Dave's Progress. Chapter 120: The Worst Film...Ever.

Movies, as some of you will know, are one of my abiding interests, and I have sometimes told of the movies I like, such as "The Third Man", "The Godfather (part 1 & 2)", "Apocalypse Now", "Raging Bull", "The Searchers", "Taxi Driver", "Le Fue Follet" and "Le Mepris". These films are, probably without exception, regarded as "good", if not "great" cinema. So, I thought, as I have nothing else to write about, why not, for once, go to the other end of the scale and look at movies which are regarded as being perhaps the worst...ever.
It appears that one cannot do this without running into the figure of Ed Wood. Making films during the 1950s, Wood was a notoriously bad director and was responsible for such unbelievably laughable films as "Glen or Glenda" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Wood actually teamed up, also somewhat unbelievably, with the Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi, famous, of course, for previously playing Count Dracula. Wood apparently idolised Lugosi and he made his final appearance as an actor in Wood's "Plan 9...". Unfortunately, Lugosi died before shooting ended, so Wood replaced him with another actor who also happened to be his wife's chiropractor, but in the final film left in the previous footage of Lugosi. So, as one watches, it is obvious that two different people are playing the same character, being different in size, build, and even hair. While Lugosi retained a full head of hair until his death, the actor replacing him was almost bald.
However, such ineptitude does not, perhaps, inspire one's contempt, but rather, endearing laughter. Indeed, many seem to find Wood's films "so bad, they're good". One critic even remarked that "Plan 9..." was "far too entertaining to be considered the very worst film ever made", while another has stated that the film is "the ultimate cult flick".
Also, with "Glen or Glenda", a semi-autobiographical quasi-documentary about transvestism, some critics have sought to defend Wood's film-making, one saying that this movie, starring and directed by Wood, was, despite its ineptitude, a far more personal account than that given by many so-called auteurs.

Poster for Ed Wood's "Glen or Glenda".

So, for the truly contemptible, it seems one would have to look elsewhere. Indeed, Wood was even the subject of a biopic made by the "good" director Tim Burton, which was a rather endearing look at the director, his life, career and relationship with Lugosi. What comes over in the film is Wood's absolute enthusiasm for film and, despite being totally inept, his ultimate charm and goodness as a man. And, who could forget the line when Wood goes to see a premiere of his movie "Plan 9...": "I think this may be my masterpiece. The one everyone will remember me for". And, indeed, we do.
Perhaps, then, that which is regarded as being truly awful by some turns out to be not that bad in the end, probably reflecting the essential subjectivity of all criticism. Indeed, it seems that we would all have our favourite "bad film". Personally, I can't stand the modern horror genre's foray into so-called "torture porn", which appears to me to be just an excuse to portray needlessly gruesome and gratuitous violence. When seeing such things, one is reminded of Michael Haneke's movie "Funny Games", in which the director seems to veritably turn the lens on to the audience and ask the question, "why, exactly, are you watching this?"
So, how about John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth" as a candidate for "the worst film...ever". Or, perhaps, Paul Verhoeven's truly execrable "Showgirls". Whatever your taste, I'm sure you can find at least one movie which makes Ed Wood look like Jean-Luc Godard.