Top 20 WORST Practical Effects in Movies

“Super Mario Bros.” (1993)

If you’re a fan of the Super Mario Bros. games, you probably had one big question about this movie’s take on Goombas. Why are they lizards? They’re supposed to look like mushrooms. The hulking creatures of the film have similar colors and movements, but that’s where their similarities to the original creatures end. The film Goombas are basically lumbering, brown suits with tacky, tiny lizard heads on top. When it first came out, this notoriously difficult film was panned for its script but praised for its effects. Now, it’s easy to lump them together as cheesy and too far from the source material.

“Mosquito” (1995)

The idea that giant, mutated mosquitoes would come after humans is the stuff of nightmares. The shadow of an attacking insect inside a glowing tent leaves just enough to our imagination. Unfortunately, there are plenty of well-lit shots of the monster mosquitoes as well. It’s hard not to giggle as an actor makes it look like the insect prop is attacking his face in one scene. Then, after a quick cutaway, his face is now claymation with his eyes popping out. There’s little smoothness to the editing, let alone realism. When you realize this isn’t an ‘80s film, but from 1995, there’s really no excuse.

“Above the Law” (1988)

This was the first of many Steven Seagal action films, each epitomized by Seagal’s characters fighting off multiple opponents alone. Look, if you’re watching one of these films, you’re all in on the fights. However, we can’t help but roll our eyes at one especially brutal move in this first film. Sergeant Nico Toscani disarms a knife-wielding opponent and then breaks the man’s arm across his shoulder. The hand on the fake arm isn’t even the same tone as the actor’s skin. Also, if you look closely during the bending of the arm, you can see the victim’s real arm just behind Toscani. Not even Seagal’s martial arts training can make that moment seem real.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” (1991)

If you can accept four talking turtles, it shouldn’t be too hard to believe in the mutant snapping turtle Tokka and his wolf companion Rahzar. Sadly, the comparison doesn’t hold up. Much like the turtles, these new characters were portrayed by costumed actors with animatronic faces. Unlike the expressive turtles, these infantile monsters are cursed with cockeyed getups. The weird facial structures make them distracting and off-putting in most scenes. Rahzar looks more like Bigfoot than a wolf. Meanwhile Tokka looks like a Skeksis from “The Dark Crystal” and Bowser had a baby. We wouldn’t normally discredit anything created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. However, when you place these two villains next to the sophisticated turtle creations, they just don’t measure up.

“American Sniper” (2014)

Babies are difficult to film, especially when they don’t show up to set, which is why director Clint Eastwood decided to use a doll. This becomes blatantly obvious in a scene with Chris Kyle, the celebrated military marksman, and his beleaguered wife. As Bradley Cooper lifts the “baby” out of Sienna Miller’s arms, there’s a clear shot of the obviously plastic face. It’s hard to concentrate on the emotional dialogue because the stiffness of the baby is disturbing. Finally, Cooper tries to help by wiggling the baby’s hand with his thumb. He saved the studio thousands of dollars in CGI with this innovative move.

“Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1957)

We definitely give props to early sci-fi movies and their practical effects. They were the innovators and creators that started the ball rolling on spaceships, laser guns and more. However, not all early films invested in their effects. In Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” the miniatures were actually spaceship model kits that were sold as toys at the time. Although you can’t actually see the strings holding them, their movements make it clear they’re wobbling at the end of a line. Audiences at the time may have been a little scared of the shiny-clothed aliens and the walking dead they created. Sadly, we have a hard time doing anything but chuckle appreciatively.

“Armageddon” (1998)

This film has charmed audiences with its charismatic cast and underdog heroes. The comedy that’s injected into the end-of-the-world plot is definitely one of the best parts of the film. However, the humorously bad practical effects in the climax distracts from the emotional moments. Most of the effects in this film are well-done CGI. However, the scenes filmed on the asteroid’s surface feel like an episode of “Star Trek.” There are a lot of shaky cameras in use, and the alien environment is mostly smoke and green lighting. For such a pivotal sequence in the film, we expected a little more.

“Carnosaur” (1993)

After the success of “Jurassic Park” in 1993, many other films decided to jump on the prehistoric bandwagon. The highly successful Steven Spielberg film made use of both practical and computer-generated effects. “Carnosaur,” though actually coming out one month before, decided to stick with models and animatronics. The T-rex is introduced with an excellent, dramatic buildup. However, even its shadow fails to invoke terror; it seems closer to an inflatable Halloween costume. When the dinosaurs actually appear, they evoke “Land of the Lost” more than “Jurassic Park.” Clearly this film was hoping to catch the wave of its sister film, but sadly, the comparison is laughable and the dinosaurs are too.

“Batman & Robin” (1997)

Let’s just start by acknowledging that this is definitely not the best of the Batman movies. We could make a long list of reasons why it has issues. Instead, we’ll just say that the effects used to create and portray Bane would be right at the top. His creation by mad scientist, Dr. Jason Woodrue, uses a weirdly balloon-like CGI. Luckily, it’s somewhat masked by the frequent cutaways and green lights. Sadly, the final product isn’t much better. Bane’s costume looks like a fourth-grader took their wrestling action figure and added some tubing to the back of the luchador mask. As Bane fights and yells, we’re mostly getting Lou Ferrigno-Hulk vibes.

“Howard the Duck” (1986)

The problems with the effects in this film come down to little time and poor choices. The studio wanted a quick release, so animation wasn’t an option. Instead they decided to use animatronic puppets and costumed doubles. With little pre-production prep time, the puppet ducks were just as likely to explode as work correctly. Ultimately, they replaced them with an animatronic head on a costumed actor and did as many reshoots as possible. Even this technology frequently malfunctioned and resulted in a character that always felt just a little bit off.

“Live and Let Die” (1973)

No one would ever fault James Bond movies for being too realistic. So, we’ll ignore the fact that Bond kills the villain Kananga with a compressed gas pellet from a shark gun. If swallowing one does kill someone, it won’t be by blowing them up like a latex glove. The effects for this are hilarious. It’s supposed to be a dramatic climax, but it looks like a balloon is attracted to the set piece with a magnet before popping. What’s worse, the pieces flying away from the explosion look exactly like latex. We can’t help but wonder if the entire effect was created simply so James Bond could say: “He always did have an inflated opinion of himself”

“Superman” (1978)

This early superhero film actually has some great practical effects for the time. The destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge model is detailed, lit well and makes great use of cutaways. However, the scene with the dam just doesn’t hold up. Natural elements like water and rolling boulders are notoriously difficult to make realistic on a small scale. Even though they cleverly cut to people running as often as possible, the water flowing down through the canyon just isn’t convincing. Maybe it’s the tiny rocks popping along. Or it could be that the houses and trees look like they’re straight out of a model train set. The lighting on the tiny town only emphasizes the flaws. Even Superman can’t rescue this sequence.

“The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” (1987)

This movie is another instance where animation would have been a better choice. The technology of the time just wasn’t up to taking on the weirdness that is the Garbage Pail Kids. The film is based on the incredibly popular collectible cards that are so gross they’re funny. The movie aimed for this as well, but only managed to hit the disgusting points. The animatronic puppet heads on the costumed actors look rough and amateurish. The eyes blink so oddly that they seem to be constantly rolling back in their heads. Their mouths don’t even come close to matching the words. These gross-out creatures aren’t supposed to be cute, but they make Howard the Duck look like an artistic masterpiece.

“The Fugitive” (1993)

The main point of this action-thriller is not the effects, but Richard Kimble’s search for his wife’s killer. The scene on the dam is one of its most memorable moments. When confronted by Tommy Lee Jones’s federal marshall, Kimble’s choice to take a dive is unexpected and thrilling. Sadly, the production team decided to show his body falling through the water. There isn’t one moment of this distant shot that looks remotely like a real body. Then, when it pulls back even further, the legs are split like an Olympic gymnast. A better choice would’ve been to simply let Jones use his great facial expressions to show what happened.

“Street Trash” (1987)

This body horror film is a cult classic that leans into its comedy elements. So, it’s probably not surprising that the gory practical effects are more hilarious than horrifying. The film revolves around out-of-date alcohol that melts anyone who drinks it. Sadly, little effort was put into the key special effect in the film. The brightly colored goo makes it look like the victims got slimed at a Nickelodeon awards show. The strategy for the lengthy toilet melting scene seemed to be, “Add more color.” Ultimately, the victim’s legs disconnect from his feet, so we’re not even sure how he ends up getting sucked down into the toilet.

“Troll 2” (1990)

While filming this cult classic, the Italian crew and English cast had serious communication barriers. So maybe it’s not surprising some think it’s meant to be horror while others declare it was always a comedy. Either way, the evil creatures (which are goblins and not trolls) are pretty poor examples of practical effects. The evil creatures’ faces look like Halloween rubber masks with extra hair glued on. Their bodies are just humans wearing padding and brown sweat suits. At one point, you can even see an opening in the back of the mask. The director, Claudio Fragasso, has often stated that he believes making money on a film is more important than the entertainment value. Clearly, he saved a bundle on the main villains.

“Spookies” (1986)

This horror film is a mish-mash of creatures and random plot lines. However, when one character ends up stuck to a giant spider web in a dark room, we could see being freaked out. The tension is built up slowly as the woman with him transforms into a grotesque spider. The monster effects actually aren’t too bad for 1986. However, it’s the victim’s fate that makes us cringe. The spider woman has a proboscis-like thing that acts like a straw, causing the victim’s head to quickly collapse like a juice box. The difference between the human version and the fake head are too ridiculous to believe. The moment could’ve had dramatic potential, but this is just too silly to take seriously.

“Samurai Cop” (1991)

Who wouldn’t love a film about a renegade gang and the cop who’s trying to stop them? Unfortunately for this production, director Amir Shervan was in a big hurry. He shot most scenes in one take, had the cast choreograph many of their own fights, and did post-production voiceovers himself. So, it’s not surprising that the practical effects also suffered. One prime example is when Officer Joe Marshall throws a sword at a gun-wielding attacker. We don’t see the blade make impact, but a plastic arm solidly hits the ground. It’s made worse by the shoulder stump we see on the victim in the next cut. It doesn’t even look anatomically possible.

“Mac and Me” (1988)

A lost alien trying to reunite with his family meets a lonely boy. They become friends and the boy uses a cute acronym to name him. Does that sound familiar? Well, the producers of this film were clearly hoping that the collective love for “E.T.” would bleed over into this film. Sadly, the effects destroy any charm the film may have had. Mac’s oddly shaped body, puffed cheeks and derpy eyes lack any kind of emotion except surprise. To make it worse, the meet-cute for the alien and his new best friend involves running the wheelchair-bound child down a steep hill into the water. It’s supposed to be tense and frightening, but it’s obvious that they strapped a mannequin to a wheelchair and dropped it.

“Jaws 3-D” (1983)

Director Joe Alves knew he had a hefty legacy to live up to with this film. After all, the original “Jaws” was the highest-grossing film of all time for two years. Sadly, the emphasis on effects over plot made this film a huge critical disappointment. One of the worst moments is the final underwater attack. A very slow shark moves towards the glass. The people inside scream in terror, but choose not to run or hide. They had plenty of time. That shark is moving really slowly. When the terror of the sea does make an impact, it comes to a sudden halt as the glass shatters towards the unsuspecting audience. Honestly, we wouldn’t feel the need to duck or run either.