At its core, movies are about escapism. There’s something naturally alluring about the Seventh Art, about being immersed in an entirely different world and experiencing a story unlike anything one could ever experience in one’s own life. Even when films are artful reflections of the real world, inviting viewers to think about their place in it, their very nature is still about momentarily escaping said real world.
However, movies also don’t come out of thin air, they’re made by a team of people that isn’t always up to any good. There are certain films that, for one reason or another, arehard to enjoy not necessarily because of anything that’swithinthe diegesis of the film, but rather because of something external. Perhaps it’s questionable ideologies, a troubled production, or a cast or crew member being a human of very questionable moral quality. Whatever the case, these movies are ranked by how distracting their off-screen problems are, from least to most distracting.
10’The Shining' (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Seeing asStanley Kubrickis praised by some as the greatest filmmaker in history, it’s no surprise thatmany people consider hisThe Shiningthe greatest horror film ever made. It’s an undeniably phenomenal film, with a masterfully-constructed tone of eeriness and unsettling mystery, anchored by a pair of powerhouse performances byJack NicholsonandShelley Duvall.
The Shiningis one ofthe most essential horror movies ever, a must-see for those interested in what peaks the genre can reach when in the right hands. It’s also, however, a movie darkly overshadowed by the way Duvall was treated on set at Kubrick’s command. She was induced into a state of psychological torture to get the most genuine performance possible out of her. Did it work? Yes. Duvall delivers the performance of a lifetime inThe Shining. But the mistreatment of the actress on set is nevertheless a grim shadow that will forever loom over the film.
The Shining
9’Roar' (1981)
Directed by Noel Marshall
Noel Marshall; his wife from ‘64 to ‘82,Tippi Hedren; and the rest of their family were passionate animal lovers, particularly obsessed with big cats, to the point that they housed lions in their California home. This idea became the basis for the comedy thrillerRoar, a man-versus-nature film for which 132 big cats (including lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, and jaguars) were used.
It doesn’t take a genius to deduce thatshooting the film was a horrifying nightmare for all involved. Horror stories include over 70 injuries suffered by cast and crew members, includingMelanie Griffith(Hedren’s daughter) having to receive 50 stitches after being mauled by a lioness. In the end, it was the big cats and their unpredictable behavior that ended up deciding the entire course ofRoar’s paper-thin story. Watching it is one of the most intense experiences one can have watching a film, making it one ofthe most disturbing movies ever made, and a must-see for those with the stomach to bear it. Nevertheless, knowing that all the attacks on screen actually happened makes the film profoundly unsettling, but not exactly enjoyable.
8’The Conqueror’ (1956)
Directed by Dick Powell
One of the most infamous films of Hollywood’s Golden Age,The Conqueroris typically regarded as one of the worst films of the era. Anachronistic, pretentious, and terribly boring and drawn-out, it’s not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. To make matters worse, the racial miscasting ofJohn WayneasGenghis Khanis also worthy of criticism.
It’s off-screen reasons that makeThe Conqueroreven more unbearable to get through, though. The film was shot mostly in the Utahn desert, close to a nuclear testing site in Nevada which the crew was assured by the government would be inoffensive to them.That turned out to not be the case. Nearly 50% of the team involved in the film would die of some kind of cancer years later, including directorDick Powelland Wayne himself.
The Conqueror
7’The Blue Lagoon’ (1980)
Directed by Randal Kleiser
As far as deserted island movies go, it can definitely get worse thanThe Blue Lagoon. But boy oh boy,can it definitely also get miles better. It’s about two cousins growing up on a deserted island together, going skinny-dipping and falling in love. It’s a naturally disturbing premise, but it gets even worse when knowing the production story.
The film starsBrooke Shields, who was 14 at the time of shooting, andChristopher Atkins, who was 18.Although a body double was used when Shields' character had to be visibly nude, Shields has spoken about the fact thatshe herself was “butt naked"throughout the shoot, using tricks like taping her hair to her breasts to cover up her body. It’s a fittingly unsettling way to shoot an equally unsettling movie, and the result isn’t even any good — not that that would make things any more acceptable.
The Blue Lagoon
6’Heaven’s Gate' (1980)
Directed by Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino’s Western epicHeaven’s Gateis a hugely historical film — for all the wrong reasons. This gargantuan box office bomb isusually regarded as the movie that killed the New Hollywood movement. Logically, no one film can reasonably be considered the sole culprit in ending such a culturally relevant and widespread artistic revolution, butHeaven’s Gatemost certainly was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
For a long time, it was considered one ofthe worst films ever made. With the passage of time, people have warmed up to it a lot, coming to think of it as an unfairly maligned epic that was just terribly mishandled, but there is still one more off-screen controversy that’s impossible to defend. The production of the movie has for many years been known to have been marred by animal abuse, including the pointless decapitation of chickens and horses being killed in battle scenes, including one blown up with dynamite.Heaven’s Gatereputation as a work of art may have aged somewhat okay, but this issue should never be forgotten.
Heaven’s Gate
5’Twilight Zone: The Movie' (1983)
Directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller
Rod Serling’sThe Twilight Zoneis both the king of anthology TV series and one ofthe most influential sci-fi showsin the history of the medium. As such, it spawned three revival shows and one film: the anthology movie appropriately calledTwilight Zone: The Movie, which was relatively well-received by critics and became a big financial success.
California’s child labor laws were violated by hiring 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chenwithout the necessary permits.
This success was achieved in spite of a massive controversy surrounding the film. For the segment directed byJohn Landis, California’s child labor laws were violated by hiring 7-year-oldMyca Dinh Leand 6-year-oldRenee Shin-Yi Chenwithout the necessary permits. They, along with the star of the segment,Vic Morrow, were on the ground when a helicopter crash killed them. It’s a horror story that deservedly lives in infamy, andnew safety standards in the industry were introduced after 1983 as a result, but it’s still an event that makes the film hard to stomach.
Twilight Zone: The Movie
4’Emilia Pérez' (2024)
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Emilia Pérezwas pushed into infamy by the backlash it received upon release, to the point that speaking ill of it feels like kicking someone when they’re down. But, unfortunately, this particular movie deserves the criticism. Atrociously racist and transphobic and entirely incompetent as both a musical and a dark comedy, it’s one ofthe worst Oscar-nominated movies ever.
And yet,the movie’s off-screen controversies are even more scandalous than the film itself. It would be hard enough to get through the whole thing without these controversies, butwiththem, it’s a titanic effort that isn’t really worth it. From the racist and insensitive comments made by prominent members of the creative team, like director-writerJacques Audiardand starsKarla Sofía GascónandZoe Saldaña; to the film’s baffling thirteen Oscar nominations; to the fact that a film that masquerades as a study of Mexico’s current sociopolitical state has onlyoneMexican in the team (actressAdriana Paz);Emilia Pérezis so neck-deep in such issues that people in the future will likely not even want to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Emilia Pérez
Emilia Pérez follows Rita, an underestimated lawyer working at a prominent law firm focused on freeing criminals rather than pursuing justice. She is recruited by the leader of a criminal organization, prompting a complex journey that challenges her principles as she navigates the morally ambiguous world of her new employer.
3’Jeepers Creepers' (2001)
Directed by Victor Salva
Horror is a genre that lends itself perfectly to tropes. Once these tropes are well-established, filmmakers can then take them and twist them on their head. At first glance,Jeepers Creepersseems like a fresh take on the genre that takes the cliché of women usually being the victims of slashers and monsters, and instead makes its monster chase down young men.Knowing who directed the movie, though, recontextualizes this genre twistin a way as horrifying as the film itself.
Although it would spawn one ofthe most awful horror franchisesin modern history, the firstJeepers Creepersis a solid movie in a vaccuum. The issue is that it was made byVictor Salva, a convicted pedophile, which makes The Creeper’s persecution of boys and young men pretty unsettling. Separating the art from the artist is important, but in this particular case, the artist is such a horrific human being that it makes watching his art unbearably creepy.
Jeepers Creepers
2’Last Tango in Paris' (1972)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Directed by the acclaimed Italian auteurBernardo Bertolucci, the massively controversial NC-17-ratedLast Tango in Parisis abouta young Parisian woman (Maria Schneider) who meets a middle-aged American businessman (Marlon Brando). He demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex. What ensues is what many have called one ofthe greatest erotic films ever made, but what happened behind the scenes makes the application of that label icky at best.In a key scene, Brando’s character sexually abuses Schneider’s using butter as a lubricant. The problem is thatSchneider wasn’t made aware beforehand that butter would be used in the scene(it was Brando and Bertolucci’s idea to not tell her), and reported that the event made her feel furious and humiliated. Bertolucci later said that, though he felt guilty, he had no regrets. This horrifying story makes watchingLast Tangofeel like being complicit in this appalling act.
Last Tango in Paris
1’The Birth of a Nation' (1915)
Directed by D.W. Griffith
D.W. Griffithwas one of the most important directors of cinema’s silent era, and hisThe Birth of a Nationis one of the most monumental cinematic achievements in the history of the art form. It was a groundbreaking landmark in filmmaking history in more ways than one can count, and denying its importance, impact, and technical quality would be silly.What would be equally silly is to neglect that it’s infectiously, hideously, insidiously racist.
Saying thatThe Birth of a Nationhas aged like milkwould be doing it a favor. It’s a period drama set during the Civil War that paints the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic force and its Black characters (many of whom are actually played by white actors in blackface) as lustful, violent savages. The movie, which was the first film ever to be screened inside the White House (to PresidentWoodrow Wilson, his family, and his cabinet), incited anti-Black violence throughout the U.S. and is evencredited with having revived the KKK. It’s a testament to the real-world impact and power that cinema can have, taken to its worst extreme.
