Comedy is one of the most popular movie genres, and it’s still churning out great films, such as action comedy The Fall Guy, and throwbacks like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Ben Stiller has also made a welcome acting return with the warmly received Nutcrackers. However, during the development process of a movie, the best intentions to make a serious film can turn it into an unintentionally hilarious comedy.
There are always deciding factors for this. Perhaps the script needed another draft, or the director should have had more control over the actor’s performances. The problem is, that such movies were never meant to be comedies. There would have been humorous sequences to add levity to the script, but the intention wouldn’t be to make an out-and-out comedy. Unfortunately, many movies with the best intentions are hilariously bad.
10 The Room (2003)
Directed By Tommy Wiseau
The Room is an experimental romantic drama film by the infamous Tommy Wiseau that sees the writer/director/producer star in the lead role of Johnny, a successful man with a comfortable life whose world is turned upside down when his best friend begins an affair with his wife. Considered a box-office bomb initially derided for its off-putting performances and completely erratic subplots, the movie has emerged as a quintessential cult classic and sees regular theater viewing events across the United States. The film later went on to have a dramatization of the true story based on Greg Sestero’s book, The Disaster Artist.
- Director
- Tommy Wiseau
- Release Date
- June 27, 2003
- Writers
- Tommy Wiseau
- Cast
- Juliette Danielle , Robyn Paris , Greg Sestero , Kyle Vogt , Carolyn Minnott , Tommy Wiseau , Dan Janjigian , Philip Haldiman , mike holmes
- Runtime
- 91minutes
The Room is one of the most notoriously funny films ever made, which began as a serious, and authentic, movie experience. Director and star, Tommy Wiseau, has since become a legend of the B-movie genre, but the intention was never to make a film to be mocked so relentlessly. It’s clear that a lot of hard work went into making the film, which is shown in the docudrama The Disaster Artist.
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There are so many scenes in The Room that have you scratching your head at how unbelievable they are. The script is laughably bad, and features bizarre dialogue that needs a serious rewrite. However, the movie now has a cult following, and the fact that a docudrama was made about it, shows how popular it’s become. Unfortunately, it’s obvious that Wiseau had no acting, screenwriting or directing skills when he made the film.
9 Twilight (2008)
Directed By Catherine Hardwicke
Based on Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who falls madly in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who she soon finds out is a vampire. Falling in love with her at the same time, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles to preserve their forbidden relationship.
- Director
- Catherine Hardwicke
- Release Date
- November 21, 2008
- Writers
- Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast
- Robert Pattinson , Ashley Greene , Peter Facinelli , Rachelle Lefevre , Elizabeth Reaser , Kristen Stewart , Nikki Reed , Jackson Rathbone , Cam Gigandet , Kellan Lutz , Taylor Lautner , Anna Kendrick , Billy Burke
- Runtime
- 121 minutes
The vampire genre is one of the most popular of all time, and the mythology of many of its movies is everlasting. However, some franchises, that are adaptations of popular books, may have the best intentions but ultimately turn out to be unintentionally funny. This is certainly the case with Twilight.
The trouble for fans of vampire movies, though, is that
Twilight
takes what was once so cool about them, and makes them laughable.
The first film, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, was a huge financial success, as were the later movies in the franchise. The trouble for fans of vampire movies, though, is that Twilight takes what was once so cool about them, and makes them laughable. Bella and Edward made fans cringe with their emotionless interactions, and the way he shimmered in the sunlight was beyond hilarious. It looks like a TV production, and while it works as a serious drama, it has some strange creative choices.
8 Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Directed By Lana Wachowski And Lilly Wachowski
There was so much promise for 2015’s Jupiter Ascending. It had two visionary directors, plus a strong cast that included Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, and Eddie Redmayne. Its Sci-Fi premise was also decent, based on a story by the Wachowskis. However, there’s nothing the cast can do to stop the movie from being hugely amusing, and unintentionally hilarious.
What was supposed to be a grand space opera, becomes an unwittingly hilarious spectacle due to its terrible script, bad CGI and wooden performances. The film’s narrative attempts to build a complex plot, but it all becomes very confusing quickly. The world-building is ambitious, but instead of immersing the viewer, it becomes a confusing mess of bad visual effects. Mila Kunis knew Jupiter Ascending would fail, but the dialogue alone makes it one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies ever made.
7 Bloodsport (1988)
Directed By Newt Arnold
Legendary action star Jean-Claude Van Damme has forged a great career out of playing roles in over-the-top action, and martial arts movies, as well as selling beer in humorous commercials. Movies such as Double Impact, and Kickboxer saw the Muscles from Brussels conquer the action genre. However, his movies, such as Bloodsport, were also unintentionally hilarious.
Bloodsport may be considered to be one of Van Damme’s best movies, but it’s still a humorous experience overall. The main reason for this is the script. The movie is supposed to be a serious retelling of a true story, but it’s too cringe-inducing to be taken seriously. There are many scenes with hilarious dialogue that you can find compilations of them if you look hard enough. Bloodsport is hugely fun, and one of Van Damme’s best, but nobody involved in the production could have predicted how mocked it would later become.
6 The Happening (2008)
Directed By M. Night Shyamalan
The movies of M. Night Shyamalan are massively divisive. He’s released all-time classics such as The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable, but more often than not, he spoils his films by including something ridiculous in them at key moments.
The Happening, starring Mark Wahlberg, and Zooey Deschanel, is supposed to be a horror, but it works better as a comedy. Albeit unintentionally. It follows a narrative in which plants begin convincing people to commit suicide, and while the concept is absurd, the film’s execution is even more awkward.
The movie is supposed to be scary, and Shyamalan does his best to evoke this with close-ups, and menacing dialogue. However, the movie features so many terrible performances, largely thanks to its dire script, that it makes it almost unwatchable at times. The film is supposed to be both educational, and scary, but it only manages to bring fits of laughter.
5 Troll 2 (1990)
Directed By Claudio Fragasso
Sometimes a horror movie is made with the best intentions of scaring the life out of its audience. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of director Claudio Fragasso, and his writing partner Rossella Drudi, their 1990 horror fantasy sequel, Troll 2, plays more like a comedy.
The first movie is by no means a classic, but it gained a cult following that led to a sequel being greenlit. However, for a multitude of reasons, the sequel is unintentionally hilarious. Director Fragasso no doubt had the best intentions when he set out to make Troll 2, but it’s sadly one of the worst horror movies ever made. And one of the funniest.
Fragasso couldn’t speak any English on set, so the costume designer, who was the only English-speaking member of the production, had to converse with the American cast. Also, the script is laughably bad, the plot makes no sense, and there are moments where frozen people are clearly moving.
4 House of Gucci (2023)
Directed By Ridley Scott
Director Ridley Scott may have some truly wonderful movies on his massive résumé, but even the most visionary filmmakers can be forgiven for the odd misstep. One of the most difficult things for actors to fully grasp is an accent that is massively different to their own. Unfortunately, House of Gucci becomes unintentionally hilarious for this very reason, with its wildly over-the-top Italian accents.
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Nicolas Cage was guilty of a dodgy Italian accent in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, but he’s surpassed by the entire cast of House of Gucci. Most guilty is Jared Leto’s comically over-the-top performance, but he’s also joined by Adam Driver, and Lady Gaga in delivering a vocal performance that’s cringe-worthy. It massively affects the otherwise solid drama, but the accents become incredibly grating. It’s been suggested that Scott’s movie was intentionally comical, but in reality, it needed a better vocal coach.
3 Showgirls (1995)
Directed By Paul Verhoeven
Showgirls from 1995 is a massively entertaining movie, but largely for all the wrong reasons. Elizabeth Berkley plays Nomi Malone, an ambitious dancer who starts stripping, and then sets about clawing her way to the top of the Vegas showgirls. Director Paul Verhoven has made some classic movies in the past, including Robocop, but his attempts to portray the gritty, and ruthless entertainment world of Las Vegas are hilarious.
Showgirls has some great behind-the-scenes facts, but it has such a ridiculously melodramatic storyline that it’s impossible for any of the cast to rise above the laughable action. It features hypersexualized dance routines alongside its serious look into life as a Vegas showgirl, but everything is so far-fetched that the movie loses all credibility as a gritty drama. The most unintentionally hilarious scenes, including a swimming pool sex scene, are what have made the movie a cult classic, but it was never intended to be one.
2 Catwoman (2004)
Directed By Pitof
A cosmetics industry employee is murdered after discovering a dangerous secret about an anti-ageing product. However, an Egyptian cat saves her, giving her the power of speed and the senses of an agile feline.
- Director
- Pitof
- Release Date
- July 22, 2004
- Runtime
- 104 minutes
Catwoman is one of Batman’s greatest, and most iconic villains. Michelle Pfeiffer stole the show in Batman Returns from Michael Keaton, and Zoë Kravitz’ portrayal of her in 2022’s The Batman is great. So, when Halle Berry landed the role of Patience Phillips in Pitof’s 2004 movie, Catwoman, she had the opportunity to leave her own iconic legacy with the character.
The script is badly written, and the plot, involving a dangerous beauty product, brings more laughs than tension.
Unfortunately, she left behind a movie that was unintentionally hilarious instead. Star Halle Berry has joked about Catwoman bombing. The script is badly written, and the plot, involving a dangerous beauty product, brings more laughs than tension. Also, the production got one of the most important aspects of Catwoman comically wrong; the suit.
Pfeiffer’s had just the correct amount of allure and dexterity, while Berry’s suit, and performance, are both too sensual to bring anything other than unintentional humor. The movie is supposed to be an intense look at the character, but instead, it ends up being laughable.
1 Batman & Robin (1997)
Directed By Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher’s take on the Caped Crusader is definitely a movie that is so bad it’s good. Unfortunately for the production, however, they never envisioned just how ridiculed it would become. Schumacher has even apologized for Batman & Robin and, while the movie has a great cast, it gets so many of the key elements a Batman movie needs badly wrong.
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The problem is that the production was clearly going for the camp vibe of the 1960s Adam West series, while also attempting to create a huge superhero blockbuster in its own right. The movie is very entertaining, but sadly for the wrong reasons.
George Clooney is badly miscast as Batman, and the suits, replete with nipples, are a terrible idea. It’s crazy to think that Warner Bros. ever thought the movie would be taken seriously, but even with a stellar cast, and some fun one-liners, Batman & Robin is one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies of all time.