History Main / Bmovie

* ''Film/{{Troll}}'' (1986): A troll is released from his prison and terrorizes the residents of an apartment complex.

* ''Film/TheGirlWhoKnewTooMuch'' (1963): Woman goes to Rome and gets entangled in a string of murders based upon the alphabetical order of the victims' names. Progenitor of the {{Giallo}} subgenre.

* ''Film/TheRoom'' (2003): A young man's life is '''[[{{Narm}} TORN APART]]''' when his girlfriend starts cheating on him with his best friend. Written, produced, directed by, and starring Creator/TommyWiseau, of whom it's hard to say at any given moment whether he's [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously taking the movie seriously]] or [[ParodyRetcon treating it as intentionally bad]]. Became a cult classic and theatrical screenings have developed a Rocky Horror-esque series of call-and-responses from the audience.

* ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' (1953): The {{Trope Maker|s}} for the convention of the monster being [[ILoveNuclearPower created by the bomb]] (predating ''Film/{{Go|dzilla1954}}jira'' by a single year), and one of the first giant monster movies per se following a hiatus that had been ongoing since 1933's ''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]''. A ferocious dinosaur is awakened by an Arctic atomic test and terrorizes the North Atlantic and ultimately New York City.

* ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' (1959): Aliens resurrect the dead as [[strike:vampires]] zombies that look like vampires to stop humans from building a bomb that will "[[CriticalResearchFailure explode particles of sunlight]]." With model-kit flying saucers, gravestones made of cardboard, and an airplane cockpit consisting of a shower curtain and two folding chairs; this is just one of many films contending for the title of the "worst movie ever made", but it is generally regarded as the winner. By -- who else? -- Ed Wood. Remake in development, with WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd himself in a bit part.

* ''Film/BattleBeyondTheSun'' (1962): Based on (as in CutAndPasteTranslation) a Soviet hard-SF film (''Nebo Zovyot'' (1959)), about a space race to the planet Mars between two rival [[AfterTheEnd post-nuclear]] [[SpaceFillingEmpire superpowers]] (conveniently disguising the fact the good guys are Russian and the bad guys American). Notably, a student Creator/FrancisFordCoppola worked on the adaptation, whose additions included a scene involving a fight between two alien gag monsters.

* ''Film/DefCon4'': A post-apocalyptic Canuxploitation flick about a group of astronauts who survive WorldWarIII onboard a space station, and return to Earth to find a greatly changed world.

* ''Film/HorrorsOfSpiderIsland'' (1960): A modeling troupe crashes on an island, where their manager becomes a were-spider.

* ''Film/RoadHouse'' (1989): A remake of ''Film/{{Shane}}'' with Patrick Swayze and a monster truck... becomes a runaway cult classic. Much better than it sounds, plus unforgettable one liners ("Pain don't hurt.")

* ''Porno Holocaust'' (1981): Some castaways wash ashore on an island inhabited by a sex-crazed, radioactively-mutated monster. Don't be fooled; the only thing about this movie that's any more offensive than any other like-minded porn/exploitation flick is the title. By Joe D'Amato.

* ''Sadomania'' (1981): Women-in-prison. A couple falls into the hands of some woman running a boot camp/brothel, wherein the wife is made a slave. The man schemes for her to escape. There's really no point in attempting to explain the plot beyond this; although one scene '''''apparently involves a woman being raped by a dog'''''. By Jesus Franco.

* ''Film/{{Dolls}}'' (1987): The car of a little girl and her abusive father and stepmother [[ClosedCircle gets stuck in the mud during a thunderstorm]] and they are forced to take refuge in a mansion inhabited by a mysterious couple of dollmakers. As they find out, something is not quite right about both the couple and the dolls the mansion is filled with...

* ''Film/{{Werewolf}}'' (1996): A man is cursed with lycanthropy after being stabbed with a werewolf bone.

* ''Film/{{Shotgun}}'' (1989): A CowboyCop goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the AmoralAttorney who killed his sister.

** ''Film/TheBruteMan'': A Franchise/UniversalHorror film starring Creator/RondoHatton as the Creeper, a serial killer with a grudge against society for the rejection he experiences over his disfigured face. He befriends a blind pianist.

* ''Film/CaptiveWildWoman'' (1943): A Franchise/UniversalHorror film starring Acquanetta as the Ape Woman, a creature who began life as an intelligent gorilla and was recrafted into a human by science. It also falls in the woman's film genre and is the only Universal Horror film to do so.
** ''Film/{{Jungle Woman|1944}}'' (1944): A Universal Horror film starring Acquanetta as the Ape Woman, a creature who began life as an intelligent gorilla and was recrafted into a human by science. Following a near-death experience, she can now change between her forms at will.
** ''Film/JungleCaptive'' (1945): A Universal Horror film starring Vicky Lane as the Ape Woman, a creature who began life as an intelligent gorilla and was recrafted into a human by science. Following her resurrection, she is badly damaged and set to be made human again with more science, but this does not come to be.

Some of the ground rules for B-movies date back to these early origins: they were and are produced on a limited budget with actors that are not household names. While B-movies may occasionally have very well-written scripts and gripping plots, the primary goal is not deliberate art or widespread commercial success, but cheap, disposable entertainment. As such, B-movies tend to be genre pieces, in such categories as [[TheWestern western]] (by far the most popular B-genre in Hollywood's Golden Age), {{horror|Tropes}}, ScienceFiction, or {{crime|AndPunishmentSeries}}. B-movies are often heavily [[{{Troperiffic}} trope]]-[[ClicheStorm laden]], and a particularly successful one can become a [[TropeMakers trope maker]] for big-budget films in the future. During the 30's and 40's, B-series were often highly successful; for example, Film/AndyHardy, Film/CharlieChan, Series/TheCiscoKid, Franchise/TheSaint, and even Literature/SherlockHolmes (in the sequels produced by Universal).

* ''Film/NotOfThisEarth1957'' (1957): An agent from a planet whose race is dying of an incurable blood disease comes to Earth to gauge the viability of human blood as a replacement. By Creator/RogerCorman. The 1988 remake was done on a bet by Jim Wynorski that he could do it on the same budget and schedule. It shows, and the acting is exactly what you would expect when the best you can afford wouldn't make a HS drama club. Some of the special effects, however, would have been right at home in ''Franchise/StarTrek''.

* ''[[Film/Parasite1982 Parasite]]'' (1982): A scientist is infected with parasitic worms he created.

* ''Film/TheNinjaMission'' (1984): [[{{Ninja}} Ninjas]] good, [[DirtyCommunists Commies bad!]]

* ''Film/RussianTerminator'' (1989): Ninjas (of Russian descent), Swenglish, and MacGuffins ahoy!

* ''Film/ChildrenOfTheNight'' (1991): A vampire is released from his watery tomb to terrorize a small town.

* ''Film/DoubleFeature1999'' (1999): An award-winning pornographic movie that played on this theme. The first segment deals with alien women who "subvert" men and the science team who defeats them in the end, and the second segment on a female mad scientist who creates a monster because no one else can satisfy her. Said monster escapes, leading to further events. The movie starts out with several humorous fake trailers for adult-themed B-movies. This movie won a record-breaking 10 awards at the 1999 AVN awards.

* ''Film/BitchSlap'' (2009): From alumni of Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys and Series/XenaWarriorPrincess: ActionGirl [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets]] {{Fanservice}} Meets Schlock, with EVERYTHING cranked up.

* ''Film/QueenOfOuterSpace'' (1958): Opinions differ over whether this was tongue-in-cheek hack work or the most misogynistic sci-fi movie ever made. Probably the quintessential space-explorers-discover-a-world-populated-entirely-by-beautiful-women movie (e.g. ''Film/CatWomenOfTheMoon'', ''Film/MissileToTheMoon'', the British ''Film/FireMaidensFromOuterSpace'', and the spoof ''Film/AmazonWomenOnTheMoon'').

** ''Film/{{Jungle Woman|1944))'' (1944): A Universal Horror film starring Acquanetta as the Ape Woman, a creature who began life as an intelligent gorilla and was recrafted into a human by science. Following a near-death experience, she can now change between her forms at will.
** ''Film/JungleWoman'' (1945): A Universal Horror film starring Vicky Lane as the Ape Woman, a creature who began life as an intelligent gorilla and was recrafted into a human by science. Following her resurrection, she is badly damaged and set to be made human again with more science, but this does not come to be.

TheGreatDepression hit Hollywood almost as hard as it hit other industries; a third of the audience disappeared between 1929 and 1933. To combat this, the major studios distributed feature films in pairs meant to be screened as a DoubleFeature. The longer and bigger-budgeted of the two films was called an "A-movie", while the secondary feature was called a "B-movie."[[note]]There was also a species known as a "programmer", which could be used as either.[[/note]] At first, the studios maintained separate production units to make the Bs; these units served as training grounds for talent on the way up and as last stops for talent on the way down. Later, the studios just bought pictures from "Poverty Row" studios like Monogram, Mascot & Republic; again, some stars were able to use these pictures to [[StarMakingRole make]] or [[CareerResurrection remake]] their careers, notably Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/RoyRogers.

The tag B-Movie or "b-movie spirit" which is used in contemporary times is more or less [[TheArtifact an artifact]]. It's been a while since there have been actual B-movies, i.e. a movie released as a bottom-half of a double-bill, the freebie to get out of the way before the "real" A-picture starts. The [[SpiritualSuccessor nearest modern correlative]] would be movies released DirectToVideo without a theatrical release, or low-budget movies made for broadcast TV and basic cable. Considering the higher production values of TV in TheOughties and TheNewTens, even this is becoming a misnomer, especially since so many A-directors are migrating to TV. You are far more likely to find the authentic B-Movie experience in arthouse movies or repertory screenings where you have movies paired for double-bill for comparison rather than because one of them is a cheap filler made for a more serious film.

Some of the ground rules for B-movies date back to these early origins: they were and are produced on a limited budget with cast who are not exactly household names. While B-movies may occasionally have very well-written scripts and gripping plots, the primary goal is not deliberate art or widespread commercial success, but cheap, disposable entertainment. As such, B-movies tend to be genre pieces, in such categories as [[TheWestern western]] (by far the most popular B-genre in Hollywood's Golden Age), {{horror|Tropes}}, ScienceFiction, or {{crime|AndPunishmentSeries}}. B-movies are often heavily [[{{Troperiffic}} trope]]-[[ClicheStorm laden]], and a particularly successful one can become a [[TropeMakers trope maker]] for big-budget films in the future. During the 30's and 40's, also, B-series were often highly successful; for example, Film/AndyHardy, Film/CharlieChan, Series/TheCiscoKid, Franchise/TheSaint, and even Literature/SherlockHolmes (in the sequels produced by Universal).

* ''Film/WhiteZombie'' (1932): Starring Creator/BelaLugosi and made, according to some sources, in less than two weeks (foreshadowing most of the rest of Lugosi's career), this is almost certainly the first film to deal with zombies, and was the inspiration for the name of Music/RobZombie's first band.

* ''Film/DrCyclops'' (1940): A MadScientist shrinks a bunch of people, and proceeds to try to kill them all. Sadly, no {{Cyclops}} actually shows up.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' (1941): Rare example of an animated B-movie, the film was put into production on a very low budget, using cheaper watercolors instead of gouache for the backgrounds and a more cartoony style for the character animation than Disney's previous animated films. Intended to be a filler movie to help the studio recoup some of the losses that they'd suffered from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' flopping, the film ended up becoming a smash hit and a classic on its own.
* ''Film/KingOfTheZombies'' (1941): On a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies. Only zombie film to have been nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (for Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic Picture) (Edward Kay)).

* ''Film/TheMadMonster'' (1942): A MadScientist turns a man into a werewolf, and sends his creation to slaughter the scientists who [[TheyCalledMeMad discredited him]].
* ''Film/HitlersMadman'' (1943): shot super-cheap in seven days by "Poverty Row" studio PRC, was so good that MGM bought the film and gave it wide distribution.

* ''Film/{{Detour}}'' (1945): Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, the "B" director who gave the world ''Film/TheBlackCat'', this Poverty Row piece is considered by some to be the first true FilmNoir. Sadly, for leading man Tom Neal, the film would prove a case of LifeImitatesArt. In a further oddity, the 1992 remake starred Neal's son, Tom Neal Jr.
* ''Film/{{Crossfire}}'' (1947): A murder mystery shot in three weeks for $500K, the first B-movie nominated for Best Picture.
* ''Film/TheBabeRuthStory'' (1948): A baseball {{biopic}} of Creator/BabeRuth. It was rushed into release while Ruth was still alive, but dying from throat cancer.
* ''Film/GunCrazy'' (1949): A couple with a mutual fascination for weaponry go on a crime spree. Inspired by UsefulNotes/BonnieAndClyde, it would itself be used as inspiration for ''Film/BonnieAndClyde''. ''Very'' loosely remade in 1992 with Creator/DrewBarrymore.

* ''Film/{{Troll 2}}'' (1990): Yet another contender for the title of the worst movie ever made; a family moves into a town called Nilbog (goblin spelled backwards) wherein the resident vegetarian goblins plan to turn them into vegetables so they can eat them, leaving the young son, Joshua, to save the day. Sequel InNameOnly to ''Troll'', and itself features no actual [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]] at all. Nicknamed "the best worst movie ever made".

* ''Film/ZyzzyxRoad'' (2006): A philandering accountant travels to Las Vegas for a business trip, where he encounters a seductress and her jealous ex-boyfriend who kill and bury him along the eponymous road. The film gained notoriety for holding the record as the lowest grossing film in U.S. history, [[EpicFail making only $30]] during its incredibly limited release [[UpToEleven at a single movie theater]].

* ''Film/BitchSlap'' (2009): From alumni of Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys and Series/XenaWarriorPrincess: ActionGirl [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets]] {{Fanservice}} Meets Schlock, with EVERYTHING UpToEleven.