major jousting contest! How much cheesier can dumb fun get? My one quibble? Our hero should have chosen the smithess, not the lady. Sheesh! CJ ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/107 "2005-09-16T16:29:20Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > My one quibble? Our hero should have chosen the smithess, not the lady. Sheesh! Can’t argue with you there. That’s on my list of top ten “Wrong Romance” pet peeves. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/108 "2005-09-16T16:36:23Z")
Two examples of classic 80’s children’s doog: **Cloak and Dagger** : Quite disturbing for a children’s movie. Henry Thomas is held under the sway of an imaginary friend played by Dabney Colemen (who also plays his father) who is prone to giving him very bad and dangerous advice. Incredibly violent for a children’s movie (several murders and deaths). But I love it. Atari fans will especially enjoy the many scenes featuring the classic video game computer. **D.A.R.Y.L.** : A family adopts a “special” little boy named Daryl. Michael McKean plays a somewhat convincing father in this movie. And Daryl’s best friend’s name is Turtle Fox. No, I’m not joking. Another surprisingly violent children’s movie. And even though it isn’t a children’s movie (and isn’t really all that violent), I have to nominate **Superman 3**. Sure, it’s a bit of a train wreck, but that’s what makes it _doog_. Cheesy computers and cheesy acting. Hmm. I guess 80’s movies involved with computers = doog for me. Perhaps I should nominate **Wargames**? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/109 "2005-09-16T17:40:47Z")
**Moon Over Parador**. Raoul Julia is just over the top! ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/110 "2005-09-16T18:27:37Z")
It’s been said before, but for me it’s got to be **Red Dawn**. Remember when they because guerillas and had the war cry “Wolverines!”? Well, I work at a college with no athletic program, only two club teams named after genitals. So recently we had orientation and, oddly enough, we heard some explosions and saw some military aircraft go overhead. I said it was like **Red Dawn** only we were going to be yelling “Nads!” and “Balls!” when we got the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/111 "2005-09-16T18:29:57Z")
Became guerillas, not because guerillas. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/112 "2005-09-16T18:50:29Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > **Titanic** > > Visually, one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail was exquisite. The costumes, the lighting, the pretty actors…all were lovely. And, of course, the bigger plot, that which was based on fact, was incredibly compelling. > > But that love story…it ruined the movie. It was downright ridiculous, right down to Rose tossing that necklace into the water. I think something like _Titanic_ is definitely out of the realm of doog. While _Titanic_ might have had some dumb aspects, and may not exactly be truly a _good_ movie, it can hardly be said to be a _bad_ movie in the same way that most of the other movies listed here are. I dislike the movie _Gladiator_ for a number of reasons, but would never consider it to be doog. We are talking here not merely about movies that have some bad aspects, but rather ones that are truly loopy, but still irresistable. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/113 "2005-09-16T19:02:37Z")
I just thought of another couple: **Final Destination** and **Final Destination 2**. Definitely doog movies. I less-than-three Tony Todd, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/114 "2005-09-16T19:21:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \*\*The Haunting of Hell House \*\* (1973) is a film based on the novel “Hell House” by the legendary Richard Matheson. It has Roddy MacDowell in it, so there’s a high cheese potential, at least. I haven’t seen it. > > [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070294/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070294/) I have. I am not sure whether to beg you to see it, or plead with you not to. It’s that doog. My addition to these threads is always the same - [The Trial of Billy Jack.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072317/). Words cannot express what this film is like, fortunately. I wish I could believe it is meant as parody, but I can’t. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/115 "2005-09-16T19:24:38Z")
Where do we think Evil Dead 1 stands in this regard? I watched it and Evil Dead 2 recently, trying to figure out why they’re basically the same movie. Then I decided that Evil Dead 1 was actually an attempt at real honor that failed miserably but hilariously. Hell, the back of the box claims that the movie will “pull scream after scream from the bottom of [my] spine and the depths of [my] soul.” It usually only pulls laugh after laugh from my gaping maw. I think Evil Dead 2 was Raime’s attempt at realizing the humor he unwittingly found in the first installment. Which is why he used basically the same exact story. Seems a logical explanation. So, I think Evil Dead 1 can be refered to ask very doog. I also must nominate Keanu Reeve’s role in As You Like It. Seeing Keanu do Shakespeare is an amazing, amazing thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/116 "2005-09-16T20:23:36Z")
_The People Under the Stairs_ is total doog. (No spoilers 'cause this movie is from c. 1990) It’s about an urban black kid who sneaks into a creepy mansion and discovers a little girl held captive by her psychotic parents. Turns out later that Mother and Father are actually brother and sister. :eek: Anyway, the kids attempt to escape the mansion by climbing through passageways in the walls, pursued by the girl’s shotgun-totting father and a bloodthirsty Rottweiler. Then they encounter the girl’s mutilated brothers, who are locked under the stairs… A movie that’s horrifying when you’re six-years-old, mostly for the sight of the girl’s father dressed in leather bondage gear. When you’re a kid, you don’t really know what that means, all you know is it looks _freaky as hell_. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/117 "2005-09-16T20:54:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Oh, I just noticed – I mean the classic William Castle/Vincent Price version of **House on Haunted Hill**. I haven’t seen the newer version, which, for all I know, might be perfectly Doog. But I grew up on the old one, and it’s supremely Bad but Watchable. The new one is, too, mostly because Geoffrey Rush is totally campy (he toned down the camp for _Pirates of the Caribbean_ :eek: ) and Famke Janssen is totally hot. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/118 "2005-09-16T20:55:44Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > My one quibble? Our hero should have chosen the smithess, not the lady. Sheesh! Actually, as I recall, in the movie they called her a “ferress”, which is a neat word I hadn’t heard before seeing the movie. Makes sense, though, for a woman who works iron. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/119 "2005-09-16T21:03:35Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I like it too–I can tell you that I’m the only person I know who actually owns it. 🙂 My take on movies is this: I want to be entertained. That’s the bottom line. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me think–just keep me busy. Any movie that can do that goes in the plus column. > > **Trunk** , I love _Knight’s Tale_, too. I remember seeing it in the theater and feeling iffy about it, but then I read a review that used a two-word phrase that made everything okay. That phrase was “deliberately anachronistic,” and all was well, and I could stare at Heath Ledger without guilt. (Though Alan Tudyk and Paul Bettany are the ones that really make that movie work.) Himself & I own the Shadow, too. Went out of our way to find it on Amazon or eBay or something, I can’t remember. Also, I’m a SCAdian, and I _love_ _Knight’s Tale_, too. However, I’ve been in SCA for almost 20 years, and it reminds me a lot of the way I remember events being when I first joined, before the Authenticity Police {tm} took over. Of course, the fact that I find Paul Bettany enormously attractive doesn’t hurt, either. 😉 I agree with most of the ones listed here (of those I’ve seen), but I think **Flesh & Blood** with Rutger Hauer & Jennifer Jason Leigh could be listed as a doog movie…although it might be too close to the cult favorite type. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/120 "2005-09-16T21:40:09Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > I’d like to nominate, also, every Steven Seagal movie every made. I find him so bad, in fact, so much worse than any action star ever, that I’m strangely drawn to his formidable oeuvre. (I used that word only so I could have the distinction of using it & Steven Seagal in the same sentence. I’m pretty sure history was just made). Ah, but you didn’t use his name in the same sentence as “oeuvre.” Strike! I thought of **Down Periscope** , but I don’t know if I’d call it bad, just cheesy screwball. Um… would **Superman II** count? Or is it too tedious? I’m a sucker for the kiss at the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816.md?page=7)