9 Poorly Reviewed Movies You Should Still Watch Anyway

It’s been said that no one ever sets out to make a “bad” movie. Unfortunately, it still turns out that way occasionally. There are a lot of movies that receive poor reviews, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re unwatchable.

The idea of what constitutes a “bad” movie is subjective and oftentimes relevant to the viewer’s tastes, however, that doesn’t discredit the fact that sometimes a movie just has poor production quality, flat acting, or a thinly planned out story.

Every once in a while, a movie may only get the level of criticism it does out of peer pressure. That is to say, people might say they hate it but they’re really only saying that because other people hate it. They could just genuinely be indifferent or have never even seen it at all, but in the heat of the moment it is just easier to say, “Yeah that movie is terrible.”

Do you really know that movie is worth never seeing, not even once? Spy.com put together a list: “The Worst Reviewed Movies Ever (And Why You Should Watch Them).” We’ve adapted part of their list below, as well as added in a few of our own selections. Scroll down for a list of films that have received less-than-stellar reviews, but still deserve a chance anyway.

‘Batman and Robin’

There is no way to argue with Batman & Robin being widely considered the worst big-screen Batman movie. It just is. Does it deserve to be though? Objectively speaking… Yes, absolutely.

However, you can still get some enjoyment out of George Clooney’s Dark Knight if, rather than looking past Mr. Freeze’s cheesy lines and the Bat-nipples, you look directly at them.

Accept that this movie plays like a modern-ish homage to the campy Batman TV series from the 1960s.

Seriously, dust off the Batman & Robin DVD you have hidden in your film collection and watch it through a mental lens of paying tribute to the zaniness of the Adam West years. There’s also a pretty great drinking game to be had in taking a sip every time Freeze makes a “cold” pun. That might make for one “cool party.” (Please drink responsibly.)

‘Showgirls’

Telling the story of a woman (Elizabeth Berkley) who goes from “street-smart” drifter to Las Vegas showgirl through a journey of deceit and self-discovery, Showgirls was initially met with harsh criticism but has since garnered cult status.

Maybe the main reason people should still watch Showgirls has more to do with its reception rather than its content. You just need to know what exactly is going on in this movie that people seem to hate.

The film’s director is Paul Verhoeven, the same man who gave the world RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and Starship Troopers. In 1995, the film was nominated for a record 13 Golden Raspberry Awards. Verhoeven became the first nominee ever to show up and accept his award in person, taking home Worst Director. That’s a level of gutsy few directors reach.

‘Troll 2’

Troll 2 is so legendary for being bad that a documentary about how bad it was came out and was infinitely more successful than the original film.

The irony is, that made people want to revisit Troll 2, as if by some miracle time had been altered and it suddenly became a good movie. Unfortunately, flux capacitors aren’t real and Troll 2 is still a “bad” movie. It’s certainly worth watching, though, if only for its brilliant chaos.

Maybe the most hilarious and damning fact about the film is that it was shot under the title “Goblins,” but was re-named Troll 2 because American distributors were worried about how it would fair.

A few years earlier a film called Troll had been released so “Goblins” became Troll 2 in an ill-conceived effort to give it credibility as a sequel. There were two problems with that plan, though…

First, it wasn’t a sequel and audiences saw right through the lie. Second, Troll wasn’t a good film either, receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews, which means the producers of Troll 2 tried to make their terrible film look better by directly connecting it to another terrible film.

That logic is so baffling that you HAVE to watch Troll 2 in order to try and understand it.

‘Super Mario Bros.’

The Super Mario Bros. movie from the ’90s is notorious for being bad and poorly reviewed. Siskel & Ebert gave it two thumbs down and included it in their “worst films of 1993” list.

Bob Hoskins, the actor who played Mario, famously said that it was “the worst thing I ever did” and added that “the whole experience was a nightmare.”

Dennis Hopper (King Koopa) also called it a “nightmare” and explained, “It was a husband and wife directing team who were both control freaks and wouldn’t talk before they made decisions. Anyway, I was supposed to go down there for five weeks, and I was there for 17. It was so over budget.”

Not wanting to be the only one left out, John Leguizamo (Luigi) talked about the film in his biography, saying that he perceived the issue with the movie being that the studio wanted something family-friendly and the directors wanted to make the film for an adult audience.

With all that negativity coming from the people who actually starred in the movie, you can’t help but be compelled by curiosity to watch it.

‘Con Air’

Con Air is not a bad movie. It’s just not. It’s phenomenal. It’s fun, and funny, and intense, and people should be putting more respect on its name.

In fact, we’ll even go so far as to say that Con Air absolutely belongs up there with Face/Off and The Rock as one of Nic Cage’s better high-energy ’90s action films.

Boasting performances from other great actors such as John Cusack, John Malkovich, and Ving Rhames, Con Air deserves another chance to steal your heart. Just, don’t let it anywhere near the knife drawer.

‘Freddy Got Fingered’

Look, you can sit there on your high-horse claiming that Freddy Got Fingered is a terrible movie just because it got a few (mostly) bad reviews, but you don’t have to live that lonely life.

You would seem justified in your opinion, considering that the film cost around $14 million to make and that’s all it earned back at the box office. However, in 2014 the star of the film, MTV’s kooky “talk-show” host Tom Green, revealed that the DVD sales brought in upwards of $30 million. We can derive then, that the film did in fact become a financial success.

Also, one thing that people who speak negatively about Freddy Got Fingered miss is that it’s supposed to be awkward, uncomfortable, and off-putting. They also miss that it is highly quotable and if you don’t think about the “Daddy, would you like some sausage” scene anytime someone offers you sausage, you’re a liar.

Additionally, Green previously explained, according to Indiewire, that a large part of the film was edited out, and that those scenes were crucial to the flow of the movie. He asserted that the studio had them cut (or altered) because they were too gross/shocking/dark.

One could argue that if Green had a chance to make Freddy Got Fingered today, it would be no more shocking or unusual than Sausage Party, Borat, or anything in the Jackass movies.

‘Eight Legged Freaks’

David Arquette may shine better in supporting roles (Ravenous, Bone Tomahawk, the ), but he’s had a handful of lead roles in films that deserve more credit than they get.

One of those movies is Eight Legged Freaks, an early 2000s movie that is essentially a comedy version of Arachnophobia.

In true B-movie fashion, the plot is about a collection of spiders being exposed to toxic waste that causes them to grow to monstrous size.

Eight Legged Freaks is groundbreaking by no means, but it’s a sincere homage to the bizarre B-grade monster movies of old, such as Them! and The Monster That Challenged the World. Arquette does a fine job in his role as the one who gets stuck having to lead the charge against the giant spiders, and the film is really easy to enjoy.

(Honorable mention: Ready to Rumble, in which Arquette has a scene with then-WCW star Sting near the end that is pure joy.)

‘Hard Rain’

If your response to seeing Hard Rain on this list is “what?” don’t worry, you won’t be alone.

Hard Rain was an under-seen, mostly negatively reviewed film about a heist in a small Indiana town during heavy rainfall that has caused disaster-level flooding.

It starred Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid, Minnie Driver, Ed Asner, Richard Dysart, and Betty White.

While the reviews were resoundingly negative, some did fairly credit the “mindless” and “entertaining” film for being able to break the tension at the right times.

Hard Rain may be worth a watch for what it could be as opposed to what it is, due to the fact that while it is a little simplistic at times, it feels like there is a really great movie hiding in there somewhere.

‘Jury Duty’

Pauly Shore is a divisive star. Some have found his west-coast-bro demeanor endearing, and others would like to never hear his weasel-like voice ever again. That second group of people have unnecessary aggression.

Jury Duty may not ever be as beloved as Encino Man or Son-in-Law, not even by hardcore Shore fans, but it’s still a very funny flick. With a mix of situational and slapstick comedy, Jury Duty holds up just as well as In the Army Now and Bio-Dome as a great Pauly Shore comedy.