A
reader, David, asks, simply:
“What is the worst
movie you’ve ever seen?”
Thank
you for the question, David. It’s a good
one.
In
general, I try not to think too much in terms of negatives, or about bad movie
experiences. I like to focus on movies
that I admire instead.
In
my opinion, the “worst movies” are not necessarily the most incompetent ones,
but rather the ones that seem most cynical or calculated, or are aggressively unpleasant
to watch in some way.
For
example, I can watch Ed Wood’s movies and note their general ineptitude while
also seeing that there was, at least, some enthusiasm and imagination involved
in the making of them. That enthusiasm goes
a long way with me.
I
think the most unpleasant (and most unnecessary) movie I’ve ever watched -- and thus the worst -- is the remake of Carnival
of Souls (1998). I tagged it as the worst horror movie remake “so far” in a blog post I wrote in October of
2009, and I don’t think I’ve seen a movie since then that beats it out in terms
of rank unpleasantness.
In
addition to being hideously unpleasant, the film doesn’t even bother to credit
the original film’s writer, John Clifford, and it substitutes the great ideas
of the original 1960 film with some pretty lousy new ones. There’s also a totally gratuitous and
ridiculous sex scene in the third act (with an angel, no less), and that scene,
along with others, suggests to me the film was aiming low. The Carnival of Souls remake is ineptly staged, and every other line of
dialogue is a sentimental New Age platitude. This is a remake-in-name-only kind of film too, cynically grabbing a (moderately) well-known horror genre property and then mining it for brand identification, but with no real narrative or thematic value of its own.
If
I never, ever, have to watch Carnival of Souls (1998) again, I’ll
be one happy camper.
Don’t forget to ask
me your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com
Can't say I've ever seen that remake, nor would I want to given that I hold the original by Herk Harvey in high regard. I think I've already mentioned what I think my worst is. Fun and informative post. Thanks, John.
ReplyDeletep.s, slick new blog template, my friend.
Never have seen the film you reference John. For me, it is 'Van Helsing' 2004, directed by the equally irredeemable Stephen Sommers. I do not see how Stephen Sommers could find work at Troma Films filming 'Toxic Avenger 8', let alone working with major studio talent. Not one redeemable film on his resume with the possible exception of 1998's 'Deep Rising', and only that film because I'm a sucker for Famke Janssen.
ReplyDelete