"Leave the house before you find something worth staying in for."

- Banksy

The art of the bad movie.

Over the course of my life I’ve watched a lot of bad movies, and I do mean a lot. Especially lately, it seems to be a phase (or craze) my friends and I are going through - if phases can this long.   Why would one choose to watch so many seemingly bad movies, one may ask? Because they can be terribly entertaining. There’s definitely an art form to making a good-bad movie.

First, I must mention that there are really only two genres appropriate to the good-bad movie. Action (including sci-fi) and Horror. A bad drama or romance is just horribly boring and painful, and if you’ve ever watched The Jay Leno Show you know how enjoyable bad comedy can be.

Now that we’ve cleared that bit up, I believe these are the top 5 factors that make for an enjoyable bad movie (in no particular order).

1. Catch phrase & one liners. All good-bad movies should have at least one memorable phrase or one-liner (often humourous) that you can instantly remember after the movie ends. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the undisputed king in this department.

2. Over the top action or deaths. The action scenes should be rediculous, the fights should unbelievable, the numbers and strength of the enemy impossible, and the kills laughable (and often related to point 1) . If the film happens to be a slasher or horror flick, the killer ought to be fantastical, the deaths shocking (not the point of repulsion), unecessarily violent and absurd. You may even find yourself cheering on the killer.

3. Cheesy acting. Oscasr worthy performances does not a bad movie make. Laughing at a horrible performance, or wondering how the hell this actor won the part is all part of the fun.

4. Not taking the film seriously. Hopefully, they realize that they’re making a cheesy, low budget film and keep the mood light and homourous. You should do the same. If they should take themselves seriously, then chances are they fail so badly that it becomes humourous. We either laugh with them or at them, it doesn’t really matter.

5. Mistakes. It’s surprisingly fun to point out obvious goofs, descrepancies and continutiy mistakes. Equally entertaining is scene that makes absolutely no sense.

There you have it. You can now learn to enjoy the bad with the good.