10 Blockbuster Rip-Off Films That Are Actually Worth Watching

Founded by three former Village Roadshow executives in 1997, The Asylum€™s brief is simple: dirt-cheap rip-offs of popular hits, usually headlined by a washed-up performer. Made for so little money that they never post a loss, this is where lovers of bad acting, shoddy effects and dopey narratives come to get their fix. For all their popularity, though, movies like Almighty Thor and Abraham Lincoln Vs Zombies are actually pretty dull. Executed with all the panache of a bored teenager serving fast food, the films are more interested in picking your pocket than in giving you a good time. For the liveliest and most entertaining rip-offs, you have have to go back as far as the 1970s, when blockbusters like The Exorcist, Jaws and Star Wars helped launch the trend for fast and cheap imitations. Some of these €œmockbusters€ are terrifically entertaining, some are so bad they really are worth watching and, every so often, you€™ll find a movie that achieved cult status among aficionados. Whether you refer to the following films as schlock, B-movies or guilty pleasures, they still offer a surprising amount of fun. More than Transmorphers: Fall Of Man, anyway.