Embracing the Flop: The Allure of B Movies and Box-Office Poison
Posted on October 15, 2025
by Amy H
There’s something wonderful about a really, really bad film. Bad acting, lousy scripts, ridiculous costumes/goofy monsters, junior-high level special effects…. there are just so many glorious ways to ruin a film. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which evolved into RiffTrax) made a whole (utterly delightful) industry of watching and commenting on bad films, bless them. Here are some great books that bring together the best of the worst out there. Some titles here also celebrate historical B-movies, which are generally low budget (and were originally created to run before the “real” movies in theaters). Some of these are actually kinda good in spite of the aforementioned stumbling blocks of filmmaking. Both sides of this coin have their own special devoted following.
crab monsters, teenage cavemen and candy stripe nurses by Chris Nashawaty
This is an outrageously rollicking account of the life and career of Roger Corman-one of the most prolific and successful independent producers, directors, and writers of all time, and self-proclaimed king of the B movie. As told by Corman himself and graduates of "The Corman Film School," including Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, and Martin Scorsese, this comprehensive oral history takes readers behind the scenes of more than six decades of American cinema, as now-legendary directors and actors candidly unspool recollections of working with Corman, continually one-upping one another with tales of the years before their big breaks.
the bad movie bible by Rob Hill
Whether you realize it or not, you probably enjoy bad movies. If you've ever been amused by cheesy '80s action, or laughed at a shoddy horror movie monster, then you've paddled in the so-bad-it's-good shallows. The deep waters beyond can be intimidating, teeming as they are with dreck. But among the unmentionables are some of the most ridiculous and enjoyable movies ever made. You just need to know where to look, and this book is an excellent guide.
the lady from the black lagoon by Mallory O'Meara
As a teenager, Mallory O'Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favorite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But for someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available. For, as O'Meara soon discovered, Patrick's contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. As a young woman working in the horror film industry, O'Meara set out to right the wrong, and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time. Patrick's contribution to special effects proved to be just the latest chapter in a remarkable, unconventional life, from her youth growing up in the shadow of Hearst Castle, to her career as one of Disney's first female animators. A true-life detective story and a celebration of a forgotten cinematic trailblazer, Mallory O'Meara's The Lady from the Black Lagoon establishes Patrick in her rightful place in film history.
opening wednesday at a theater or drive-in near you by Charles Taylor
When we think of '70s cinema, we think of classics like The Godfather and Taxi Driver . . . but the riches found in the overlooked B movies of the time, rolled out wherever they might find an audience, unexpectedly tell an eye-opening story about post-Watergate, post-Vietnam America. Revisiting the films that don't make the Academy Award montages, Charles Taylor finds a treasury many of us have forgotten, movies that in fact unlock the secrets of the times. Celebrated film critic Taylor pays homage to the trucker vigilantes, meat magnate pimps, blaxploitation angel avengers, and taciturn factory workers of grungy, unartful B films such as Prime Cut, Foxy Brown, and Eyes of Laura Mars. He creates a compelling argument for what matters in moviemaking and brings a pivotal American era vividly to life in all its gritty, melancholy complexity.
the b list
What kind of collection could possibly find common ground among The Son of Kong, Platoon, and Pink Flamingos? What kind of fevered minds could conceive of such a list? What are the unheard-of qualities that tie them all together? The answers: This book. The National Society of Film Critics. And the far-reaching enticements of the B movie itself. Once the B movie was the Hollywood stepchild, the underbelly of the double feature. Today it is a more inclusive category, embracing films that fall outside the mainstream by dint of their budgets, their visions, their grit, and occasionally -- sometimes essentially -- their lack of what the culture cops call "good taste". The films in this wonderful book are offbeat, unpredictable, and decidedly idiosyncratic. And that's why we love them.
rotten movies we l*ve
Ever been crushed to learn your favorite movie -- or a new one you're dying to see -- has been given the big green splat from Rotten Tomatoes' infamous Tomatometer? The site's editors stand by their critics and scores, but they also feel your pain: Fresh films shouldn't get all the glory! In Rotten Movies We Love, the RT team celebrates 101 Rotten movies that can't be missed, including: Box office behemoths that bombed with critics (Space Jam, Maleficent, Bad Boys), sequels worth a second look (Home Alone 2, Rocky IV, Jurassic Park III), and more.
box office poison by Tim Robey
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public's appetite-or lack of it-and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
showgirls, teen wolves, and astro zombies by Michael Adams
For every cinematic classic the studios have released, there have been dozens of cheesy monstrosities, overpriced flops, and schlocky epics. Rampaging robots, bouncing bimbos, moronic martial artists, vapid vampires, troubled teens, barbaric bikers, and idiotic infants--all of these, and more, have been foisted on us in the name of "entertainment." Featuring a cast of thousands, including A-listers like Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock in their Z-grade origins, and firsthand interviews with bad-movie aficionados, from Leonard Maltin and David Sedaris to John Waters and Eli Roth, this odyssey charts one intrepid critic's attempt to maintain a normal family life and two day jobs as he watches hundreds of dreadful tapes and DVDs in every conceivable genre. Even movie buffs will be surprised by what they can learn as they laugh out loud at the worst of the worst in this unforgettable journey deep into film's forbitten vault of irredeemable crud.
hail to the chin by Bruce Campbell
Following his first popular memoir "If Chins Could Kill," Campbell returns with more stories from his strange life as a B movie actor. His roles have been as varied as they are numerous--from the Spider-Man movies to his self-referential My Name is Bruce to the popular Burn Notice series and Ash vs Evil Dead. Bruce covers the professional and the personal with stories about his quickly canceled series, working on Sci-Fi Channel movies in Bulgaria, playing Santa Claus and Ronald Reagan, as well as his move from Los Angeles to Oregon where he distills lavender and joins the local Elks club. Is truth stranger than fiction? Bruce knows, but he's not telling.
it seemed like a bad idea at the time by Bruce Vilanch
This is possibly the best "narrated by the author" audiobook memoir ever. Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and over-the-top variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the most legendary disasters ever made. Some of his work lives in infamy-- The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. How did these ever seem like a good idea? Well, everyone in Hollywood has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. This memoir is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, and forgotten in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been. It explains to the people in the audience who say to themselves, once they have gotten their jaw off the floor, "'How did this ever get made?" Don't we all want to know?
junk film by Katharine Coldiron
For the most part, bad movies have been buried by their creators, or have circulated in midnight screenings and Reddit threads. They've been used for humor by Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Red Letter Media, and presented as outrageous spectacle by critics and commentators. Rarely have bad movies been studied. The essays in this book explore the failures of specific works created between the 1940s and the 2010s. Each demonstrates a different kind of failure, from mixing incompatible genres (Cop Rock) to stacking a screenplay with sociopaths (Staying Alive). Using a few basic ideas about bad film and television, this book unpacks these failures, showing what we can learn from bad movies: how to make art that works via watching art that doesn't. Coldiron bridges film scholarship and pop culture criticism with wit and warmth.
keep watching the skies! by Bill Warren
Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies!, originally published in two volumes, was greatly expanded in this edition with new entries on several films and revisions and expansions of the commentary on every film. In addition to a detailed plot synopsis, full cast and credit listings, and an overview of the critical reception of each film, Warren delivers richly informative assessments of the films and a wealth of insights and anecdotes about their making. The book contains historic photos, useful appendices, and an enormous index.
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