What are some of your favorite B movies?

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meltzerboy

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B movie has been defined in a number of ways: film noir, crime drama, low-budget film, bad production, horror or science fiction movie, campy movie, sleeper; second billing, and so on. However you define a B film, which are your favorites?

Some of my favorites are The Verdict, the 1946 black-and-white mystery film starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Joan Lorring (my all-time favorite mystery movie); Double Indemnity, the 1944 Billy Wilder film noir, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson (a classic of its genre); and Halloween, the 1978 horror, suspense, slasher film, starring Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.

And your favorites are…?
 
Point Break (1991) with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. It’s been a while. I may have to watch it again to see how it has held up over time. 👍
 
Them, The Haunting (of Hill House-B&W). The Thing (original title),
Imitation of Life, Tammy movies, Gidget, Gidget Goes Hawaiian. Niagara, River of No Return, Don’t Bother to Knock, Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee movies (can’t remember titles), Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies Pillow Talk, etc.
I am sure there are more.
 
meltzerboy said:
B movie has been defined in a number of ways: film noir, crime drama, low-budget film, bad production, horror or science fiction movie, campy movie, sleeper; second billing, and so on. However you define a B film, which are your favorites?

Some of my favorites are The Verdict, the 1946 black-and-white mystery film starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Joan Lorring (my all-time favorite mystery movie); Double Indemnity, the 1944 Billy Wilder film noir, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson (a classic of its genre); and Halloween, the 1978 horror, suspense, slasher film, starring Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.

And your favorites are…?
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Some film noir might be considered B movies but I don’t think a film directed by Billy Wilder should be considered a B movie. Usually a B movie was the 2nd billed movie in a theater or the first movie shown before the main feature. I believe Halloween was a feature film. Maybe a current version of B movie would be those that went straight to dvd.
 
johnnyc176 said:
Some film noir might be considered B movies but I don’t think a film directed by Billy Wilder should be considered a B movie. Usually a B movie was the 2nd billed movie in a theater or the first movie shown before the main feature. I believe Halloween was a feature film. Maybe a current version of B movie would be those that went straight to dvd.
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You may be right although there are several definitions regarding what constitutes a B movie.
 
meltzerboy said:
B movie has been defined in a number of ways: film noir, crime drama, low-budget film, bad production, horror or science fiction movie, campy movie, sleeper; second billing, and so on. However you define a B film, which are your favorites?

Some of my favorites are The Verdict, the 1946 black-and-white mystery film starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Joan Lorring (my all-time favorite mystery movie); Double Indemnity, the 1944 Billy Wilder film noir, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson (a classic of its genre); and Halloween, the 1978 horror, suspense, slasher film, starring Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis.

And your favorites are…?
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All the B Westerns on Saturday afternoons when a ticket was around 75 cents or so.

Black Bart lives.❤️
 
Hmm, depending on the definition:

Down Periscope - a super campy comedy starring Kelsey Grammer, about a crazy submarine Captain given an out of service sub and non compliant crew and having to participate in a war game to keep his career.

White Chicks - a movie so bad it was good

Swan Princess - Hilarious animated picture for kids, the songs and secondary character are a riot (main characters are boring).

Quest for Camelot - animated film that blew its budget on its celebrity voice actors and music, leaving both the animation and story line something to be desired. But it still holds a special place in my heart.

Willow - A 1988 fantasy film starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis.

I sure there are more. 😛
 
grannymh said:
All the B Westerns on Saturday afternoons when a ticket was around 75 cents or so.

Black Bart lives.❤️
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There are a whole bunch of those entertaining B westerns, and also the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of the 1940’s. But surely you don’t remember the REAL Black Bart?!
 
7_Sorrows said:
Them, The Haunting (of Hill House-B&W). The Thing (original title),
Imitation of Life, Tammy movies, Gidget, Gidget Goes Hawaiian. Niagara, River of No Return, Don’t Bother to Knock, Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee movies (can’t remember titles), Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies Pillow Talk, etc.
I am sure there are more.
Click to expand...
I thought I’d be the only one to mention those two sci-fi golden oldies. The Thing’s full title adds “From Another World.” I’ve actually written two follow up stories for The Thing–it lends itself to more tales. Also Taranula, The Monolith Monsters, and the truly unusual and well done The Incredible Shrinking Man, a cult classic. 🙂

I actually like Gidget Goes Hawiian better than the original Gidget film with Sandra Dee. I thought Deborah Walley made a far better Gidget–closer to Sally Field’s interpretation of the role, but she was a great dancer, as well.
 
johnnyc176 said:
Some film noir might be considered B movies but I don’t think a film directed by Billy Wilder should be considered a B movie. Usually a B movie was the 2nd billed movie in a theater or the first movie shown before the main feature. I believe Halloween was a feature film. Maybe a current version of B movie would be those that went straight to dvd.
Click to expand...
I used to work in a movie theater. You are correct on the definition of a B movie.
Mine?
Admirable Crichton, The; AKA Paradise Lagoon
Baron Of Arizona, The
Big Deal On Madonna Street
Book Of Numbers, The
Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death
Dude Goes West, The
Girl Most Likely To …
Hand In Hand
Initiation Of Sarah, The
It Happened In Athens
It Should Happen To You
Last Time I Saw Archie, The
Let’s Do It Again
Little Shop Of Horrors, The [1960, B&W]
Lost Continent
Loved One, The
Red Planet Mars
Take Care Of My Little Girl
Tall Story
Zero Hour!

It should be noted that sometime during the '50s and '60s, the industry phased out B movies, and so fewer were made. I would wager that generally anything made after the '60s would not be considered a B movie by the above definition for that reason.
 
Della said:
I thought I’d be the only one to mention those two sci-fi golden oldies. The Thing’s full title adds “From Another World.” I’ve actually written two follow up stories for The Thing–it lends itself to more tales. Also Taranula, The Monolith Monsters, and the truly unusual and well done The Incredible Shrinking Man, a cult classic. 🙂

I actually like Gidget Goes Hawiian better than the original Gidget film with Sandra Dee. I thought Deborah Walley made a far better Gidget–closer to Sally Field’s interpretation of the role, but she was a great dancer, as well.
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The Incredible Shrinking Man is a truly poetic and philosophical tale which goes beyond its science-fiction genre, and is also very entertaining. It’s one of my two favorite science-fiction films: the other is the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
 
7_Sorrows said:
Them, The Haunting (of Hill House-B&W). The Thing (original title),
Imitation of Life, Tammy movies, Gidget, Gidget Goes Hawaiian. Niagara, River of No Return, Don’t Bother to Knock, Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee movies (can’t remember titles), Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies Pillow Talk, etc.
I am sure there are more.
Click to expand...
The Thing (From Another World) is certainly a classic. A great, suspenseful science-fiction film!
 
I just thought of some more

Coming to America - 1988 flim Starring Eddie Murphy. Of course now that I go back and look, I see it was nominated for several awards including 2 Oscars, of course those nominations were for make up and costume design.

These movies are the ones that always used to run on tv on nights and weekends. They are generally not very good, but some of them I really enjoyed.

The Fifth Element 1997.- hehehe, I love watching this one on TV in college, so corny.

The Mummy Trilogy 1999- Brendan Frasier just never enjoyed the commercial success and more universal popularity of of funny men, like Adam Sandler, despite his good looks and three Mummy movies.

A Knights Tale 2001

Tomb Raider 2001- though this one is more main stream/enjoyed more commercial success.

George of the Jungle 1997- wow that one is bad “Watch out for that tree!”

Legally Blond- 2001 love it, I really need the two in one dvd set.

Clueless 1995- does this one count or was it too mainstream when it came out?

Apparently 2001 one was not a good year. 😉
 
unstoppable_II said:
I used to work in a movie theater. You are correct on the definition of a B movie.
Mine?
Admirable Crichton, The; AKA Paradise Lagoon
Baron Of Arizona, The
Big Deal On Madonna Street
Book Of Numbers, The
Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death
Dude Goes West, The
Girl Most Likely To …
Hand In Hand
Initiation Of Sarah, The
It Happened In Athens
It Should Happen To You
Last Time I Saw Archie, The
Let’s Do It Again
Little Shop Of Horrors, The [1960, B&W]
Lost Continent
Loved One, The
Red Planet Mars
Take Care Of My Little Girl
Tall Story
Zero Hour!

It should be noted that sometime during the '50s and '60s, the industry phased out B movies, and so fewer were made. I would wager that generally anything made after the '60s would not be considered a B movie by the above definition for that reason.
Click to expand...
Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death sounds like the most interesting film on your list. LOL
 
The Miracle Worker had second billing when I went to see it. I don’t remember what the first one was, but I liked The Miracle Worker the best.
 
7_Sorrows said:
The Miracle Worker had second billing when I went to see it. I don’t remember what the first one was, but I liked The Miracle Worker the best.
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That is hard to believe! It reminds me of when I saw Ship of Fools during its first showing. It too got second billing and I don’t even remember which movie got first billing. Likewise, the Frank Capra classic, It Happened One Night, was a sleeper when it first came out, so my father told me.
 
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