The Best Mockbusters You Can Stream on Tubi Right Now
Chad Collins
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I love a good mockbuster. Obviously, I enjoy the real thing considerably more, but sometimes, there’s no better aperitif than an earnest attempt to capitalize on whatever the movie of the moment is. Give me all the bad computer effects, the straight-from-the-nineties D-list stars, the awful gore effects—all of it, the whole shebang. But where should you go to find a full catalog of terrible (yet incredible) mockbuster offerings? Tubi, of course, an anchorage for both hidden gems and bad cinema.
Here, I’ll be spotlighting five of the best mockbusters available to stream on Tubi right now.
Alien Predator
Per Tubi: When a black ops reconnaissance team arrives at the scene of an unidentified aircraft, they quickly discover that they’re being hunted by aliens.
Jared Cohn’s Alien Predator is tough. Released to compete with Shane Black’s The Predator, it’s hard to be too mad since Black’s feature also wasn’t, well, very good (to put it kindly). Alien Predator is a mess in the best way. A hypermasculine, macho retread of science fiction cliché where the guns go pew and the aliens go “Blah!”
AVH: Alien vs. Hunter
Per Tubi: A galactic hunter chases the most dangerous alien creature in the universe to planet Earth, where humanity is caught between predator and prey.
Any guesses on what this is trying to capitalize on? Listen, I love it. It’s a mess, and I love it.
Jurassic Island
Per Tubi: After her explorer father goes missing searching for a mythical lost world, Ava and the team follow his clues to find the lost Jurassic Island.
While the release here riffs on the recent Jurassic World trilogy a little less conspicuously, it’s clear where its homage (copy/paste) stems from. But, it’s dinosaurs, and I’ll never turn my nose up at that.
Paranormal Entity
Per Tubi: A paranormal investigator was framed for his sister’s murder, but this discovered footage reveals the dark secret behind the young girl’s death.
Even the poster is basically Paranormal Activity. It’s ridiculous(ly fun). Is it a good substitute for the real thing? No, but it’s no more or less offensive than the dozens and dozens of knockoffs that followed in the success of Peli’s original.
Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies
Per Tubi: While the Civil War rages on, President Abraham Lincoln must undertake an even more daunting task: Destroying the Confederate Undead.
I’m reticent to tell the truth here, but there is a chance I mistook this as an earnest sequel to Timur Bekmambetov’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Do with that what you will.
What do you think? Are you a big fan of mockbusters? What’s your favorite? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins where we can revel in our collective bad taste!
Categorized:Editorials
