The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way), by Harry Medved

The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way), by Harry Medved. 1978 softcover. 288 pages, very nice condition.

Despite its broad title, this book presents the authors' choices for the 50 worst sound films made or distributed in the United States. Each film's entry includes a story synopsis, the authors' opinions of its quality, and a selection of contemporary reviews of the film.

In compiling their list, the authors divided films into several categories:
"Popular Triumphs" such as The Omen, Valley of the Dolls
"Overrated Art Films" such as Ivan the Terrible, Last Year at Marienbad
"Implausible Oddities" such as The Terror of Tiny Town
"Big Budget Flops" such as Lost Horizon, Zabriskie Point
"Grade-Z Atrocities" such as Robot Monster, Eegah
"Tarnished Stars" such as Yul Brynner in Solomon and Sheba
"Oldies but Baddies" such as Jamaica Inn

The authors also used egregious examples to represent less reputable film genres, such as blaxploitation films (Trouble Man), Japanese monster movies (Godzilla vs. Hedorah), spaghetti Westerns (Return of Sabata) and Tarzanesque jungle movies (Daughter of the Jungle) alongside anime (Alakazam the Great), disaster movies (Airport 1975), sexploitation films (Myra Breckinridge), Elvis Presley vehicles (Spinout), and mainstream films such as At Long Last Love, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Hurry Sundown, King Richard and the Crusaders, and Say One for Me.

The Medveds continued the theme of "celebrating" bad cinema with the publication The Golden Turkey Awards, instituted in 1980 which again showcased bad and obscure films, and The Hollywood Hall of Shame which examined in some detail several major Hollywood financial disasters. It has been said that The Fifty Worst Films of All Time marked the beginning of an explosion of "worst in cinema" prizes nearly resulting in "a state of redundancy almost approaching that of ordinary prizes.”

If I wrote this book, it would just be 50 entries dedicated to Halloween Kills.