10 of The Worst Movie Scripts Ever

"Oh my God, they're eating her! Now they're going to eat me!" The 'genius' of Troll 2

Scriptwriters are paid a lot of money to produce some of the most memorable words spoken by the best actors. Except when they don't, a bad script will almost always guarantee a terrible movie end product. However, some of the worst scripts and movies ever created have achieved a certain cachet around the world, giving some of them instant cult success for their failures. Here's a look at some of the worst abominations to ever have made it onto celluloid. How they got past every stage of production and eventually onto the big screen/straight to DVD beggars belief.

Survive a Horror Movie

Some of the worst scripts ever written have to be horror movies. Troll 2 is a prime example of a film so bad; people actually want to see it. There are no trolls; just some goblins dressed in hessian sacks. The script was written in pigeon English by Claudio Fragasso and his wife who only spoke Italian and yet insisted that the actors stick to the written script. Epic troll!

If you want badly scripted gore then check out Cannibal Ferox – Make Them Die Slowly. It has achieved something of a cult status for being so bad. Shot is Brazil and the US with an impressive budget it is a classic example of too much money and not enough talent from the scriptwriter.

When your film is written and directed by an insurance salesman from El Paso, then you don’t expect the best. Manos: the Hands of Fate has zero plot, bad scriptwriting and one of the longest opening scenes ever. It also has a man dressed as a satyr as the main character. This 1966 horror gained a modicum of cult popularity when it was shown on Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Revolting Remakes

Sequels and remakes need to be scripted carefully to be on par with or even better than the original. It is notoriously difficult to do and there have been some notable flops over the years.

Batman and Robin has to be one of the worst sequels in the franchise series. Even George Clooney lamented his performance as the caped crusader. Bad script, bad cast and bad direction add up to a mega flop.

Highlander 2: The Quickening was infamous for the terrible script and loose plotline. Despite having two of the original cast in the production, it was panned by critics and the public.

Grease 2 delivered a young Michelle Pfeiffer and little else. Fans of the original have paid little attention to this sequel and it makes it onto everybody’s list of all time flops in Hollywood.

Movies That Should Never Have Been Made

Gigli deserves a mention as the epic failure that nearly sank Ben Affleck’s career. Perhaps the best examples of the worst movies are the one that are blatantly self-indulgent. Real life couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez starred along with Al Pacino in this forgettable movie.

Heaven’s Gate was the film that did sink the career of Oscar winner Michael Cimino’s career. It also sank the fortunes of United Artists and made only 3.5 million dollars after costing a whopping $44 million to make.

Battlefield Earth has become known as the film that is now the benchmark for the worst films ever. The script for this 2000 adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s novel of the same name starred John Travolta. The script was unanimously panned and the worst of the decade.

There is no clear winner in the list of the worst scripted films of all time, but consistently appearing on all the “worst of all time” lists and slated by the critics, reviled by serious moviegoers and panned by the press is Showgirls. Las Vegas trash meets Hollywood excess ended up with one of the worst films to ever make it to the big screen. Despite the warnings of graphic nudity, the film flopped at the box office. However, with over $100 million in video sales it is a firm cult favourite today.

There’s just no accounting for taste!

All images sourced from Wikipedia