50 Worst Movie Titles of All Time The Hollywood Reporter
‘Phffft’ (1954)
One of the better uses of onomatopoeia in a movie title, true, but its dismissive tone reads like the movie was named by a passive-aggressive teenager.
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‘Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx’ (1970)
The title seems more like a statement of fact as opposed to a clue to the narrative of the Gene Wilder comedy.
‘Blackenstein’ (1974)
The blaxploitation horror film, loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, was meant to cash in on the success of Blacula.
‘Zardoz’ (1974)
John Boorman’s 1974 sci-fi flick is named after a homicidal floating stone head that travels across the postapocalyptic landscape of a futuristic Earth. But, most importantly, Zardoz gave us post-Bond Sean Connery in a linen Speedo, thigh-high boots and a braid.
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‘Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo’ (1984)
The predecessor to the 1984 break-dancing film was simply titled Breakin’, mercifully free of any "Boogaloos."
‘Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes’ (1984)
There is something to be said for brevity and, whatever that may be, the people who came up with this title never had it said to them.
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‘C.H.U.D.’ (1984)
The title of the horror flick stands for “cannibalistic humanoid underground dweller,” which sounds far more interesting than the nonsense acronym.
‘Leonard Part 6’ (1987)
The parody spy movie stars Bill Cosby as a CIA agent turned restaurateur who battles a vegetarian trying to take over the world with magical meat given to him by a gypsy, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by the title. No word on what magical foodstuffs were used in parts 1 through 5, given that the movies don't actually exist.
‘Drop Dead Fred’ (1991)
"Drop Dead Fred" is the full name of the childhood imaginary friend of an emotionally repressed housewife played by actress Phoebe Cates.
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‘F.A.R.T: The Movie’ (1991)
The crude title belongs to a movie that is about exactly what you would expect it to be about.
‘V.I. Warshawski’ (1991)
Kathleen Turner stars as a private eye with an impossible-to-pronounce last name.
‘Operation Dumbo Drop’ (1995)
The movie is not the sequel to the Disney animated classic, wherein Dumbo mysteriously loses his power of flight at a very inopportune moment, but it sure sounds like it.
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‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar’ (1995)
Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo play New York City drag queens who road trip to Hollywood to appear in the Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant. The title is taken from a photo that they carry in their car signed by actress Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the 1960s Batman television show.
‘The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain’ (1995)
It reads more like a haiku and less like the title of a Hugh Grant World War I movie.
‘Santa With Muscles’ (1996)
At first, the title sounds oxymoronic until you find out that Hulk Hogan plays a guy who gets amnesia and think he is Santa Claus, at which point the title make sense but the movie doesn’t.
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‘8 Heads in a Duffel Bag’ (1997)
Joe Pesci plays a mobster who is charged with transporting a duffel bag full of severed heads to his boss. Perhaps a bit too on-the-nose.
‘Teaching Mrs. Tingle’ (1999)
The title for the teacher-student dramedy, starring Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes, sounds like a lesser-known Dr. Seuss book.
‘eXistenZ’ (1999)
It is one thing to have a title that is a made-up word, but it is another to throw randomized capitalization in the mix.
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‘?Dude, Where’s My Car?’ (2000)
The title of this Seann William Scott–Ashton Kutcher buddy comedy where he misplaces his car is appropriate, but that doesn’t mean it’s good.
‘Freddy Got Fingered’ (2001)
Of the crudely titled film, critic Roger Ebert wrote: “This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.”
‘Riding in Cars With Boys’ (2001)
This banal title for the coming-of-age tale starring Drew Barrymore doesn’t exactly fill moviegoers with excitement and anticipation.
‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ (2002)
‘Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever’ (2002)
The comically titled action-thriller stars Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu as FBI agents, Ecks and Sever.
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‘From Justin to Kelly’ (2003)
The musical starred American Idol Season 1 winner and runner-up, Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, and it has the title to prove it!
‘Gigli’ (2003)
The Kevin Smith movie, made at the height of the Bennifer craze, boasts a title that reads like an Italian dessert.
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‘I ? Huckabee’ (2004)
David O. Russell may be one of the few directors brave enough to use an emoji in the title of his movie.
‘Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story’ (2005)
Like Secretariat and Seabiscuit, Dreamer is a racehorse that had to overcome incredible adversity to become a champion. Unlike Secretariat and Seabiscuit, Dreamer had owners that had very little imagination when it came to naming their horse.
‘Herbie: Fully Loaded’ (2005)
The movie starred Lindsay Lohan, Michael Keaton and Matt Dillon and was the first Herbie film to be released since 198 —- that incarnation was titled Herbie Goes Bananas. So, the Herbie property has always had a hard time with titles.
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‘Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous’ (2005)
Sandra Bullock reprised her role as FBI agent-turned beauty pageant contestant Gracie Hart. Critics said the sequel failed to capture the magic of the original film, with a title emblematic of this.
‘The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl’ (2005)
The Robert Rodriguez action-adventure starred a young Taylor Lautner who played a who that had the powers of a shark and was a part of a superhero duo whose other half was a girl that could spew lava from her hands. A prospective sequel, titled Barracuda Lad and Earthquake Lady, was ultimately shelved.
‘Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties’ (2006)
The Monday-hating cat would also disapprove of the unfortunate pun used for his onscreen adaptation.
‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006)
Although it reads like a typo, "Slevin" is the name of the thriller’s main character.
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‘?Who’s Your Caddy’ (2007)
The title for the movie, which stars Big Boi as a rap mogul/golf enthusiast, is a pun that only a Dad could love.
‘You Don’t Mess With the Zohan’ (2008)
The title makes moviegoers not want to mess with the Adam Sandler comedy, where he plays an Israeli commando-turned-NYC hairstylist.
‘Surfer, Dude’ (2008)
This cheesy title belongs to a Matthew McConaughey flick where he plays a surfer who contemplates riding virtual waves when the Malibu swell seems permanently out to sea.
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‘Quantum of Solace’ (2008)
The title of the Bond film may sound like a line of dialogue out of The Theory of Everything, but it is defined as the precise measurement of comfort and emotion needed between two lovers.
‘The Hottie & the Nottie’ (2008)
Honestly, what could the moviegoing public expect from the title of a Paris Hilton comedic vehicle?
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‘Love Guru’ (2008)
SNL expat Mike Myers plays a self-help expert who grew up in an Indian ashram and has since returned to America to impart his wisdom on his hordes of followers.
‘Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant’ (2009)
The film title reads like a long-forgotten Cirque du Soliel show that was trying to capitalize on the Twilight craze but received a very short run.
‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ (2009)
The George Clooney movie follows a journalist who uncovers the U.S. military's attempt to employ paranormal powers in combat missions. For the moviegoers who are unaware of the film’s plot, they may be led to believe that their movie-watching experience will consist of them staring at men who are, in turn, staring at goats.
‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole’ (2010)
It is the one of the better titles given to a movie about legendary warrior owls, but, to be fair, there isn’t a whole lot of competition in the very narrow category of avian armadas.
‘We Bought a Zoo’ (2011)
It’s an apt title for a movie where Matt Damon literally buys a zoo, but it also leaves little to the imagination.
‘No’ (2012)
The incredibly succinct title belongs to the Oscar-nominated Gael Garcia Bernal movie about an ad executive who comes up with a campaign to defeat Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
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‘Rise of the Guardians’ (2012)
There is a sense of import in this title that usually isn’t reserved for an animated kids movie that prominently features a sword-wielding, tatted-up, Russian-accented Santa Claus.
‘John Carter’ (2012)
Judging solely by the ambiguous title, John Carter star Taylor Kitsch could be playing a Civil War veteran who mysteriously wakes up on the surface of Mars or a CPA from Wichita. Who’s to say?
‘It Follows’ (2014)
The dubious nature of the critically acclaimed horror film is existential-crisis-inducing, leaving moviegoers to think things like: What is this “it” or who is this “it”? Is the “it” in all of us? Are we the “it”?
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‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014)
The movie where Tom Cruise plays a soldier who is charged with fighting an invincible alien army over and over again sounds like a throwaway title for a CBS soap opera. It was adapted from the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, which was arguably a better title. The movie was marketed with the tagline Live. Die. Repeat., which sounds like threatening instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle.
‘Focus’ (2015)
Many moviegoers complained that the title and print campaign for Will Smith and Margot Robbie's con man movie was too vague.
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‘Bad Ass 3: Bad Asses on the Bayou’ (2015)
This is the third installment of the Bad Ass franchise, where Danny Trejo and Danny Glover play vigilantes who leave Los Angeles. In the threequel the duo travel to Louisiana to rescue a kidnapped friend, meaning the Bad Ass title has transcended multiple films and state lines.
‘Aloha’ (2015)
Based on the title, you wouldn't guess that this Cameron Crowe movie is about a celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) who returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs — the U.S. Space program in Honolulu –— and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. This is actually the third title for the film, which was formerly called both Deep Tiki and Volcano Romance.
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