Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten Movies We Love: Cult Classics, Underrated Gems, and Films So Bad They're Good

by Rotten Tomatoes

Hook. Wet Hot American Summer. Valley of the Dolls. There are some movies that defy traditional critical assessment -- films that are panned by reviewers, but that go on to become beloved classics and cult phenoms anyway.

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


Sci-fi treasures so bad they're awesome: Cherry 2000, Zardoz, Masters of the Universe


Rare Rottens from Fresh directors: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Marie Antoinette, Legend, Willow


Deeply beloved cult classics: The Last Dragon, Empire Records, The Craft, MacGruber


Underrated gems ahead of their time: The Strangers, Event Horizon, Practical Magic, The Cable Guy


Sequels worth a second look: Home Alone 2, Rocky IV, Jurassic Park III, Return to Oz

Featuring 16 essays from some of the world's most well-known film critics -- Leonard Maltin, Terri White, Amy Nicholson, David Fear, K. Austin Collins, and more -- and punctuated with black-and-white film stills and punchy graphics, it's a fun romp through the quirkier corners of film history, sure to delight any cinephile or pop-culture fanatic.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Essays

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a big let-down.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making movies is hard. But watching them doesn't have to be.

I actually got a lot out of this. I thought it was a nice collection of weird and wonderful movies. I was able to tab some of my favourites. I am someone known to be sympathetic to 'bad movies' depending on their context so there were a lot of gems in here that I added to my watchlist. This was also the oldest book on my owned TBR which I'm slowly working through. Yay for me.

[Chris L. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, this book was such a disappointment. Most of the reviews were just plot summaries. Some films just had very brief "reviews" while others had longer and more detailed criticism from film critics. There was no explanation for this. The writers/editors never give more than a brief look at the films; imdb user reviews are more substantial than most of the reviews in the books.

[Sarah Brousseau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 4/100: Rotten Movies We Love: Cult Classics, Underrated Gems, and Films So Bad They're Good by The Editors of Rotten Tomatoes. A fun interesting reads of what people say they thought of the movies listed here, and the actual reactions. The intro to this book was great, they knew some of these movies the Tomatometer rated were gems and yet the public would still critique the people who work at Rotten Tomatoes of the decisions based on an algorithm. Loved seeing some of my favorites in these lists, I don't get disappointed when I see a favorite movie with a splat, more proud that people don't truly hate it, and that they enjoyed it just as much! 

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of books about movies, and this is one of the better ones I've read. I absolutely loved it.

I love the taste of the Rotten Tomatoes editors! We love a lot of the same under-appreciated movies, so this was really interesting and a blast to read. I love so many of the movies written about in this book and I want to see many of the rest. You can tell that the writers behind this book love movies and I especially love that the entire book is about celebrating critically panned (but audience-loved) films. Sure, some science fiction plot descriptions went over my head, but I was interested in about 90% of this.

I also absolutely LOVE is that the authors know how to write about movies without spoiling their endings or important points in the plot. IT CAN BE DONE. I do it all of the time.

One thing: Their Editor in Chief who did their foreword seems to think that Rotten Tomatoes was created because of the movie: Rumble in the Bronx (1995). In fact, I'm pretty sure it was Rush Hour (1998). Both RT and Rush Hour were released in 1998 and Wikipedia agrees with me.

[R Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mini reviews of (honestly) a lot of movies I like.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and informative read!

If, like me, you’re always looking for new lists of movies to binge, this book is a great read. I was genuinely shocked that some of the films were rated as low as they were, but it was fun to hear the Rotten Tomatoes staff defend otherwise hated films.

The book ranges through pretty much the entire history of cinema to compile a list of ‘rotten’ movies to defend. There is no genre preference - actually it reviews everything from slasher flicks to bigger than life Hollywood musicals. If nothing else I think this book does a good job of framing these films more as pieces of entertainment rather than works of art to be consumed in a very particular way.

Summing up the multiple arguments, I think it is safe to say that it is vital that you allow yourself to enjoy a piece of cinema by meeting it where it is. If you watch Step Brothers expecting the plot and gravitas of Schindler’s List, you will be sorely disappointed.

[Quentin Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a wide selection of movies were chosen to be touched on, few were given a more “in-depth” look. As other reviews have stated, the majority of the films were given a synopsis and nothing more. I would love to know more about their cultural impact in some communities and the impact they left on the authors.

[Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book hoping it would give me a list of terrible films to watch - think The Room or Troll 2 levels of terrible. I'm struggling not to rate this book unfairly because it wasn't what I was looking for. Overall it wasn't bad; the reviews were frequently too short, but I left wanting to see some of the films regardless. Not a bad read.

[Sarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fun, and it definitely gave me many ideas for my partner's & my ongoing Friday Night Bad Movies & Junk Food project, but whoa did this book need a better editor. The misspellings are numerous and cringeworthy. Still worth reading, especially if you love bad movies!

[Jbussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgia! This was fun. I (like most people I think) looked up the movies I loved to see what the low score was and what the critics said at the time. It's nostalgia and I love it. Not that I would want to see any of the movies I haven't seen, I wasn't looking for that. well okay. I did find one.

[David Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviews and comments on movies that got bad scores. I was surprisingly happy with the writing of these short essays. Not a bad little book. This is not the book you need to read if you only read one book a year, but I liked it fine.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book clarifies why my friends and I were OBSESSED with Return to Oz as kids, and why I’m compelled to stop and watch Over the Top if I come across it on a Saturday afternoon of channel surfing.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 2 out of 5]

The type of book I usually like,but with this one was less acerbic.fast read through the different films some I was surprised at the inclusion.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is ok, not as good as the tv binge one.

[Shayne Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the best movies of all time are in here. Just goes to show you, ya can’t always trust the rotten tomatoes score! Trust yourself.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as it says on the cover - cult classics and underrated gems.

[Russell Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting choices along with well written essays makes this an enjoyable and informative read.

[Pug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just read the movies you know. But don't expect anything too deep, insightful, or funny.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It was never, though, a surprising read, a delightful read, a thrilling read, or any of those things that make one clasp a non-fiction book to one's heart and declare "that was such a good book!" No, it was just a fun read, a pleasant way to wile away a few moments before bedtime, or perhaps in smaller rooms doing unmentionable things.

And while you might think"well, of course this kind of book can't be an all-time favourite," au contraire, my brother, au contraire ... I present as Exhibit A, Not Since Carrie by Ken Mandelbaum, which is one of my favourite books and I've read it cover-to-cover numerous times (when it's too many to remember, it's 'numerous.') It's on the identical subject, except he's talking about flop Broadways shows, rather than rotten Hollywood films. And it's fabulous.

Both books are purportedly divided into chapters based on the kind of rotten movie or flop show they were, but in Not Since Carrie the chapters are clear and distinct, whereas in Rotten they all blend into each other. Part of the problem is that Carrie is an actual book written by a single (and talented) author, whereas Rotten is a collection of essays, so there are no segues or referring back (or ahead) to other included films.

Still, it's fun. But sadly, not since Not Since Carrie has there been a truly wonderful book on the subject of failed film/theatre.

(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)

[andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of hard to actually count this as a book as it was mostly very short summaries of RT's most favorite splats. A handful of the movies were lucky enough to have a VERY short critical essay included, but was more like just looking up movies on RT's site and reading a synopsis and the first review you see.
That being said, as a reference book, I thought it was great! Lots of movies to put into my queues, and validation that my absolute love of Grease 2 isn't completely unreasonable (although my insistence that it is in fact better than the original, pry is.)