What is the definition of terrib-larious? It's a clunky, invented term coined to denote a movie that is both terrible and hilarious, typically on account of the same reasons. Terrib-larious movies are films we know deep down we should not watch, but something compels us to return to them. They make easy filler for cable television when the vast majority of America has nothing better to do. For whatever reason, these films are still widely seen and widely enjoyed today.
Terrib-larious movies are a spectacle to behold, and are best enjoyed with groups of your friends. The following is a sample from my list of terrib-larious movies. To me, the more I notice how terrible these movies are, the more entertaining they seem to become. Five of the seven films listed come from the late 90's during that ripe moment in life where my dad was willing to take me to every movie that the summer could throw at us. I enjoyed them then, and now I enjoy them in a completely different way, with an awareness I did not have in childhood. I share this list to anyone who can look and think hard, because they are cinematic gems to anyone who is willing to find art buried deep within kitsch. Here they are, ordered chronologically.
Tremors is one of the best terrib-larious movies out there, and you can easily catch it on the Sci-fi channel almost twenty years since its creation. What makes Tremors lovable has to do with the sly tongue-in-cheek nature of its production. The worms are phony as hell (and lovingly called Graboids) and the town setting screams low budget, but dialogue such as They're mutations caused by radiation. No, wait; the government made 'em. *Big* surprise for the Russians, or That'd make them a couple of billion years old... and we've just never seen one until now. Right* shows that Tremors knows just how goofy it is, and audiences continue to love it.
*Dialogue source from www.imdb.com
Twisters premise does suggest a fantastic thriller. No matter who is behind the director's chair, a story about tornado chasers chasing tornadoes cannot be boring. However, with Jan de Bont in the director's chair, the story trips on its own two feet. The problem lies in the odd, romantic love triangle that nearly displaces the entire film. When tornadoes are crashing down around you, why the hell would anyone ask if you're going to hook up again with your ex? Thankfully, in one of cinema's most nonchalant break-ups, the tornadoes come back to the forefront. However, cinematic problems continue to plague Twister. Jan de Bont's film lacks rain during many tornadoes scenes and has no knowledge about space-continuity. One minute they're on a road, then a couple of shots later tornadoes seem to be feet from them and cows are flying, but they still seem to be on same stretch of never-ending road. Fields appear out of nowhere and mere tens of feet act as an impenetrable barrier for devastating winds. These kind of blatant space-continuity errors make me love Twister all the more, because it unintentionally rubs its face in Hollywood's slick production values. Twister had plenty of potential, but no characters for talented actors to work with. Limits clearly exist for dialogue like Get underground now! and the laughably shallow love triangle.
Independence Day, or ID4 if you're a part of the in-crowd, was one of the highest grossing movies ever made during its release. I wonder where the intelligence to keep this project together came from, since oversights such as the number 4 magically inserted itself into the shorter, promotional title suggests a lack of intelligence. Or at least caring on anyone's part. Independence Day's script (No, you did NOT shoot that green shit at me!) and plotline leaves plot holes large enough to have anyone who is not distracted by bright lights or Will Smith's presence shaking their heads and fists in disbelief. Despite this, (SPOILERS ahead) there is a certain ridiculousness to seeing Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith download a computer virus onto an alien operating system, have that virus WORK, and then watching two of them escape an explosion in space, with Jeff screaming Must go faster! Director Emmerich made this the middle child of his turd trilogy, whichin order of release consists of Stargate, ID4, and Godzilla.
Anyone who was able to see this film as a child was wishing it was Blizzard's Starcraft brought to the big screen. Anyone leaving the same theater knew their dreams were crushed. Starship Troopers is an unintelligible mess with characters so thin and vainly beautiful it seems to want to be a militaristic 90210. Readers, I love every single frame of this movie. From the bad acting involving the 90210-goes-to-war-with-giant-bugs premise to the very lack of knowledge of how any military would invade a planet, Starship Troopers has only one decent thing going for it; it's a special effects extravaganza. Normally, computer graphics cannot fill the void of a decent script/actors/director, but for this movie everything falls into place and makes an excellent terrib-larious film. Come for the special effects, and stay for the spectacularly terrible dialogue/acting. If there is one moment that epitomizes my love for this film, the line Rico! You know what to do! and the shot shortly after. It ignores any sense of space or perspective, and it is why I love to hate this movie.
I remember this film was rated R, and seemed to have connotations of the devil on the cover, so when my friends decided to watch it in my sophomore year of high school, I felt as though it was a rite-of-passage from children films into adult entertainment. I was slightly disappointed that the movie was merely a slasher film about a killer hand, but the amount of drug use, on-screen killings, and nudity made me decide this movie was rather rad. Fast-forward to 2009, I am watching it On-Demand and slowly realizing that I found this movie a lot cooler then, but surprised it is perfectly entertaining now. Idle Hands has now been labeled as a spoof of such slasher flicks, and there are elements that promote that label in the film, but other scenes has director Flender truly wishing this was an actual horror film; sliced-off hand and all. With these two conflicting elements not working nearly as well as in the films of Sam Raimi, Idle Hands just comes off as terrib-larious with intercutting scenes of Jessica Alba attempting to act.
Movies based off video games have a lot going against them when they make their way to the silver screen, but I believe video games have one step up from table-top games making the same journey. When Dungeons & Dragons made its way to the multiplex, it seemed like the movie would use the monster-filled world to some advantage but aside from a dragon making an appearance two minutes into the film, there was little I remember of the movie. Except for one moment. Be warned, SPOILERS are coming. The ending is as terrib-larious as anything on this list. The characters, having saved the kingdom with some losses, stand around a graveyard. After some deep dialogue, the characters find the gravestone glowing. One character does not seem worried. He turns to the other characters and tells them to relax, We're starting a new adventure. All of the characters turn into sparkles and fly into the glowing grave. The end. Roll credits. I am not too sure what to make of the tone of the last scene, but I do know it is terrib-lariousness at its finest.
Was Paul W.S. Anderson banking on the fact that his name was only two initials away from being Paul Thomas Anderson's name? The ripping off from proven success line of thinking translates well when one approaches the appalling concept of bringing Alien vs. Predator to the big screen. However, for all intents and purposes, AVP was not a drudge through the bottom of a rain-soaked dumpster. In fact, its murky lighting, terrible acting, and ingeniously inept script (including short-sleeve wearing heroines in Antartica) make AVP a pretty terrib-larious film. I know nothing of the sequel, since my motto is that if a franchise starts in the realm of terrib-lariousness, it has nowhere to go but straight down.
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