So Bad They’re Good Movie Contest Winner

August 24th, 2007

Out of the list of horrible movies I watched over the last two weeks, a few were standouts: Plan 9 From Outer Space, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, Do Or Die, and Reform School Girls.

Each is horrid in its own particular way, but for the purposes of this contest I declare the winner to be Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. You can read my review, but here are some reasons why this is my new favorite terrible movie:

• It’s real throwback to the sixties, complete with a girl rock band. All those James Bond movies, The Prisoner, and France Gall songs formed a soft spot which was perhaps easily exploited.
• Some pretty cool music — post psychedelia rock bands with horns and strings, reminiscent of the Carpenters, Brady Kids, 5th Dimension, The Association, etc.
• A shocking ending that even I wasn’t prepared for. Z-Man. Aargh.
• The acting is bad, but not so bad that I couldn’t tell one character from another. They’re each distinctly awful in their own way.
• I wasn’t bored during this movie. Confused maybe, but consistently entertained, and just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. Several times.
• The bad movie clincher — the absolutely crappy narration at film’s end, that attempts to explain and justify everything we’ve just seen.
• I really believe the makers were trying to make a good film, but failed miserably. So this is not an instance of someone intentionally making a bad film to be funny or to save money.
• Roger Ebert wrote the screenplay.
• This film was so bad-it’s-good that I rented the preceding movie, Valley of the Dolls, made by an entirely different team (a review is forthcoming).
• I even want to get the soundtrack. Carrie Nation forever!

So the winner of the contest is Daniel Z. He runs a site over at Podophile. Congrats on a job well done, and I shake my fist in both anger and congratulation. His prize is on its way.

Thanks to all those that entered this contest and I look at several of you in a slightly different light. As a special bonus treat, here are some additional YouTube videos so you can experience a bit of the pain.