10 Blatant B-Movie Knock-Offs

10 Blatant B-Movie Knock-Offs



By Gage Henry October 3, 2009 7:00 AM Paste Magazine

Blockbuster recently announced that it will be closing over 800 stores worldwide by 2010. It seems there is no competition for the rise of convenient and affordable movie renting alternatives like Netflix, automated kiosks and online movie download sites. But just like any service that is streamlined into a more efficient and faceless exchange, there is always a give and take.
So, what is the downside to never again stepping into a movie store to find our rainy day entertainment? Well, that's easy. It takes away the edge of mistakenly renting a B-movie knock-off. These are the films that are purposefully made to resemble another blockbusting movie that is likely still in theaters, thereby preying solely on the blunders of unassuming consumers when they feel safest. Sure, the solution is as simple as eyeing the back of the DVD case, but we're busy, distracted people in this day and age, no?

The production company The Asylum specializes in these campy spoofs, which are crammed with crummy effects and crummy actors. In tribute to some of (after all, it's quite a competition!) Hollywood's most unoriginal sleazeballs and the innocent who fall victim to these feign features, here is a of The Asylum's most blatant B-movie knock-offs.

1. AVH: Alien Vs. Hunter (2007): This one actually irked Fox enough to take legal action against The Asylum's knock-offs.

2. War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008): This is the sequel to The Asylum's initial rip off of Spielberg's 2005 thriller. Tom Cruise isn't in this one, either.

3. The Da Vinci Treasure (2006): Wait a second, isn't that guy from the real Alien vs. Predator?

4. Snakes On A Train (2006): "100 Trapped Passengers... 2,000 Venomous Vipers!"

5. Sunday School Musical (2008): Putting the "hip" in worship.

6. The Terminators (2009): Not sure how they're getting away with this one.

7. Transmorphers (2007): The only thing that kept Michael Bay from taking this to court was the stark realization of how he'd be calling attention to a movie vastly superior to his own.

8. The Day The Earth Stopped (2008): A clever use of synonyms. Unfortunately, Keanu Reeves was turned down for the lead role.

9. 100 Million BC (2008): A much lower-budget prequel to the 2008 10,000 BC.

10. 18 Year Old Virgin (2009): Oddly enough, the premise isn't as far fetched as Judd Apatow's The 40 Year Old Virgin.

follow the title link for youtube vids of each movie