Top 20 Hilariously Bad Parody Movies

There’s one fundamental problem with this movie - it parodies films that are already funny. Even worse, those movies are infinitely funnier! Parody works best when it’s making fun of something that takes itself seriously, whereas “Not Another Teen Movie” parodies teen comedies like “She’s All That” and “American Pie.” And you know, we wouldn’t mind so much if the jokes and observations were actually funny. But they’re not. The gags are predictable and lack originality, relying heavily on toilet humor and tired stereotypes. While there are some decent moments, the movie is way more miss than hit, with its reliance on gross-out bits overshadowing any genuine wit.

Keenen Ivory Wayans directed the first “Scary Movie,” a legendary parody and a touchstone of early 2000s pop culture. “Dance Flick,” directed by Keenan’s younger brother Damien, is like the ninth entry in a horror franchise - it sort of looks like the original, but it has lost all the charm. “Dance Flick” tries to do for musical dance films what “Scary Movie” did for… well, scary movies. But the jokes are forced, relying on easy slapstick humor and goofy dance sequences that fail to land on their feet. The film lacks any sense of comedic choreography, often going for the simplest laugh instead of crafting smart or original scenarios.

Ever since its release in 1967, “Casino Royale” has caused a lot of confusion. Despite being based on an Ian Fleming novel, “Casino Royale” was not a proper James Bond film owing to rights disputes. The producer who owned the rights decided not to compete with Eon Productions and made a spoof instead, but everyone involved knew it was going to be terrible. And sure enough, following a disastrous production, the movie was released to strong numbers but horrible reviews. Many criticized its sloppy and meandering structure, and the 131-minute run time certainly didn’t help. That’s longer than most Bond films!

This one really should have been a home run. It was released during a superhero boom, playing on the likes of “Batman Begins” and “Spider-Man.” It stars a number of “Scary Movie” veterans like Regina Hall, Leslie Nielsen, and Simon Rex. It was even directed by Craig Mazin, who wrote the very good “Scary Movie 3.” Yet, it crashed harder than Iron Man. The film relies too heavily on juvenile humor and cheap gags instead of clever satire or observational commentary on superhero tropes. These jokes are way too easy to make, not to mention generally unfunny, and it seems like the actors aren’t really invested in the material. But hey, it’s always nice seeing Leslie Nielsen!

Alright, well, we must admit - as much as we love Leslie Nielsen, he has starred in a few stinkers. Long before “Superhero Movie” came “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” a spoof of the general Dracula mythos. With Nielsen in the lead and the legendary Mel Brooks behind the camera, we don’t know where or how this film went wrong. But went wrong it did, greatly lacking the biting wit of Brooks’ earlier works. Pretty much all the jokes fell flat, whether from poor comedic timing, general laziness, or subpar performances. It received overwhelmingly negative reviews and bombed at the box office, and it was the last film that Brooks ever directed. Take this one out in the sun and let it melt.

You know the saying, “Strike while the iron is hot?” Well, “Ricky 1” certainly didn’t. This film, about a male gigolo who becomes a boxer, is a parody of “Rocky.” Only, it came out over ten years after the original film. In fact, it was released after “Rocky IV,” which, let’s admit, is basically a self-parody of the franchise anyway. With production values that seem held together by duct tape, “Ricky 1” was cheaply made and entirely forgettable. Have you ever heard of it? Exactly. We wouldn’t mind the low-budget jankiness if the movie was funny, but let’s just say that it’s not competing for the comedy belt any time soon.

We hate to keep adding Leslie Nielsen to this list, but we have to do it. “Repossessed” is a parody of “The Exorcist,” and its title serves as a nice bit of wordplay. You see, the movie follows Nancy Aglet, who is possessed twice - once in 1973, and again in 1990. Nancy is played by none other than Linda Blair, who played Regan in “The Exorcist.” So Blair herself is being repossessed! Unfortunately, that’s the smartest thing in this otherwise terrible film. It lacks the intelligence and originality needed to make a successful parody, relying on gags and pop culture references that were dated even by 1990 standards. That’s what happens when you parody a movie that’s already seventeen years old.

Uhhh, yep. It’s Leslie Nielsen again. In this one, he plays secret agent Dick Steele, who has the codename WD-40. Are you laughing yet? If you’re not, then this movie has little for you. “Spy Hard” is another parody of the James Bond franchise, coming just one year before the infinitely superior “Austin Powers.” Critics noted that Nielsen’s schtick was starting to get old, and the movie copied the general style of the “Naked Gun” films without a fraction of its wit. Director Rick Friedberg has acknowledged the poor quality of the film, claiming that Disney interfered and cut entire sequences to make the film more family-friendly.

Despite its title, “Plump Fiction” isn’t just a parody of “Pulp Fiction.” It’s more a parody of Tarantino’s style and the type of violent, transgressive films he helped usher in in the early ‘90s. But those movies have more artistry in one minute than “Plump Fiction” does in its entire 82. With a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems like no one likes this movie or what it was attempting to do. Yes, Tarantino films are ripe for parody, and indeed they have been parodied successfully on many occasions. But not in “Plump Fiction.” Like that guy in the bathroom, this movie missed every shot it took, and it led to equally baffled reactions.

Marlon Wayans already poked fun at the haunted house genre in “Scary Movie 2,” so right out the gate this film was treading some well-worn ground. However, despite its title, “A Haunted House” isn’t specifically taking aim at that genre, but the general found footage fad of the 2000s. While that subgenre is ripe for the picking, “A Haunted House” couldn’t capitalize on its own promise, often settling for raunchiness and easy jokes. “Scary Movie 2” was no masterpiece itself, but it sure looks like one next to this.

Regardless of your opinion on them, the “Fifty Shades” series has been a bit of a laughing stock in recent years. Did we really need a parody of a movie no one took seriously in the first place? With “Fifty Shades of Black,” Marlon Wayans attempts to recapture his glory days of “Scary Movie,” but “Scary Movie” this is not. We suppose the message of female empowerment was well-intentioned, but the movie is nevertheless filled with gags that miss far more than they hit, complete with the typical serving of lame racist, gross-out, and sex jokes.

It's not like anybody's running to consume any media that inolves Bill Cosby these days, but even against his current reputation, this movie is terrible. “Leonard Part 6” is a spy parody from the mind of Cosby himself, who produced, conceptualized, and starred in the movie. It was an absolute travesty, and Bill Cosby himself even told his fans to ignore it, as he had zero faith in the finished product. The director, Paul Weiland, would also disown the movie, calling it a “mistake” that was bred from Bill Cosby’s power and Weiland’s inability to argue his creative decisions. Cosby’s warnings turned out to be successful, as the movie was a massive bomb that quickly (and rightfully) faded into obscurity.

Before we get into the heart of our criticism, let’s just sit for a second and ponder the existence of a movie titled “Breaking Wind.” Yeah, you can just tell this one wasn’t going to be very good. “Breaking Wind” serves a “Twilight” parody, and surprisingly, the cast isn’t too bad. The woman who played Amy on “The Walking Dead” is here, as is everyone’s favorite badass, Danny Trejo. Aside from the casting, there are no redeemable qualities to this movie. It isn’t just lame and unfunny, it’s mean-spirited – it directly makes fun of real “Twilight” fans and constantly cracks jokes at the idea of gay marriage. It’s a mess from every angle.

The first “Scary Movie” was not half bad. And then they just kept coming. And coming. And coming. Thirteen years after the original, Dimension Films released the fifth installment in the series, and it was more terrible than we could have imagined. Series veterans Anna Faris and Regina Hall sat this one out, and their presences are sadly missed. No one in the movie is particularly funny, and even the gags, which spoof movies like “Inception,” “Black Swan,” and “Mama,” were stale and out-of-date. It seems as if thirteen years’ worth of the same tired jokes has robbed them of their funniness.

The best we can say about “Vampires Suck” is that Jenn Proske does a damn good Kristen Stewart. “Vampires Suck” is also a spoof of “Twilight,” and it’s just as bad, if not worse, than “Breaking Wind.” This movie contained nothing but empty jokes that consisted of your typical head bonks and groin hits. People bending over in pain after being hit in the groin may have been funny, like, five thousand years ago, but we expect a little more from our humor today. Despite being completely panned by critics, the movie ended up grossing $80 million at the box office, proving that there is in fact an audience for these movies.

In the mid-2000s, theaters were plagued with these “Movie” movies, and every single one of them were laugh-free travesties. “Date Movie” may not be as bad as some of the others, but don’t confuse that with it being good. “Date Movie” has a good cast that includes Alyson Hannigan and Fred Willard, but their talents are completely wasted on a script that believes constant toilet humor and fat suits are funny. “Date Movie” is nothing but a pop culture reference machine, and an unfunny one at that.

“Meet the Spartans” may not have the word “movie” in its title, but it comes from the same directing team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, and it is just as bad as the rest of them. As you can imagine, “Meet the Spartans” is mostly a lampoon of Zack Snyder’s “300,” and it comes with all the predictable gay jokes, out-of-date pop culture references, and silly body humor you can imagine. Like “Date Movie,” “Meet the Spartans” also contained less jokes and more random pop culture references, as if us recognizing the reference is supposed to be funny. We don’t think they know how comedy works.

“Epic Movie” is Friedberg and Seltzer’s attempt at lampooning various blockbuster movies like “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “X-Men.” You know exactly what you’re getting into simply by reading the tagline, which proudly states, “We know it’s big. We measured.” The rest of the movie follows suit, as it’s filled with childish humor that only a 12-year-old boy might find funny. We say might, because even that’s a stretch. “Epic Movie” was an earlier entry in the “Movie” series, but its box office gross of $86 million ensured that there would be plenty more in the years to follow. Hooray.

For “The Starving Games,” Friedberg and Seltzer attempted to tackle, you guessed it, “The Hunger Games.” Like their previous works, this is a movie filled with completely random pop culture references, comic violence, and horrible attempts at satire. However, unlike their previous works, there is no star power to speak of here. Whereas before they snagged Fred Willard, Alyson Hannigan, and Kal Penn, there is no one in “The Starving Games” who can even attempt to draw your attention away from the horrible jokes on screen. But then again, there is absolutely no saving this juvenile, crass, and stale excuse for a movie.

OK, we think you get it by now. Friedberg-Seltzer movies are bad, and they are full of horrible jokes that would struggle to make even an immature kid laugh. But “Disaster Movie” is something else. As you can imagine, the movie is a riff on various disaster movies, but unlike good parodies, it has nothing to say about the genre it lampoons. It was deemed the team’s worst movie yet, and unlike their previous works, it performed poorly at the box office, proving that even the duo’s most devout fans had finally had enough of their random, offensive, and childish sense of humor.