B-movies don't ever win any Oscars, but they maintain larger cult followings than many of the most acclaimed cinematic features. These low-budget ventures disavow all norms, expectations, and traditional storytelling techniques to offer audiences an alternative to the polished, big-budget films that receive better distributions.
Sometimes, these B-movies turn out to be pretty good, even being labeled classics in retrospect. Other times, they're just bad, plain and simple. Being terrible doesn't guarantee a B-movie won't build a large fan base, though. Even the worst of the worst are so awful they're loved by a special kind of cult cinema buff.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) - 1.9
Made infamous by its appearance in Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Harold P. Warren's Manos: The Hands of Fate wins the title "Worst B-Movie of All Time." A traveling family in Texas gets lost on the road, only to end up in the underground lair of a devil-worshipping cult.
The cult's leader, aptly referred to as The Master, works with his follows to figure out what to do with the family. Warren, who developed and funded the film on its own, stars as Michael, the patriarch of the family.
Wizards Of The Lost Kingdom II (1989) - 1.9
David Carradine stars in this obscure fantasy film that is a sequel to another obscure fantasy film. Wizards Of The Lost Kingdom II is directed by Charles B. Griffith, known as the screenwriter for classic B-movies like The Little Shop of Horrors and Death Race 2000.
A sword and sorcery flick, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II follows a teenage boy named Tyor who is tasked with saving three magical kingdoms from three evil lords. With the help of a wizard, an elder, and resident heroes in each kingdom, Tyor gains the skills needed to become a formidable fighter.
Angels' Brigade (1979) - 2.0
Who needs Charlie's Angels when there's the Angels' Brigade? Also released as Angels Revenge, Greydon Clark's blatant rip-off of the popular sitcom features six crime-fighting women instead of three, and the girls decide to go after a drug cartel connected to a right-wing militia.
Angels' Brigade stars some major stars whose careers were in declines, such as Jack Palance, Neville Brand, and Peter Lawford. The movie's cinematographer, Dean Cundey, would go on to shoot films like John Carpenter's Halloween and Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future.
Frankenstein Island (1981) - 2.1
Oh, how the mighty have fallen in Frankenstein Island. John Carradine stars as Dr. Frankenstein, the infamous mad scientist whose spirit haunts the titular island, where his descendant Sheila turns any passersby into a zombie.
A group of hot air balloon enthusiasts crashes onto Sheila's island, where she exposes them to her theatre of pain and terror. Enter bikini-donning alien women, laser guns, spiders, and even Edgar Allan Poe, who all engage in an epic battle during the film's finale.
Radar Secret Service (1950) - 2.2
Director Sam Newfield does his best to assemble a noir detective story with his 1950 feature film Radar Secret Service. In it, two special investigators use a special radar system to track a stolen shipment of uranium ore.
From there, the plot becomes a jumbled mess replete with informational segways about the value of radar technology and trope-filled characterizations of the bad guys. Eventually, all those radio waves cause the detectives to lose their marbles even more than before.
Carnival Magic (1981) - 2.3
Tensions arise between employees at a circus when a telepathic magician steals the limelight from an animal trainer in Carnival Magic. In the film, Markov the Magnificent teams up with a talking chimpanzee named Alex to become the stars of the show, which causes the jealous former top-dog animal trainer to kidnap Alex.
Even though it was marketed as a movie for children, Carnival Magic contains some seriously bizarre sequences and adult themes. It also contains a lot of busty, exposed female characters and vivisection.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964) - 2.3
The first monster musical ever made is also one of the worst movies ever made. Set at a seaside carnival in California's Long Beach, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? centers around a group of attendees who cross paths with occultists and monsters.
The film contains every hallmark of a B-movie: poor lighting, terrible acting, and second-rate editing. Instead of jump scares, director and star Ray Dennis Steckler, using the pseudonym Cash Flagg, relies on song and dance numbers to psych out moviegoers.
Hillbillys In A Haunted House (1967) - 2.8
Another musical horror romp, Hillbillys in a Haunted House is exactly what it sounds like: a movie wherein traveling country singers end up inside a haunted house. This isn't just any haunted house, though; it is occupied by international spies in search of the formula for rocket fuel.
These spies are played by genre icons Lon Chaney, Jr., Basil Rathbone, and John Carradine. Hillbillys in a Haunted House is the sequel to 1966's The Las Vegas Hillbillys.
Santa Claus (1959) - 2.6
Santa deals with much more than delivering presents to all the boys and girls in the Mexican feature Santa Claus. Poor St. Nick must contend with a demon named Pitch who has been sent to Earth by Satan to assassinate him.
With a little help from Merlin the Magician and some of the planet's best children, Santa Claus is able to defeat Pitch and save Christmas. Santa Claus features outer space adventures, vicious dogs, and silly aerial views of Mexico city.
R.O.T.O.R. (1987) - 2.7
Look out, RoboCop; there's a new robotic cop in town: R.O.T.O.R., which stands for Robotic Officer of the Tactical Operations Research/Reserve Unit. This machine prototype is accidentally activated and reports for duty, where it terrorizes people and practices tai chi.
R.O.T.O.R. does have one weakness, though: loud noises. This film takes the worst parts of RoboCop and The Terminator and makes them even worse.