Badfilm: Incompetence, Intention and Failure

by Becky Bartlett

Overview

This fascinating book examines badfilms; a subcategory of ‘bad cinema’ marked by incompetence, and typically exacerbated by material poverty and restrictive production conditions. It develops a framework through which the formal characteristics of failure are identified and analysed, and identifies intentionality as central to how badfilms are appreciated and valued as cult texts. Drawing on debates about cult cinema and film form, the book includes a series of case studies of classic ‘so bad they’re good’ films, like Plan 9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster and The Beast of Yucca Flats, investigating the impact of failures in post-production sound, recycled footage, performance and editing in American badfilms from the 1950s and 1960s. In doing so, it offers ways to consider how we identify and respond to failure, and how failure itself works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474450430
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	05/22/2023
Series:	Traditions in American Cinema
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.42(d)

About the Author

Becky Bartlett is Associate Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Bad Films and Badfilms

1. The Importance of Intention
2. The Disruptive Effects of Bad Voices
3. Recycled Footage, Plagiarism and Bad Art
4. Bad Acting and the Cultification of Bad Actors
5. The Potential Pleasures of Bad Editing

Conclusion: Taking Badfilms SeriouslyBibliography

Editorial Reviews

Badfilm: Incompetence, Intention and Failure is a thorough and impressive consideration of the ‘badfilm’. Bartlett investigates technical and aesthetic factors underpinning such films, including editing, sound, acting, and the use of stock footage. She also interrogates the complex ways that such films are embraced by niche audiences through engaging with issues such as cultural value and taste. Clearly and engagingly written, this is by far the best work produced so far on this fascinating subject.

Jamie Sexton

Badfilm: Incompetence, Intention and Failure is a thorough and impressive consideration of the ‘badfilm’. Bartlett investigates technical and aesthetic factors underpinning such films, including editing, sound, acting, and the use of stock footage. She also interrogates the complex ways that such films are embraced by niche audiences through engaging with issues such as cultural value and taste. Clearly and engagingly written, this is by far the best work produced so far on this fascinating subject.

University of Northumbria Jamie Sexton