Ah, Ireland, what a wonderful place. A land of pure artistic culture. Home to some of the greatest writers, artists, and some horrifically bad films.
Ireland is a land steeped in culture. With such a rich history, it comes as no surprise that there have been some fantastic films of cinematic brilliance produced by our emerald isles.
This article is not about that. Instead, read on to discover some of the worst Irish films of all time.
10. Accelerator − all round cringe
A Belfast lad who robs cars for a living has to race a gangster to win back his girlfriend. Call the bloody guards, man. The plot is ridiculously bad, allowing for lots of laughs if you want to watch it for a giggle.
9. Hard Times − a hard watch
When a gang of friends in Kilcoulin’s Leap decide to hijack a Pfizer truck full of Viagra, things quickly go wrong. The boys stow the booty in the village’s holy well; you can imagine what happens to the town’s water supply.
Still worth the watch to see a gang of lads sweat over the FBI coming to their little village to catch the villain.
8. Dead Meat − Leitrim just got scarier
A zombie film set in Leitrim of all places? This one had to make the list. When a mutant strain of the mad cow disease hits, locals turn into flesh-eating zombies, leaving a Spanish tourist and a local gravedigger to take out the trash.
This film, shot on a micro-budget, was filmed in Leitrim town. Most of the extras were recruited in the pub. There’s even a scene that includes a zombie cow being murdered with a hurl. A laugh out loud, terrible film.
7. Shrooms − best to avoid this one
What’s not to love about a gang of American students taking magic mushrooms in Irish woodlands? Everything, actually.
Shrooms is over the top bad, very predictable, and just downright disappointing. Definitely one of the worst Irish films of all time.
6. Far and Away − don’t be fooled by the cast
Far and Away has to be one of the best examples of how NOT to do an Irish accent. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman model the worst Irish accents we’ve ever heard.
This film oozes cringe. Kidman runs away from her home in Ireland. She travels to America with nothing but some silver spoons to get her there.
Cruise gets a job as a bare-knuckle boxer to support them once the spoons are lost. Don’t put all your fortune on spoons. It’s not a good idea.
5. Legend of the Bog − stay away from it
We’re disappointed in Vinnie Jones for starring in this film about bog bodies returning to wreak havoc.
Also known as Assault of Darkness, this is more like an assault on our brain. It gained an offensive 3.1-star rating on IMDB. This is definitely one of the worst Irish films of all time.
4. Rawhead Rex − another terrible horror movie
Rawhead Rex is supposed to be a monstrous pagan god, but he looks so hilarious it’s hard to be scared of him.
Horror movies are very hard to pull off, as Rawhead Rex proves. This film received many negative reviews and holds only a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
3. Crush Proof − confusing plot
We want to know what the point was of this film. Neal leaves prison and decides he must visit…the grave of his dead horse?
Sure, there are other elements to the plot, but we just can’t let go of this particular part. Basically, Neal is an ‘urban cowboy’ and really wants to rejoin his old pony gang. Please, just stop.
2. Isolation − genetically modified cows, oh no
What’s more terrifying than a genetically modified cow parasite thriving off all living creatures on the farm?
Absolutely nothing. The plot promises just what we predicted: one of the worst Irish films of all time. Another one for the ‘so bad it’s good’ category.
1. Fatal Deviation − Ireland’s first and last full-length martial arts film
Fatal Deviation is listed on the Wikipedia page ‘List of films considered the worst’, ouch! Martial artist James Bennett made this film as an audition tape for some Hong Kong film producers.
As bad as this film is, he’s now hanging out with the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme. Not too bad for a lad from Trim, County Meath.
