While it may seem strange to seek out bad films, I believe that there’s an art to a bad movie. Some of the funniest moments I have ever witnessed in a film have come from some complete disasters of filmmaking, and they can be some of the most entertaining ones to watch when you’re in the right mood. There’s no better experience than watching the perfect bad movie with a group of friends; some of the most memorable moments among my friend group have come from us purposely scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel and seeing what garbage we can find. However, sometimes it can go too far, and you end up with a true abomination that isn’t even entertaining to watch. I always try to look for something of value in each movie I watch; maybe it was unintentionally hilarious, maybe there’s a neat concept or premise at play, or maybe there’s a good performance hidden beneath an awful script or director. Almost every movie has at least something to offer, but every now and then, you come across something that is completely worthless in every sense of the word. This is what I’m touching on today: the absolute worst that I’ve seen, from somebody who actively seeks out bad movies for fun. Of course, I’m still missing some classics in this category, but I believe that I’ve seen enough of the infamous ones to curate a current list of least favorites.

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

I wouldn’t say that this is among the worst films ever made, but I hate it a lot for very personal reasons. I have a lot of love for the first two entries in the Cloverfield franchise; they’re some of most inventive horror-thrillers in recent memory, and offer a lot of very specific elements that can’t be found in many horror films. Paradox takes every single interesting idea present in the first two, sets them on fire, and then throws them in the garbage. Part of what makes Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane so interesting is the mystery they create; part of the fun is coming up with your own theories to explain the many strange occurrences between the two. While I would prefer for them to remain mysteries, I’m fine with them being explained, but definitely not in the way that Paradox goes about it. It’s the most predictable and boring reasoning you could think of, and almost makes me like the other ones less because of how stupid it is. It’s an incredibly generic space thriller, similar to films like Life and Ad Astra that plagued the late 2010’s, with hollow performances, uninteresting characters, and a very forgettable plot. I don’t really think that this film is on the level of some of the others on this list, but I have so many issues with it because it ruins everything established in the first two, which I have always loved a lot.

Fahrenheit 451 (2018)

I found the original Fahrenheit 451 novel to be pretty interesting, but still lacking a little bit of substance; the premise and world were very interesting, but many of the characters and plot points could have been fleshed out a lot more. Of course, you could say that this only helps towards the message of the novel, but I still think that these areas could have been expanded upon a little more. However, its importance cannot be denied, and the message of Fahrenheit 451 becomes more and more relevant with each passing day. Now, imagine this classic novel, but completely void of any and all depth and subtlety, and even going back to purposely change some of the most important elements of the story. In the HBO version, the character of Mildred is completely non-existent, and Clarisse becomes a love interest for Montag. I shouldn’t have to explain how baffling of a decision this is to anybody who’s read the novel; it completely spits in the face of Bradbury’s story, and I genuinely have no clue why they chose to do this. It changes so much of the plot for the worse, and ends up having to exclude some of the most integral scenes in the story because of Mildred’s absence.  In addition to these confusing differences, it’s just a very poorly made film. The script is abysmal and prevents very talented actors from giving anything resembling a good performance, and is simply very forgettable, which is one thing the book certainly isn’t. It’s boring to look at and listen to, and is a complete slog to get through, even at the short runtime of an hour and forty minutes. This film is an absolute disaster and a disservice to the original text, and I will never stop questioning how this script was approved.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

Announced mere days after Winnie the Pooh became public domain, Blood and Honey could have ended up being a cult classic awful horror film, similar to something like Troll 2. Instead, it’s the most boring and generic slasher that I’ve ever seen, and just serves as a cash grab because those that created it knew that the internet would find the idea laughable. I was certainly excited to watch it; it seemed like perfect material for me and my friends to laugh at. I was very disappointed to learn what this movie actually was: a shameless attempt to capitalize off the success of purposely stupid films like Cocaine Bear. It was recently announced that this is becoming a franchise, with an MCU-like cinematic universe planned. While this is stupid, I don’t have that much of a problem with it, because I’ll probably watch all of them and enjoy making fun of them. However, the real issue with this comes when you realize that the finale, ‘Poohniverse‘, releases in 2025, meaning that they’re going to release five of these pieces of trash in the next year and a half. Maybe the sequel to this film will have something more to offer, as the budget is much higher, but as it stands, I have very few hopes; even if it’s not completely awful like the first, we’re going to be fatigued by the constant releases of these over the next couple years, (if that even happens).

The Bye Bye Man (2017)

What is easily one of the most uninspired horror films I’ve ever watched, The Bye Bye Man is the absolute worst kind of pg-13 horror. This is the type of film that was made to release in January, the month reserved for some of the worst and tamest pg-13 horror films ever made. The Bye Bye Man just makes you roll your eyes at it; the title is stupid, and the rest of the film is pretty much what you’d expect. If you’re not with someone to make fun of it, this would be an excruciatingly boring watch. There’s nothing worthwhile present; no neat ideas, strong actors, neat shots, nothing. If this film were to come out today, I would genuinely wonder if it had been written by an AI- only a robot could come up with a plot as uninteresting and write characters as stiff and lifeless as those seen in The Bye Bye Man.

Dragonball Evolution (2009)

Now, let’s get this out of the way: I have never read, seen, or played a single piece of Dragon Ball media, and I have no desire to. However, when I saw that this was one of the lowest rated films on several platforms, I knew I had to give it a shot, and I was not disappointed. While I recognize that this is a complete disservice to the source material and an all-around laughable attempt at filmmaking, the entertainment that can be found within it is undeniable. Knowing nothing about Dragon Ball, me and my friends had a blast with this one, but its widely recognized position as one of the all-time worst is very understandable. Even from the standpoint of a non-fan, there is nothing worth your time here aside from the comedic element. If you are a fan, however, I would definitely keeping your distance from this, as it will probably only make you upset. Taking one of the most recognizable franchises and some of the most iconic characters of all time and dumbing them down to what is seen in this film is a pretty bold move, and I almost have to respect how little Evolution cares about being faithful to the source material.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Suicide Squad is genuinely the worst comic book film I’ve ever seen; one of the biggest studio disasters of all time, there is almost nothing to appreciate about this film. Basically, director David Ayer wrote a script that he described as a “soulful drama”, which Warner Brothers promptly chopped up and re-attached all of the pieces to create a story that’s genuinely incoherent at times. Honestly, I don’t think that Suicide Squad was ever going to be good; the “soulful drama” claim reminds me of the same director’s statement that his very poorly received Netflix film, Bright, could have been his Star Wars if he executed it correctly. I would assume that Warner turned a very lackluster film into a genuinely awful one; it’s hard to describe exactly why it’s so bad because the movie doesn’t even try to make sense. You can poke a million plotholes in it, the constant use of licensed music can be laughable, and there isn’t a single redeeming factor beyond Harley. Even then, Harley’s character in the 2016 film is horrible when compared to her character in Birds of Prey or James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, the latter of which just makes this original one that much worse to me. Gunn created a genuine contender for the top ten superhero films of all time, and I really cannot overstate the quality difference between it and the Ayer version.

Far Cry (2008)

I used to say that this was the worst film I had ever seen, and despite the fact that it has been dethroned, it still easily takes second place. I love the Far Cry series of video games; they’re heavily criticized and seen as mediocre among the general public, but I love them in a way that I can’t really describe. Far Cry 5 in particular is a favorite of mine, and the others in the series all have a lot of different things to offer. This film’s existence is very strange to me; the series didn’t really become popular until the release of Far Cry 3 in 2012, and you generally only see film adaptations for well-known franchises. Sure, you have the occasional Bloodrayne or Postal, but most of them are things that your average person would recognize, like Super Mario or Assassin’s Creed. While this film was never going to be good, it was instantly damned to be one of the worst of all time when the project was given to Uwe Boll, often seen as one of the worst directors of all time. I would watch a couple of his other attempts for the joke, but I am certainly not jumping at the opportunity after forcing myself to sit through Far Cry. I remember very little about this movie, and I’m definitely not going back to remember any of it, but one of the main issues I noticed was the strange tone shifts. It shifts from a ‘serious’ action-thriller to a comedy seemingly every other scene, and this issue does not mix well once you combine it with some truly awful actors and an Uwe Boll script. There is no reason to ever watch this, even if you enjoy the games, and I strongly recommend keeping your distance. I’m almost always happy that I chose to watch a film, as I can generally get something of value out of them, but there really is nothing to be found here.

Thankskilling 3 (2012)

Never in my life have I experienced a single piece of media, whether it be a film, video game, television series, book, album, or song anywhere near the level of awful that is Thankskilling 3. Don’t be confused, this is the second film in the Thankskilling ‘franchise’; the first one, while terrible, is a genuinely good time, especially if you’re watching it with a group of friends. It’s pretty awful, but intentionally so, and you can tell that everybody had fun making it. The fact that the same people who made the original also made Thankskilling 3 still confuses me; to go from very juvenile but admittedly entertaining humor to comedy this unfunny is a little impressive. There is not a single remotely funny moment present in the entire ninety-nine minute runtime, and features some of the most brain rotted attempts at humor I have ever witnessed. Watching this ‘film’ feels like descending into the deepest pits of hell and losing a piece of your soul before you return; I have never been so physically taxed by consuming a piece of media before in my life. Once again, I watched this with friends, who were all planning to pull an all-nighter at my house watching other movies or playing video games once it ended- we were all so tired and upset by what we had just seen that they all went home at three in the morning instead of trying to make it through the night. Thankskilling 3 genuinely makes you question if what you’re watching is real; I can only describe it as an out-of-body experience that will make you go back and reconsider how harsh you had been on other films. After this, Suicide Squad doesn’t seem so bad. I honestly doubt that I will ever watch something worse than this; I think of all of the famous or cult classic bad movies that I hope to one day see, and I really don’t see any of them coming anywhere close to this.