As a web critic, I write a lot of reviews. Some weeks are slow and maybe I’ll do one or two, while others can be hectic and I could write as many as twelve. It’s not a job that pays the bills, but it does have its benefits. However, to take all the reviews I have written on the two sites I run and put them into a book I don’t think would make a great read. Other web critics I know as well as myself tend to find that we write the same kind of reviews every week, just for different films. Our formats are always similar, so putting them together in a book would be like reading the same story over and over again.
Freelance writer and critic Steven Miller’s new book, 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See, may be an exception to that. It is a large book that have it merits. Miller takes the worst of the worst, in his opinion, of the 150 films that are so bad that he’s warning you not to waste your time seeing them.
The book, for the most part, goes after all the bad horror, science fiction and b-movies in the world and gives you a brief description of the plot, the worst lines of dialogue and his reason why the film is so lousy. There are also some trivia questions and little history excerpts about the films. He also uses something he calls the “Crappies,” which are like Miller’s Razzie Awards, where he individually picks on actors, directors and anyone else involved in the making of these films and rips them for the lousy job they did in their roles. It’s all in good fun.
I do, however, disagree with quite a few things in this book, mainly some of the films he considers to be duds. Granted, this is all opinion. But I think the majority of horror fans would agree that films like Re-Animator, Jeepers Creepers, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Cannibal Holocaust, Cemetery Man, Demons and Susperia are far from bad horror flicks. Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen a lot of bad horror flicks in my time, especially the hoard of direct-to-video and independent horror films, so I found myself shaking my head and disagreeing with a lot of the reviews in this book. I also really liked Monsturd as well. You can’t go wrong with a film about a giant shit monster.
In the end, however, as I always say, “Opinions are like assholes and everyone has one.” While we may agree to disagree with some of the films that Miller considers to be the worst of the worst, with the the other 90%, I agree. It is actually a great reference book, one that I wish I had had ten years ago so I wouldn’t have wasted weeks of my life watching and reviewing bad films, but all in all, it’s a great book to keep by your bedside at night for reference. I never keep books in my office, but this one is staying here. With Blu-ray being the new dominant force in home entertainment, I know sooner or later, many of these bad flicks will be released in Blu-ray format and I will get the press release for them along with a review request. This book will help you save hours if not days of you wasting your life watching bad films.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
