# What is your favourite “B-movie”?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [June 11, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489 "2025-06-11T19:38:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/61 "2025-06-12T15:50:34Z")
My two favorite B-movies are **Xanadu** and **The Manitou** (rhyme unintentional!)
I love Xanadu’s music, bright colors, Gene Kelly, Olivia Newton-John… basically everything except the male lead, who’s a terrible actor IMO and kinda brings the whole thing down a bit. But other than that, it’s a not-so-guilty pleasure that I enjoy watching.
The Manitou is a horror movie from the Seventies, starring Tony Curtis as a sham fortune teller whose girlfriend is growing a Colonial-era Native American medicine man on her neck. It’s gory and every bit as cheesy as it sounds, but I love the heck out of it (and the book it was based on). Happening upon that movie on Showtime during a lazy summer day in the late Seventies started my lifelong enjoyment of horror author Graham Masterton.
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### Author:  [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/62 "2025-06-12T15:54:32Z")
I see **[Killer Klowns from Outer Space](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_killer%2520klown)** is #46 on that list. I think it should be higher, although it’s more of a _parody_ of 50’s era sci-fi B-movies than the real deal. In any case, it’s well done and quite funny.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/63 "2025-06-12T15:56:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#):
>
> The IMDB lists 100+1 B-movie bests. Unsurprisingly, I have seen less than a third of these.
Good list, but that’s all it is. It did tell me and remind me of a few favourites that I have not mentioned, though:
_The Abominable Dr. Phibes_
_Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine_
_Death Race 2000_
_Island of Terror_
_Rock 'n Roll High School_
_Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!_
Well, in regards to _Faster, Pussycat_, all of Russ Meyer’s films were B-movies. As long as the female leads were well-endowed, the plot was secondary.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/64 "2025-06-12T15:58:58Z")
_Repo Man_ is my favorite. At least currently, sometimes my favorites switch around but it’s been my fav for while. There are others that are near the top for me.
_Rock and Roll High School_
_Return of the Living Dead_
_Spaced Invaders_
_Blind Fury_
_This is Spinal Tap_
_UHF_
_Army of Darkness_
I had a proud father moment the other day - my teen referenced the paper airplane scene from _Rock and Roll High School_ unprompted from me.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/65 "2025-06-12T16:22:10Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> **The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra**
>
> Spoof of B-horror/SF movies. Quite funny.
Oh well.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/66 "2025-06-12T16:22:51Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#):
>
> This is Spinal Tap
I wouldn’t call that a B-movie. A spoof, a mockumentary, sure, but it is a film with rather high production standards _about_ a band and their shows that have ridiculously low production standards, that’s a difference.
ETA: my contribution is a movie that no one else here will have seen, “Kondom des Grauens” (“Killer Condom”), a German movie from 1996 after a book by renown underground comic artist Ralf König about a possessed condom. Granted, it was a deliberate exploitation and shlock movie, a parody of B-movies, and it had some of the best German actors of the time (Iris Berben, Peter Lohmeyer), but it’s so funny and bizarre that it counts in my book. And I think everybody involved had a lot of fun, not only the spectators.
> **[Killer Condom (1996) ⭐ 5.4 | Comedy, Horror, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116791/)**
>
> 1h 47m | Not Rated
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/67 "2025-06-12T16:23:12Z")
I was in the USAF in the late 70’s, and if it was a B, C, or D movie that could be gotten cheap, the bases would show them. Every knock-off “Bruce Lee” film, every post-apocalyptic “far future” film where everyone drove cars from the 70’s, every cheap-ass horror film imaginable etc., I saw them all. They showed “straight-to-video” type films before videos became common, and my love for the sincerely awful continues to this day. I don’t think there is a movie in this thread, or even a movie from a list posted in this thread, that I haven’t seen, but there is a special place in my heart for the “Puppet Master” series from Full Moon, and I truly belove it is the title music that originally hooked me.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/68 "2025-06-12T16:38:00Z")
I love They Live for the epic fight and the subliminal messages, but I also love Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive. I always watch it when it comes on. Emilio Estevez isn’t hard to look at either!
The worst part of it is the girl that screams ALL THE TIME.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/69 "2025-06-12T16:40:50Z")
> [@Rebo](#):
>
> The worst part of it is the girl that screams ALL THE TIME.
Hasn’t that been the problem of _every_ Hollywood horror flick ever? 😂
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/70 "2025-06-12T16:41:55Z")
“CURTIS!”
That is Yeardly Smith who voices Lisa Simpson on some cartoon show.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/71 "2025-06-12T16:43:27Z")
Oh, duh! I am one of the few people who don’t watch the Simpsons, but I thought I recognized her name in the cast names.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/72 "2025-06-12T16:46:27Z")
Hey! I received graduate credit for a class where we watched _Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!_
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/73 "2025-06-12T16:46:59Z")
“ **CURTIIIS!** ”
Let me know when I have reached the proper level of annoyance. 🤪
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### Author:  [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/74 "2025-06-12T16:50:53Z")
I thought _Battlefield: Earth_ was a fine example of "so bad, it’s good. I have a weakness for movies where the plucky underdog overcomes the odds and defeats the more powerful villain. And I enjoyed the fact (spoiler alert) that the arch-villain wasn’t killed in the end, but locked up so that he could be tormented by his captors.\*\*
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/75 "2025-06-12T17:04:08Z")
I just had a belly laff at the IMDb listing. Under “Quotes” it says, “Almost everyone in the film at one point or another.” _That’s_ funny!
Hey, I just discovered there’s a sequel! I’ll be unavailable for the next couple days. 😉
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/76 "2025-06-12T17:08:46Z")
Do these count as B movies?
_Billy Jack_
_Tammy and the Bachelor_
If not, I’m sure these do:
_Chrome and Hot Leather_
_Doc Savage_
_The Fearless Vampire Killers_
_Saturday the 14th_
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/77 "2025-06-12T17:34:42Z")
Ooh! I just thought of another one. [Doctor Detroit starring Dan Aykroyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Detroit). I’m not sure it counts as a B movie, though.
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/78 "2025-06-12T17:37:39Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> This shows for me the problem with calling something a B-movie. _They Live_ is a fairly famous movie. Jonathan Lethem wrote an entire book about it in the series Deep Focus published by Soft Skull Press. It’s one of my 100 favorite movies.
I had more of a problem with _The Cutting Edge_ being thought of as a B-Movie. As far as fame goes, _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ is certainly famous, but would anyone say it wasn’t a B-Movie? I mean besides those arguing it was a Y or Z movie. I always think of a B-Movie as one that has a low budget.
Let’s look at the estimated budgets for some movies that came out in 1988.
- _They Live_ - $3,000,000
- _Caddyshack II_ - $20,000,000
- _Bloodsport_ - $2,300,000
- _Colors_ - $10,000,000
- _Young Guns_ - $10,000,000
- _Elvira: Mistress of the Dark_ - $7,500,000
I don’t have any problem classifying _They Live_ or _Bloodsport_ as B-Movies. They’re both better than _Caddyshack II_ by a country mile.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/79 "2025-06-12T17:48:31Z")
> [@Odesio](#):
>
> I don’t have any problem classifying _They Live_ or _Bloodsport_ as B-Movies. They’re both better than _Caddyshack II_ by a country mile.
Hell, _The Story of Zinc_ is a better movie than _Caddyshack II_.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-b-movie/1019489/80 "2025-06-12T18:26:25Z")
“B-movie” can refer to any low budget movie but the films most people think of when they hear the term fall into the sub category of Schlock: Outlandish or trashy plots, gratuitous sex and violence, lurid special effects, and immature humor. _They Live_ is one of those outliers with a nearly average budget and a proven director but with themes that seem very schlocky. There’s even big budget schlock like the kinds of films Tarantino makes.
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