This is topic What's the WORST movie you had to run? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-31-2001, 08:02 PM:
Mine was the Japanese Oprah "Othello". I was even counting reels before it was over. 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 01-31-2001, 09:09 PM:
It may not be the worst...I'd have to think about that one...but 'Scary Movie' is right up there.
Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 01-31-2001, 10:02 PM:
Blair Witch Project is the worst movie I've ever run.
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 01-31-2001, 11:40 PM:
Off the top of my head I would have to say this Italion Zombie horror piece of S*** called Burrial Ground. May not be the origonal title. I ran it about 15 years ago. The thing I remember is it started out with 32 people watching it and by the time the movie was over there was only 2 people left.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-01-2001, 12:11 AM:
Howard's End! This mega long movie is just about the most boring piece of crap I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through. What made it worse was there was no changeover cues and I didn't make a note of when I started it. It seemed like that first reel was going on FOREVER! 
Still, the movie felt like it was about 5 hours long and the basic jest of it all is a bunch of people sitting around drinking tea talking about "oh how I would just love to go to Howard's End again, blah, blah, blah. More tea?" In the last reel it turned out that "Howard's End" was a ratty old house! Geez I'd rather sit through "Jar Jar's Bumbling and Stupid Adventures The Movie" than suffer through THAT again.
Posted by Dwayne Caldwell (Member # 417) on 02-01-2001, 04:13 AM:
Speaking of tea movies that suck, how about The Avengers? I didn't run that one nor did I pay for it (which would hardly have mattered since I left less than twenty minutes after the actual movie started, so I'm sure I'd have qualified for a refund).The Night Flyer was pretty bad, but I'm sure I ran one that was worse. There's so many bad ones out there.
------------------
The man with the magic hands.
Posted by Frank Rapisardi (Member # 435) on 02-01-2001, 05:11 AM:
The worst movie I ever ran was "Last House on The Left" We would open our drive-in every season with this junker ;and do very well! Teens loved it! But what a piece of crap!I guess the important thing was that it did business.------------------
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-01-2001, 06:40 AM:
Most of the stuff that came out last summer would probably qualify: Battlefield Earth, Pokemon 2 ("P2k!"), etc.Others that I didn't like: Lost World (Jurassic Park sequal; I've also run the silent by the same name), Wedding Singer, Grease (with apologies to those who like it), Waterboy (16mm), Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), probably others.
Posted by Tom Sauter (Member # 616) on 02-01-2001, 07:33 AM:
Two words:
Red Planet.
Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 02-01-2001, 07:55 AM:
Carnival MagicRocky Horror Picture Show
Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 02-01-2001, 08:02 AM:
Conversations with Willard van Dyke and Eadweard Muybridge:Zoopraxographer16mm double bill .Ultimate excitement
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 02-01-2001, 08:16 AM:
The Ruling Class (1971) with Peter O'Toole. We ran it once for a special screening. Every time I saw a changeover cue, I hoped that this was going to be the end. Alas, it was not to be...We ran GREASE for so long (at a drive-in w/changeovers) that I began to hum along with the songs and knew the dialogue at the changeover cues.
(Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee... Lousy with virginity...) 
Once we ran a marathon showing of 5 Beach Party films. The field was full to the end of this mess, but nobody left until we turned up the yard lights. Must have been busy doing other things... 
All I remember about this night is that the prints arrived about 2 hours before showtime, and all I could do was run through them on the rewinds and hope that there was not too much damage to deal with. One print, Muscle Beach Party was brand new and had the "10th Anniversary Jubilee Attraction" (in 1964) tag on the head. All the other films looked typical for AIP.
Posted by Rachel Carter (Member # 693) on 02-02-2001, 01:46 AM:
After pre-screening this movie tonight, I'd have to say "Vertical Limit".------------------
"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.
FUNNY!!!!!
Posted by Colin Wiseley (Member # 247) on 02-02-2001, 11:36 AM:
Ken how can you knock RHPS? That's one of the greatest movies ever made. 
The most painful movie I ever had to run was a documentary called Dr. Death, about a guy who invents execution devices (no pun intended).
------------------
Colin Wiseley
Lyric Theatre
Blacksburg, VA
www.thelyric.com
Posted by Mark Huff (Member # 480) on 02-04-2001, 09:05 AM:
Scream was the worst for me. I loved the movie but it was so brittle it would break every show.
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 02-04-2001, 05:32 PM:
Worst movie I ran
35mm The Big Meat Eater
Worst IMAX
Journey of Discovery or Tiger Child
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-04-2001, 11:49 PM:
Grey Gardens -- A documentary about the Bouviers; Relatives of Jackie Kennedy who lived like cat ladies. Basically, it was two hours of nothing but a couple old ladies who ran around half-naked and cackled at each other.At the college theatre where I ran this I had to watch it TWICE! Once to pre-screen and once for the Go-Show. This projector was attended 100% of the time whenever it was running. It got VERY painful after the first reel.
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-05-2001, 11:13 AM:
Mark Huff said: "Scream was the worst for me. I loved the movie but it was so brittle it would break every show."AFAIK, the North American release prints of "Scream" were NOT printed on Kodak print film.
------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
Posted by Michael Pace (Member # 553) on 02-11-2001, 06:22 AM:
My list of the Worst movies I have had to run would include:Hideous Kinky
Diana and Me
Battlefield Earth
Probably a few others over the years but that will do for now.
Michael.
Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-11-2001, 03:10 PM:
'Romance' - hardcore porn pure and simple, but marketed as pretentious arty claptrap (presumably to get past the censors). One reviewer accurately described it as '...the work of a talentless director who believes that, just because her heart is in the right place, it doesn't matter where she puts the camera.''Chuck and Buck' would come a very close second...
Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-11-2001, 03:12 PM:
'Romance' - hardcore porn pure and simple, but marketed as pretentious arty claptrap (presumably to get past the censors). One reviewer accurately described it as '...the work of a talentless director who believes that, just because her heart is in the right place, it doesn't matter where the camera is.''Chuck and Buck' would come a very close second...
Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 02-11-2001, 11:38 PM:
IMHO it would have to be a tie between Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Joe's Apartment.
Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 02-19-2001, 08:13 PM:
Hey Randy! i happened to *like* 'Grey Gardens' nothing funnier than two old ladies cackling at each other for 2 hours.. If anyone else is interested in other things by the Maysles brothers, check out a 1963 documentary called "Showman" it's a documentary about film producer Joseph Levine and his dealings with Sophia Loren during the release of "Two Women" There's even a site for all the documentaries these guys directed. http://www.mayslesfilms.com
Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 02-25-2001, 05:22 PM:
Worst Movie I had to run was Ed Wood. 
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-25-2001, 08:05 PM:
Well, I guess SOMEBODY has to like every movie that gets released or else it wouldn't have been made in the first place.Yes, there are LOTS of movies that I don't like but when it gets right down to it you have to remember... THIS IS AMERICA! WE CAN MAKE ANY MOVIE WE WANT!
Posted by Heyward Garner (Member # 722) on 03-01-2001, 12:18 AM:
Worst PRINT I have ever run...Ferngully. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie! Just a POS print... Mr. Pytlak? Not Kodak I am guessing...? This was for one of our summertime kid specials (early tuesday morning shows for $1) and this print SUCKED! It seemed as though whomever had it last was pretty pissed off at the world or and ex-significant other, and decided to cut it all to pieces (I mean LONG diagonal cuts) 2-3 times per reel! Not to mention it was sprocket-ridden so badly that the stereo soundtrack just didn't come out well at all... I had to go home and watch it on VHS to keep myself calm...
Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 03-02-2001, 12:03 PM:
Great Title- Lousey Movie (Circa 1965)Audubon Films - "Days of Sin, Nights of Nymphomania" It was banned in Boston, it should have been burned in Boston.
It was released when Boston still had censor's and lasted at the State Theatre in the Combat zone for 1 and 1/2 days.
God bless the USA.
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-04-2001, 01:44 AM:
Anyone remember that flakey movie "Gymkada"? That was second worse I ran. I started it in a small auditorium - 100 seats, about 50 were full. At the end of the movie, there were "0" people remaining. They all walked out, even the little punk wannabes.
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-04-2001, 02:07 AM:
Paul, I remember that piece of crap very well. Opened it brand new left in five days.P.S. Did you get effected by the earthquake up there? If so is everyone OK?
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-04-2001, 02:12 AM:
Darryl, yes, I felt it. Just a minor sway. The quake was about 120 miles south of me. It disloged a few bricks and cops out of the doughnut shop, but that was about it.
Posted by Rachel Carter (Member # 693) on 03-04-2001, 02:26 AM:
This is not the worst "story wise" but every projectionist I know has had a story about dropping titanic, whether it was them or someone in their theater! That has to make it bad....------------------
"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.
FUNNY!!!!!
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-04-2001, 02:40 AM:
Glad To hear it Paul. I can see those cops now. Doughnuts and coffee flying thru the air.Rachel,
Next time you hear one of those stories just ask them why they didn't pull an hours worth of film off then clamp it move it and run the film back on. It may sound like a bit of trouble but it takes less time to do that than clean up a dumped print.
Buy the way I think you have a nice picture. How is your head. Hope it didn't leave to bad of a scar.
Posted by Edwin Graf Diemer (Member # 545) on 03-10-2001, 08:59 PM:
"Problem Child 2" has to be the worst thing I ever had to contaminate a projector with-complete garbage!