Earlier this week I asked for suggestions for Eric’s Bad Movies at Film.com, and if you doubt the usefulness of making your voice heard, doubt no more! This week’s entry, “Teen Witch,” is the direct result of several people recommending it. I’d never heard of it. In fact, when it was first suggested and I looked into it, I wasn’t sure it would be suitable. Very few reviews exist (it was only in a handful of theaters for a couple weeks and grossed just $27,000 — not million, thousand), and the notices at Rotten Tomatoes didn’t offer a clear consensus. I was afraid it would be one of those teen movies that are mediocre and dumb but not truly AWFUL.
Boy was I wrong! After hearing more details (mostly on Twitter) from people who’d seen it, I was persuaded that “Teen Witch” would indeed be appropriately terrible, and I’m glad I listened. It’s such a bizarre movie, with dangling, irrelevant subplots and a bland heroine whose actions are consistently inconsistent. It’s hard to believe anyone involved could have thought they’d produced something worthwhile.
The film is a comedy, which I’ve expressed concerns about using in Eric’s Bad Movies. My concern stems from the fact that it’s hard to mock something that already doesn’t take itself seriously. Often all you can say about a bad comedy is, “Boy, this sure isn’t funny!” But I’ve found that comedies with supernatural or fantasy elements sometimes are good fodder, and that proved to be the case here.
