[Photo by Santiago Avila Caro on Unsplash]
Now don’t let that last post give you any untoward ideas. I strive for to.cuotivate a well-rounded palate. Horror isn’t all I consume–just what I enjoy and given the choice, what I’d consume. To be fair, it’s easily 80-90% of what I watch, though less of what I read, current trends notwithstanding. The remaining 10% is pretty diverse, but 50% of it is garbage.
70%…
OK, 90%.
I. LOVE. Watching. TRASH.
And I’m not talking subjective trash you can bluff your way out of with an “everyone has different tastes” , but things that are bad in all categories. Bad writing, cheap costumes and SFX, piss-poor delivery? Give it to me! My only criteria is that it be interesting.
Not all trash is worth watching, but there’s more good than you think.
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve clicked through Netflix or Prime’s catalogs and paused on a movie with an interesting premise and a name I’ve never heard of. My gaze slides over to the deets and I realize it’s either 10 years old or younger than 6 months and I’ve only heard of one person in it, if I’m lucky.
But it’s too late. I’m far too invested. I let it play.
None of that means it’ll automatically be bad. Some of my favorite horror movies hit all of those criteria. I watch on because one thing I’ve come to understand from giving into trash’s siren call so frequently is that I can learn something from them (usually).
While other qualities fall by the wayside, these flicks tend to do one thing really well. It isn’t a constant; it varies from movie to movie. One might have gotten the atmosphere just right another might have done a lot with their limited FX budget. Most of the time, though, I notice that they’ll have a decent story until they don’t. That’s when they stop being fun. I forgive them this because it’s a failing across all media, not limited by time, budget or number of stars attached to the picture. Sometimes you’ve got to enjoy the journey, even if the story’s got a biffed ending (From, I’m looking at you)
As “bad” as that sounds, I hope that that is what I’m giving to you, dear reader. If you
aren’t thrilled with the ending, I hope that you at least enjoy how we arrive there.
What are some things that you enjoy that might be considered “bad”?
P.S.: though a lot of it is lost to the algorithm, here’s some of my favorite trash(updated as I remember)
Last Straw (Prime)
Man Finds Tape(Prime)
Pretty Lethal (Prime)
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman (Prime)
Bones and All(Prime)
Abigail(Prime)
The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996)
Samurai Cat (Prime)
The Edge of Sleep(Prime) (this one might actually be good, just slept on)