I….have a confession……

I love terrible movies!

I am particular enthusiastic about terrible horror movies. Personal favourites include Troll 2  (which despite its title, is not actually a sequel to the first Troll movie, and doesn’t actually contain any trolls), Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Sharknado, Sharktopus, PiranahShark (basically anything with a Shark in it) and B Grade classics such as Day of The Triffids and Plan 9 From Outer Space.

The genre of horror as obviously changed a lot over the years, from the days in which Alfred Hitchcock had to fight censorship rules to show a flushing toilet in Psycho to the graphic nature of movies such as the Human Centrepeid. With the advancing of technology in filmmaking and special affects as well as the loosening of censorship laws, the horror genre has produced some of the most confronting films of all time, but we are focussing on ones that are generally scary for…other reasons.

B grade movies were generally aired as the first part of the widely popular “double feature” sessions. Acting kind of like a supporting act before a band, B grades were like the complimentary entertainment that gets everyone excited and kind of angry that they haven’t handed over to the big guns yet. This “two for the price of one” technique was adopted by theaters because many of them relied on block booking, which is basically bulk buying of movies to air but not from costco. Airing second rate films alongside A grades proved more economical.

Well known for their low budget exploitative nature, wacky plot lines, hand made special effects and, well, excellent acting, B grades began to become as popular as the films they accompanied. While horror was always a popular genre, the introduction of sound for films in the 1930s made the genre into a steadily growing cultural denomination, which began the rise of the double features in the 1940s, and kept the demand going so strong that production companies began spewing out B grades made in as little as four days.

After hearing the Rocky Horror picture show mentioned in conversation a lot, I arranged to finally go and see it at the Astor with a friend, her being a Rocky enthusiast and me being, well, inexperienced. Having absolutely no idea what the movie was about, I got a message from said friend telling me to bring a list of things that included water guns, rice, party hats, cards, toast, hot dogs, a lighter and rubber gloves. She then sent me this picture and said “wear a french maid’s outfit”. I was slightly terrified. To my horror, when we got there I was called up on stage to receive an award for my costume before spending the next few hours  being showered in prunes, playing cards and toilet paper. It was awesome. Cult classics such as these  allow audiences to become involved in the media perpetrating their world (such as through interactive screenings or appropriated events such as conventions) and celebrate memorable scenes and characters, comedy, unique plots, surreal ideas or laughable special effects (among other things).