reddit.com/r/badMovies
I've had the unfortunate experience of watching a movie that is really bad, but it keeps popping up in my mind and I can't help but like it. What I mean is even when I watch a movie that I know is bad, I might actually start to like it. On the other hand, there are also movies that are considered bad and poorly directed at first, but they eventually turn out to be amazing and groundbreaking. For me, this has happened with movies where the first watch would be outright horror, but after watching it more than a couple of times, the title started to grow on me.
We are reviewing one of the popular Bad Movies communities on the internet, i.e., r/badMovies. I would urge you to read the entire review because I'm sure you'll drive home with some valuable points.
My recent experience on r/badMovies
The most recent interaction I had on this subreddit was on a post that was uploaded 16 hours ago. User DudderyDrok shared the poster of Hot to Trot (1988) and suggested that he never imagined a movie with John Candy playing a talking horse would be so bad. I kind of agree with his statement because most of the time, our favorite stars take up unusual roles and are not able to do justice to it. But mind you, I don't consider them to be laughing stock. It's these weird decisions they make that make me respect and remember them more than for their usual blockbusters.
About r/badMovies - Community & Members
The popular subreddit r/badMovies celebrates films that are bad by providing an overview of the content and a selection of recommended films. Viewers like myself find amusement in movies that are poorly made, and there is something thrilling about discovering good aspects in these films. For example, I remember watching a weird movie called "Hook" on YouTube and hating it the first time. However, after watching it again, I started to enjoy it. This is also true for many other r/badmovies viewers.
There are 48,300 community members, of which 60-90 are online at any given time. This subreddit was created on January 30, 2010, and has seen a decline in recent times. Most of the users in this community joined it a long time ago and aren't as active. You can understand the state given that there are 50,000 members, but only 60-100 are active at any given time.
How to access r/badMovies?
If you are not a Reddit user, you can join the platform and create an account by typing "r/badMovies" in your search bar and following the prompts. Once you have an account, you can follow subreddits, comment on posts, and even post anything on any of the subreddits.
Moderators of r/badMovies
I found that the particular aspect I liked a lot about this sub is that it has plenty of moderators. These moderators make sure that everything posted on this community falls within the guidelines, which is great to see. At the time of writing this review, I counted 8 Moderators on r/badMovies - ?lake_troll,? ?gameofdestiny,? ?ebonythunder,? ?ShetlandJames,? ?rule2productions?, ?darthslug,? and ?BadMoviesBot.?
Why should you follow r/badMovies?
r/badMovies is filled with amusing content. Funny because the captions are ridiculously funny. The way users sarcastically batter a title is hilarious. But not every post looks down upon the content. Sometimes, you'll find content such as missed spots, bloopers, etc. For instance, I was browsing this sub, and I found that user named JasonKrauser added a post titled "Bruno Matteri's Predator ripoff Robowar is on Tubi in good quality." I'd always wanted to watch this movie in good quality but thanks to this movie, I got to know that it's available on Tubi. The next thing I know, there goes 90 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
Community Engagement
Adding to my surprise, this weird community surpassed my engagement expectations by a wide margin. On average, the top 10 posts receive more than ten to fifteen upvotes and even eight to ten comments. Thus, in terms of engagement, it is right there with communities with more members. The comment section is as funny as the titles, and I am sure you will not even realize that you have spent ten to fifteen minutes browsing various posts on this sub.
Browsing & Navigation
The sub works well. Since only 50-80 members are active at any given time, there is no overload. Even the content on the sub is mostly text and image-based. Most of the time, users are just sharing their experiences regarding a certain movie. So, moving across menus and checking top, hot or new posts isn't much of a challenge. It's crazy how even for such a small community, the mods have added filters by flair so the users can find the content they are looking for using the filters.
Reddit Gold
Let's not talk about Reddit Gold, shall we? Because it isn't really there on this subreddit. I browsed almost 30 top posts and couldn't find a single gold allocated to a particular title or the comments in any of the threads. That was a disappointment, given that some posts had more than 50-70 comments, and they were quirky as hell. There's this one thread about Star Wars Holiday Edition, which is crazy. Make sure to check that out when you have time.
Filter by flair
Finally, if you only want to tropically disperse your shitspending, use the ?Shitpost? filter.
As mentioned earlier, I was surprised when I saw filter by flair options in the sidebar. There are four to choose from - Marathon, Review, Suggestion, and Shitpost. So, if you're adamant on streaming these ridiculously bad movies on the trot, make sure you use the Marathon filter so you can access an endless recommendation for bad movies. On the contrary, if you want to share some titles with fellow members, feel free to provide a suggestion. That way, anybody who uses Suggestion flair will be able to see your post. Finally, if you only want to tropically disperse your shitspending, use the Shitpost filter.
Important rules you must know before joining r/badMovies?
There are no rules you need to follow on r/badMovies. You are free to post any content and engage in the comment section without any repercussions. Though there are eight mods, I don't understand how none of them felt the need to lay down any ground rules for communicating on this sub. However, after browsing this page for over half an hour, I didn't find anything malicious or spammy, so maybe the mods have trust in the users of this community.
Design
I went into the r/badMovies subreddit with no expectations, and that prevented me from getting disappointed. The default blue banner that is usually associated with the Saturn community icon was not the highlight of this subreddit. Other than that, there was "Filter by Flair" - one of the positive aspects and a couple of ad banners in the sidebar - which were not so positive. Overall, this sub had a generic design that didn't bother me much when I started checking out and interacting with the sarcastic users.
Most Upvoted Content on this subreddit
1. I humbly bow down to the king of bad movies, who has garnered 1,300 upvotes on Reddit.
2. I hate even mentioning Facebook, but got tagged in this post and felt it belonged here on Reddit.
3. I painted over some Cats screenshots that I took a few years ago - Merry Christmas, everyone! - with my own hand-made movie poster from the Room. Apparently in Ghana, all movies have gore.
4. I made a handmade movie poster from the Room - apparently one of the most popular films in Ghana - and received 468 upvotes on Reddit.
5. Breen-19 received 429 upvotes on Reddit.
Most Upvoted Content 2020
1. But isn't killing Carole Baskin immortal? - 398 upvotes
2. Ben Affleck commentary on Armageddon. I watch this twice a year - 395 upvotes
3. ?I should really fix the fact that I?ve never seen a Studio Ghibli film, but this movie has Billy Banks AND Roddy Piper!? - 348 upvotes
4. Browsing my library trying to decide what to watch like? - 340 upvotes
5. I've achieved great power. The Meg, Sharktopus, Raiders of the Lost Shark, Shark Night, and Shark Hunter. All at once. - 306 upvotes
Conclusion
I truly appreciate r/badMovies because it features a variety of films, no matter how poorly they are received by critics or fans. Only the creator and a small target audience are able to see the brilliance in a creation that was missed by the mainstream masses. In my opinion, the best films sometimes go overlooked and are watched by viewers for decades after their release. If youâre anything like me, you enjoy bad movies, and enjoying them is your guilty pleasure.