The Best B Movies on Netflix Right Now (March 2019)

by adminon
inEntertainment / Movies

For times when you don’t watch to watch an acclaimed drama, a passionate romance movie, or gripping documentary on Netflix, there are B movies. These low budget movies are often in the horror or sci-fi genre, but due to their production value (or lack thereof), can be considered comedies, too. Unlike your big-budget, Oscar-winning feature films, these self-aware, over-the-top numbers use the word “entertainment” very loosely. They likely bombed at the box office (if they weren’t straight-to-video), but rest assured, they’re probably laughing at themselves, too. If you’re looking for mediocre special effects, the absolute disgraces of Rotten Tomatoes, have at it: these are the best B movies on Netflix.

Piranha 3D (2010)

Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Elizabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Richard Dreyfuss

One of the more self aware movies on this list, Piranha 3D is a purposefully cheesy delight. A remake of Gremlins director Joe Dante’s own 1979 horror comedy of the same name (which itself was a parody of Jaws), Piranha 3D follows a group of strangers who band together to attempt to save spring breakers from a large group of murderous prehistoric piranhas, awoken from sleep by an earthquake. The result is a deliberately corny horror comedy that delivers on everything you want in this type of fun, bad movie. You have dumb but entertaining dialogue, completely unnecessary and prolonged nudity, a pre-Parks and Recreation Adam Scott, and of course, there’s plenty of gore, all in glorious 3D.

Jason X (2001)

Director: James Isaac
Starring: Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig, Jeff Geddis

You gotta hand it to the screenwriter of Jason X: he had what’s easily the strangest idea for a Friday The 13th sequel, and went and got it made. Jason X takes the Friday The 13thseries into the far future, the year 2445 to be exact, as Jason awakens on a spaceship full of students and, you guessed it, starts killing once more. As ridiculous as Jason X is, it has a certain level of creativity missing from other sequels, and the sheer ludicrousness of the storyline (and self aware jabs at the franchise) makes it pretty entertaining. Jason X’s creativity extends to Jason’s kills, one of which involves freezing someone’s face with liquid nitrogen and is one of the most famous kills of the series, to the point that there was even a Mythbusters episode about it. Jason X is schlocky, B-movie horror sequel heaven.

 

Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Director: Ellory Elkayem
Starring: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Tera

There are some movies that you can’t not watch because of the title, Eight Legged Freaks is one of those movies. A chemical spill occurs in a rural mining town and naturally, it causes a bunch of spiders to mutate into the size of cars (these are the titular eight legged freaks, if that was not clear). Now it’s up to a mining engineer (David Arquette) and a sheriff (Kari Wuhrer) to put a stop to the creatures terrorizing the town. An homage to ‘50s B-movies like Them! and Tarantula, Eight Legged Freaks is a comedic look at the historically fun monster movies of yesteryear. It also stands as an unintentional comedic look at the movies of the early 2000s, thanks to it’s primitive-looking CGI and very aughts clothing and hairstyles. Eight Legged Freaks is a fun and freaky delight, as long as you don’t have arachnophobia.

 

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Don’t Kill It (2016)

Director: Mike Mendez
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Kristina Klebe, Tony Bentley, James Chalke, Miles Doleac, Otis Willard

Dolph Lundgren really should have had more of a career in mainstream Hollywood outside of Rocky IV and Masters of the Universe – as a Fulbright scholar and a martial arts champion, the man has skills on a multitude of levels. It was nice to see him move towards something of a comeback with The Expendables movies, and this movie only works to further that late-stage career boost. Starring Lundgren as a demon hunter traveling to a small town, the film’s smart blend of humor and comedy gathered it rave reviews during its limited run last year, and hopefully the film with establish itself further on Netflix.

Oceans Rising (2017)

Director: Adam Lipsius
Starring: Jason Tobias, Summer Spiro, DeJean Brown

When President Trump left the Paris Climate Agreement last year, it stood as a significant moment for the further advancement of climate change in America. Another impactful event last year furthering climate change was the release of this pile of manure, starring Jason Tobias as a scientist whose predictions about the rising water levels around the world are largely ignored until the world floods at Biblical levels. While it may not be An Inconvenient Truth, its sequel, or any other film representing anything close to scientific fact about climate change, at least it’s aware that it exists and is a real danger, unlike some people in the government.

Savage Dog (2017)

Director: Jesse V. Johnson
Starring: Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, JuJu Chan

It may not be common knowledge to everyone, but the direct-to-video market has been the breeding ground for some of the best shot and choreographed action movies of the last twenty years, maybe ever. Dozens of former stunt performers and choreographers have gone into directing for these kinds of films, and Jesse V. Johnson, Savage Dog’s writer, director, and producer, is no exception, with films like Mission Impossible III and Beowulf under his belt. Savage Dog’s story of a boxer trying to escape prison in 1959 Vietnam is a great exhibition for some stellar action, so if the blockbuster isn’t cutting it for you, give smaller action movies like this one a try.

The Vault (2017)

Director: Dan Bush
Starring: Francesca Eastwood, Taryn Manning,Scott Haze, Q’orianka Kilcher, Clifton Collins Jr., James Franco

It’s no secret that James Franco is a prolific guy, with what seems to be very little discrimination to the roles he chooses (although, with the recent accusations levied against him, he might not have as many options going forward). Last year, he appeared in The Vault, a low-budget film that aims to combine the odd mix of a heist movie and a horror movie, with a group of bank robbers accidentally unleashing a spirit haunting a bank vault. The film flew under the radar when it was released last year, but it feels like the kind of movie that’ll establish firm roots in Netflix’s fanbase. It might not be groundbreaking stuff, but if the trailers are any indication, it’s at least something of a fun watch.

 

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