A highly opinionated list by a fan of a very odd filmmaker.
Neil Breen. The mere mention of his name can evoke unforgettable images and quotes. When I first heard of him back in 2014 on a Paste magazine list of the 100 greatest B-movies of all-time (a list I highly recommend looking into if you're in the mood for some oddball, off-the-beaten-path entertainment), I was instantly intrigued. When I later found his movies had become somewhat notorious on YouTube thanks to RedLetterMedia (and later YourMovieSucks, FanboyFlicks, and the like), I couldn't say I was terribly surprised. He's an interesting filmmaker whose ineptitude, sincerity, and almost scary Messiah-like view of himself has generated some of the most genuinely baffling movies of the 21st century. Usually modern filmmakers who accrue dedicated cult followings gain a sort of self-awareness that steals the genuine charm away from their future efforts, but with 5 features to his name, Breen still seems to be delusional enough to think what he's making is legitimate art. He is no Tommy Wiseau, who has leaned into his infamy to an obnoxious degree, but a completely new breed of crazy that is difficult to explain.
As previously mentioned, I have been aware of this odd fellow for several years now, but I still had only seen one or two of his movies fully until very recently. This was quite an adventure as a big fan of B-movies, and while I had probably already seen over half of the laugh-out-loud moments from his films before this, watching through them all start to finish was definitely something I needed to do. But now that I've seen them, what do I do with that information? Do I write inane meme reviews where I say crap like "omg what did I just see? I literally can't even, I got Breened lawl 10/10"? I don't think so. I'll leave that for the asshats on Letterboxd who think that's funny or has any sort of value. No, instead I'm going to do the thing that the title of this post says. Maybe this way anyone who happens upon this post can maybe have a better idea where to start when it comes to Breen as a whole. Some of his movies are definitely funnier than others, and some are a lot more boring than others. One in particular can pretty much be skipped entirely, in my humble opinion. So let's talk about that one now.
