The Tartan

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On Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, my dad and I watched eight hours of movies at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville. The theater hosted a 13-hour movie marathon to honor Friday the 13th coinciding with the Halloween season, and though I wanted to go for all 13, work and school unfortunately took (slight) precedence over my, and my dad’s, love of horror movies. The theater was packed when we arrived — many patrons HAD been there since the 10 a.m. start time. 

The marathon was a part of a larger program at Row House called “Cult-o-Rama,” where once a month, the theater shows a B-movie and cult classic double feature. Now, you may be wondering, what is a B-movie? Why would people willingly sit in a dark room for hours on end and watch them? I will endeavor to answer these questions within this article and make a case for the B-movie. 

Contrary to what most people think when I tell them I love B-movies, they are NOT movies about bees, nor the classic Dreamworks film. Merriam-Webster defines the word B-movie as “a cheaply produced motion picture.” 

I would like to narrow this definition. In our cultural understanding, the term B-movie usually refers to an independently produced film that lacks professional production value, includes over the top gore and sex, uses wonderfully cheesy special effects, and has some genre underpinning (most commonly horror, science fiction, or action). Cult movies are B-movies that have gathered a niche but devoted fan base, such as my fellow marathoners at the Row House Cinema. 

For the sake of this article, I am going to use the terms B-movie and cult movie interchangeably. Some better known B-movies that can give you a feel of the genre include “Sharknado,” “Evil Dead II,” “The Room,” “Pink Flamingos,” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Personally, my favorite movie of all time is “Braindead” (also known as “Dead Alive”), a B-movie made by “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy director Peter Jackson. 

What’s the big deal with these movies? 

First, I love to see how a movie gets made. Especially with high-budget Hollywood films, it is almost impossible to really see this. You can’t see the seams, which is what the studios want, but I love getting to see little glimpses of the human touches in films. Maybe this is just me, as I’m someone who loves to help make films, but seeing things like the slightly mismatched skin tones of a prosthetic or the stopmotion-y movement of a creature gets me so excited. These details inspire me and make me believe I am capable of making movies, too, and that it’s not just an art relegated to the rich and well-connected. 

B-movies are cheap to make, so many cast and crew members get their start in B movies. Sam Raimi made “Evil Dead” when he was just 22 and went onto direct the first trilogy of “Spiderman” movies. The creators of Weta Studios started doing special effects with Peter Jackson in “Braindead,” and now have worked on “The Witcher,” “Stranger Things,” and “Ghostbusters.” Even Pittsburgh’s own George Romero started shooting a cheap horror flick with his friends and is now hailed as the Father of the Zombie Movie. 

In addition to the low cost of entry to B-movies, working in genres such as horror allow for filmmakers to experiment with and perfect their craft — crazy lighting, camera angles, and effects are expected in the genre. 

Since B-movies are almost always independently created, they are also often a refreshing (if not at times offputting) change of pace from the current Hollywood blockbusters. Since there is no company overseeing the production of the film, the resulting films are often more authentic and off beat, and more true to the creators’ original idea. B-movies are often seen as ‘unmarketable’ due to the one-of-a-kind nature of their style and content, but I often find these aspects to be the most exciting parts. 

For example, there are many styles of B-movie dialogue. Stilted, broken English with so-bad-it’s-good acting? Yes. Musical numbers about being a transsexual alien from a planet called Transylvania? Sure. A powerful declaration to “Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!”? Of course. But I have yet to hear a B-movie character utter the fateful words “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” 

I know what you’re thinking: So, basically, these movies are cheap, weird, and poorly made. What makes them different from a plain old BAD movie? Here is my answer to that (valid) question: PASSION AND EARNESTNESS! 

So many bad movies are cash grabs made with no heart, but cult movies have so much passion in them! There is no “wink, wink,” “nudge, nudge,” ironically referential, self-deprecating overtone. There is a group of people who love film and maybe blood and guts, or aliens, or murderous drag queens, and then they do what so many of us wouldn’t even dare to think of: They make their ideas into a tangible, finished thing! 

Especially with the advent of social media, there seems to be much more uncertainty in artwork today. “I know I may not be the best but at least I know it,” some modern artistic work shouts. “I’m ironic, I’m uncaring, I’m cool, please dear God someone like me!” B-movies throw this entire concept out the window. The filmmakers enjoy and are passionate about what they make, and that seems to be good enough for them.