Edge Country: GUEST POST: A Quest for the Greatest Horrible Movies.

When I found out that my friend Monika (a fellow writer) has a competition with her family to find the most groan-inducing movies, I asked her to write a guest post about their experiences. You can read more of what Monika has to say about movies, books, writing and the universe at her blog, Glorified Daydreamer.

Michael has asked me to write this post about my family and movies; in particular, about our love for bad movies and our competition to out do each other on the horribleness of bad movies.

I am the youngest of six kids (four sister and one brother). My oldest sibling is seven and a half years older than me, so we were very close growing up. We are also very competitive with each other. Then I went to college in Michigan. Two of my sisters (Amy and Amber) came with me to work and go to school. Instead of dorms, we got an apartment together. I am a socially awkward person, so I began to gravitate to movies and movie theaters. There’s no social faux pas, ridicule, or judgments made there. Amy and Amber would come with me.

We grew up loving Stand By Me (https://youtu.be/FUVnfaA-kpI), Beetlejuice (https://youtu.be/BeZ3S-4p_Fk), The Goonies (https://youtu.be/hJ2j4oWdQtU) , Adventures in Babysitting (https://youtu.be/s_6pNWb-ev0), and Jaws (https://youtu.be/NpDf3wTxdiY) to name a few. We like well-loved movies like The Godfather (https://youtu.be/sY1S34973zA), Ever After (https://youtu.be/SMMx37Co61Y), Never Been Kissed (https://youtu.be/9geP1zG5e3c), 10 Things I Hate About You (https://youtu.be/AWmjzCZr0Jw), Clueless (https://youtu.be/RS0KyTZ3Ie4), Scream (https://youtu.be/AWm_mkbdpCA), While You Were Sleeping (https://youtu.be/E6JuJKsHDeU), Fright Night (2011) (https://youtu.be/sUipgKdTi_k), and Sleepless in Seattle (https://youtu.be/4J7gg1V0oak). Then in the early 2000s, we noticed that many of the movies that were coming out were down right terrible. That is when our competitive selves came out. We started to pick out horrible movies that are just plain groan worthy.

We have learned that movie critics aren’t always right, and sometimes the most entertaining movie deserves a Razzie. Some of the best movies and books I have gotten to know aren’t critical successes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value. While Amy and Amber do not like to read, because, “Reading the book ruins the movie,” they also believe that critics aren’t to be trusted as they are paid to find fault with other people’s works. The point is, movies are subjective and to us, there is nothing like a good/bad movie that makes us laugh and/or groan.

Some of the movies are so terrible that we refuse to watch them again. The worst of the worst include, Xanadu (Olivia Newton-John on roller stakes) (https://youtu.be/r1kwqkv6R_M), Birdemic (https://youtu.be/jE5dJDgZ644), Grease 2 (https://youtu.be/cTUVeV9t-sg), and Sleepover (https://youtu.be/jt7QIaGnm28).

There are other movies that are pretty rotten, but they is something about them that we love just love. It could be a scene. In Cursed (https://youtu.be/QKa9EMxwIQU) where the werewolf gives the middle finger to the humans below, and the way Jennifer Coolidge says moist (like she is having an orgasm over a cookie) in A Cinderella Story (https://youtu.be/wc1FuNLsckA). It could be the movie is so terrible that it is fun to watch; for example, Troll 2 (https://youtu.be/9KCct4RwLNM), Cherry Falls (https://youtu.be/u4FPgE6nYTo), and Combat Academy (starring a young George Clooney) (https://youtu.be/bmaCvI4C2ag).