Run by
Timon Singh, the brilliant Bristol Bad Film Club
have been mesmerising audiences across Bristol with cult films, horrendous movies, and unknown classics. A Dwarf Filipino actor playing James Bond? Check. Cowboys and Dinosaurs? Check. The Room? Enough said. We spoke to these heroes of Bristol to delve a little further into the weird and wonderful of the Bristol Bad Film Club.
What on earth is Bristol Bad Film Club?
Bristol Bad Film Club is dedicated to showing notorious films that have either slipped through the cracks of cinematic history or movies that are judged as being irredeemably bad.
However, in many cases we find that these films, while not great by traditional standards, are still incredibly entertaining – often because they are the vision of a single ego-driven person who had no-one to tell him ‘no’ (such as in the case of The Room), based around an incredibly bizarre concept (ninjas vs. a tae kwon do rock band flick in Miami Connection) or just have a fascinating story behind them (like Kim Jong Il’s Godzilla rip-off Pugasari).
They may not win any Oscars, but many of the films we show are much more entertaining and original than many of the forgettable blockbusters shown at the multiplex. After all, what major Hollywood studio in their right mind would green-light a film where a gymnastics instructor is possessed by the vengeful spirit of a dead ninja (Ninja III: The Domination)?
Why do you screen these awful films?
It’s purely selfish. As a big fan of cult films I just wanted to be able to watch the kind of films I inflicted on my friends to a bigger audience. As it was uncertain whether the people of Bristol would feel the same about films like Troll 2 and Samurai Cop, it was decided that all the profits from the screenings would go to local charities. So in a roundabout way, these ‘bad’ films are now doing good!
What have you shown so far?
This August will be our two year anniversary and as we do screenings once a month, it’ll be our 24th event! Over the past two years, we’ve screened cult favourites The Room, Plan 9 From Outer Space and Troll 2, bigger budget failures like Masters of the Universeand Supergirl, forgotten exploitation flicks Samurai Cop and Black Samurai and plenty more inbetween including Italian Star Wars rip-off StarCrash (starring David Hasselhoff) and gymnastics karate flick Gymkata!
Where do you screen them?
These films are often much more entertaining when you have a drink in your hand, so we always try and find venues with a well-stocked bar. We also try and find venues that suit the film, so we’ve screened two sci-fi films at Bristol Planetarium, showed Street Fighter at 80s arcade bar Kongs of King Street and even put on a martial arts movie in a dojo in Temple Gate – though we had to bring in kegs of beer for that one.
For our really popular events and double bills, we have a good relationship with Redgrave Theatre in Clifton. It has 310 seats, a big screen and a great bar – ideal for our sell-out screenings of The Room!
What is the ultimate bad film and why is it Troll 2?
Troll 2 is a cult favourite, which is why it was our third screening. Fans should definitely check out the documentary Best Worst Movie which is a fascinating insight into the film. I think many people who say that The Room is the ultimate bad film as it’s a perfect story of what leads to these types of films being made – an unchecked ego, dubious acting, a plot hole-ridden script, gratuitous nudity, unnecessary special effects and infinitely quotable dialogue.
What are your upcoming screenings?