List of Bad Movies Set In New Orleans
Lately I’ve developed a guilty pleasure of watching bad movies that are set in New Orleans. To make a movie truly stand out in this genre, the characters must live up to some ridiculous perceptions of the city. Bad “N’awlins” accents are almost universal, but often the characters have some sort of dark side that’s accented by the city’s loose morals and seamy underbelly. I’d like some help in compiling a list of such films, and I’ll start out with some of the ones I’ve seen recently.
Hard Target (1993) - In John Woo’s first Hollywood film, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a Cajun named “Chance Boudreaux” who is hired to help an out of towner track down her missing father. It would take pages to summarize the ridiculousness of this film, so I will just say that I sat with gaping eyes and a slack jaw throughout the entire movie, awestruck by its complete detachment from any hint of reality. It was amazing.
Tightrope (1984) - Clint Eastwood plays an NOPD detective on the trail of a serial killer. To get inside of the killer’s mind he must involve himself in the seedy world of New Orleans brothels and such. Kind of a thrilling conclusion, but overall the movie was disappointing in its lack of bad New Orleans stereotypes.
The Badge (2002) - Billy Bob Thornton plays a small town conservative sheriff investigating the murder of a transvestite. The trail of evidence first leads him to New Orleans where he must contend with transsexuals as well as his estranged homosexual brother. Plunging deeper into the case, he finds that a group of corrupt southern politicians may be involved in the murder. Not a good movie.
Believe it or not, I haven’t seen “The Big Easy” yet but I understand it’s perhaps the landmark film of this genre. Others on my to-see list include “A Love Song For Bobby Long”.. other recommendations?
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My favorite moment in Tightrope involved Clint as an ill-at-ease trick acting as if he were looking to procure the short-term company of a greasy, 1980s-Don-Johnson-esque white-suited gay hustler. It was not only ill-acted and ill-lit, it was entirely believable.
I’d like to add to the list Runaway Jury, with a cardboard scene-chewing performance by John Cusack.
Hard Target has some pretty awesome shots on Frenchman - and how can you forget Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro?
A decent list of films set in NO is here.
Who can forget King Creole with Elvis.
That movie about killer bees, which ultimately defeated by the Superdome’s a/c system. Even as a child, I recognized this as a shitty movie.
way to stick the landing Chris! finally a great thread!
While JFK, Pelican Brief, Runaway Jury, and The Big Easy are all great ones for this list, I’d have to say don’t be too shy to take the advice of the Beadwench and check out King Creole, for a little glimpse at the quarter before you could buy BIG ASS BEERS! Not a bad one, sans Elvis’s acting skills.
My favorite New Orleans movie is probably Easy Rider. Hopper and Fonda were totally adrift with the studios when they shot the scenes at Mardi Gras, a crazed Hopper shoots randomly throughout the Quarter and goes through film at rapid pace without script or care arguing with Fonda the whole time about who is going to get what credits at the end of the film. The drug fueled trip through the cemetary was as real as it gets, and I thought they actually did a really good job of filming it and making the audience feel it. This movie was shot in an age of film that ushered in the era of directors being stars and having control of what they made and allowed them to leave the studio lots and make REAL movies, saying goodbye to big fat cigar puffing studio heads that were 90 years old still trying to make Rock Hudson and Doris Day pictures for kids in the sixties.
**leaving soapbox**
Peace!
That’s change man! Right on!
Good call on the killer bee movie, I remember that. They drive the bees, plastered onto a car, into the superdome and lower the temperature to kill them all. BRILLIANT!!
that was a shitty movie, and so was Hard Target.
“Tempted” is a really good/Bad movie filmed in New Orleans with Burt Reynolds and Peter Facinelli. Burt wants to test his young wife’s fidelity and pays Peter to try and get her to sleep with him, see the rest for yourself, it’s soooo bad. You’ll love it.
Murder at the mardi Gras, a made for TV movie from the late 70’s. I’ve never seen it and only know about it because my mom told me she was an extra in it. It promises to be very crappy if you can find it.
“Zandalee” was shot in the Quarter and starred some fashion model in her movie debut (and finale), with Judge Reinhold as her boring husband and Nicholas Cage over-acting as her old flame. So bad it’s laugh out loud funny.
“On Dangerous Ground” (I think that was the title) was a TV movie from a few years ago about the discovery of a giant cavern beneath the city and how some brave geologists save Carnival from being swallowed up by filling the hole with plastic foam.
Here, I gotta give a plug to hometown native film director (and former Metroblogger) Shannon.
Eschaton is the name of his current project: an apocalyptic horror flick set in New Orleans. I’m definitely looking forward to it.
Check out “Panic in the Streets” starring Jack Palance, Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, etc. For you really hard-core Orleaneans, you will see a very young Arthur Tong in a bit part. It was shot in 1950. You’ll see here the storyline for “Outbreak” came from. The accents are awful, but the city looks good in black and white.
Hey, what about Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke and that chica from the Cosby show? Wasn’t that filmed in the French Quarter?
I can’t believe no one has mentioned “On Hostile Ground,” possibly the worst New Orleans-set film of all time.
While there are numerous laughable scenes (a Carnival parade with Rose Bowl-esque floats travelling through a sound-stage version of the Quarter comes to mind), the movie’s most preposterous aspect is its premise: that a giant sinkhole has developed under the city, and only a hunky, foam-wielding geologist (yes, that’s right, FOAM) can save us all!
The only way to watch this is to drink heavily and think of it as a comedy.
I have a slight obsession with New Orleans and am always on the look out for movies set/filmed in the city.
Some “Memorable” ones include:
Candyman 2- Psycho supernatural serial killer goes to Mardi Gras
No Mercy-Richard Gere and Kim Basinger visit Algiers
Eve’s Bayou- I dont even know what this was about, I couldnt finish watching it.
Albino Alligator-nuff said
The Murder of Crows-Cuba Gooding’s bare ass is the only good thing about this movie.
Sonny- James Franco following the family business of: male prostitution!
Undercover Blues- Spies Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid bring their new baby to New Orleans
Just a couple of things….the killer bee movie was actually filmed in the Astrodome…the AC there killed the bees not our own Superdome’s AC (which isn’t cold enough to kill anything)…My worse was DOA, Dennis Quaid with a horrible NOLA accent and possibly the worst plot ever
I personaly, liked A Love Song for Bobby Long. Even tho some complain it was predictable, I thought it was the first NOLA movie that came close to painting a picture of the city that I live in.
But if you would like another movie to add to your list of must-see bad NOLA flicks, you should definately check out the 1982 “Cat People.”
“In this erotic remake of the 1942 classic, a young woman’s sexual awakening brings horror when she discovers her urges transform her into a monstrous black leopard.” http://imdb.com/title/tt0083722/
A co-worker was just telling me her family recently (this summer) watched a made for tv movie about a major hurricane hitting N.O. and causing serious damage to our economy and the oil system. Does anyone know the title of thie movie? thanks!
OIL STORM.
Thanks Keith. Did you happen to see it? People here are saying it is a lot like what is happening now?
W
I recommend “Attack of the Giant Leech” to any one who’ll actually listen.
Laurie
About Cat People a remake of a 1940’s B movie, I don’t know, any movie with a sound track that includes Bowie and Perry Como must have some range…I saw this when it came out in ‘82 right after I moved to New Orleans and it was a big deal. Had a real dark erotic feel to it. If you haven’t seen it worth the cost of a rental, despite Ed Begley being in it.