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VIDEOThe Ten Worst Direct-to-Video Movies of All Time
We're intrigued -- just not enough to actually rent them.
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There’s a market out there, people. A fairly successful market that for all intents and purposes appears to be some sort of Bizarro Hollywood alternate universe. It’s only in this universe that Steven Seagal can still command a multi-million dollar payday, and an American Pie sequel can draw more than a million people in a single week, despite lacking a single identifiable star.
So in what world do these unfeasible things happen? In the direct-to-DVD market, of course.
Also known as DVD premieres, this film sub-category has steadily turned into a multi-billion dollar industry, and it isn't the exclusive province of major Hollywood studios. The success of DVD has birthed smaller production companies -- like The Asylum, the low-budget independent distributor known for releasing “mockbusters,” shrewdly-titled films intended to feed off the popularity of legitimate blockbusters.
The release of Paramount’s (VIA) Transformers coincided with Asylum’s Transmorphers. Same holds true for Pirates of the Caribbean (DIS) and Pirates of Treasure Island, as well as Snakes on a Plane (TWX) and Snakes on a Train.It used to be that, if a film came out on video before ever seeing the inside of a theater, it probably wasn’t very good. For the most part, that hasn’t changed. But whereas video used to be a repository for substandard films originally intended for the cinema, big Hollywood studios struggling with the high risk-reward ratio of major releases have turned to releasing installments of established film franchises straight to DVD, because their low production costs ensure an at least modest return on their investment.
With direct-to-DVD releases increasing 36% between 2005 and 2008, the industry itself now boasts $1 billion in annual sales.
With expectations for many of these films markedly lower than their theater counterparts, producers have taken a low-production-value approach to these releases, happily sacrificing things like plot, talent, sets, costumes, plausibility, etc.
Here are some of the most shamelessly lowbrow direct-to-video releases ever, most of which we had no idea existed until some time yesterday.
We're intrigued -- just not enough to actually rent them.
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