The erotic movie Roger Ebert labelled “sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash”
Film criticism has been a prominent form of journalism for years, and these days, you don’t even have to write for a publication to be able to share your cinematic opinions with the masses. Websites like Letterboxd have made it easier than ever for cinephiles to write reviews of any film imaginable.
However, in the 1960s, Roger Ebert began writing film criticism that would prove to be immensely influential. While he boasted extensive movie knowledge and often dedicated time to reviewing indie and arthouse pictures alongside popular Hollywood movies, Ebert’s reviews were always accessible. He appeared on several shows, such as Sneak Previews and At The Movies, which introduced wider audiences to film criticism and movies they might not have otherwise watched.
The critic was known for his honest reviews, which were typically entertaining while also reflecting Ebert’s movie expertise. On many occasions, Ebert found certain movies so terrible that he didn’t hold back on ripping into them and branding them with one of his iconic thumbs-downs.
One of these was Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass, a highly controversial retelling of the Roman Emperor’s life. The salacious ruler was portrayed by Malcolm McDowell, with appearances from actors like Peter O’Toole and Helen Mirren. Ebert thought the movie was “sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash”.
He added: “If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty. Disgusted and unspeakably depressed, I walked out of the film after two hours of its 170-minute length.”
The movie features plenty of erotic scenes, with one of the film’s producers, Bob Guccione (also a founder of men’s magazine Penthouse), employing ‘Penthouse Pets’ to engage in hardcore sex that was added to background scenes. Brass was not happy with this – despite making many erotically charged movies, he believed these additions cheapened his film.
Ebert was also not a fan. He wrote: “This film is not only garbage on an artistic level, but that it is also garbage on the crude and base level where it no doubt hopes to find its audience. Caligula is not good art, It is not good cinema, and it is not good porn.”
Opinions of Caligula have varied massively over the years, with some calling it one of the worst movies ever made and others heralding it as a cult classic. The film has been banned in many countries, such as Australia, which has prohibited the movie several times throughout the years, eventually settling on a cut version.
A concluding statement from Ebert? “‘This movie,’ said the lady in front of me at the drinking fountain, ‘is the worst piece of shit I have ever seen.’”
