Mockbusting

A "mockbuster" is a typically low budget film created with the intention of piggy-backing on the publicity and buzz of a major film with a similar title. Should you be surprised that C. Thomas Howell is in three of these?.

Would you pay to see a Tyrannosaurus Dr. Watson? Or at least Jude Law in snakeskin pants?

Even though it deviated greatly from the plot of the film it was inspired by, Transmorphers contains plotlines similar to the films Blade Runner, The Matrix, The Terminator and X-Men. It even launched a sequel at the same time as Revenge Of The Fallen. Yes, they can stack shit that high...twice.

The title is so similar to The Day the Earth Stood Still that the producers were threatened with legal action by 20th Century Fox. The film's plot also incorporates elements from other science-fiction films, particularly Independence Day and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. When did you ever expect to say Keanu Reeves would act circles around Judd Nelson?

Discribed as a Christian version of the first movie (which is really hyperbole), this flick features two competing groups of high school students must rally together and enter a song and dance competition in order to save their local church from closing. And trying to conceal their homosexual tendencies from getting out of control.

The similarities to the Alien and Predator films go beyond the title (you realized that Hunter and Predator really mean the same thing). The design of the alien is a reminiscent of H.R. Giger's design for the creature, though it mostly resembles a giant spider. And just like the film it copies, it's horrible.

Although taking the same basic idea from Snakes On A Plane, the background story of how and why the snakes are there is significantly different. The box promises "100 Trapped Passengers - 3,000 Venomous Vipers", but in reality there are only about a dozen passengers and a handful of snake. That's more than 80% less menace.

The Da Vinci Treasure shares several elements with the The Da Vinci Code. Can you figure out which movie is which, when some reviews say “________ is an awful, horrible, badly made film. Why was this made?”

This one's billed as an unofficial adaptation of the novel I Am Legend...a portmanteau of The Omega Man and I Am Legend - the other film adaptations. Third time is not the charm.

One of three adaptations of the H.G. Wells novel, this was made as more of a horror film. It's director describes the film as The Pianist with aliens instead of Nazis, comparing the tale of one man's story of survival. I'm discribing him as an idiot.

Released as Jurassic Commando internationally, the film bears a closer resemblance to both Jurassic Park and Carnosaur. It also has some similarity to events depicted in the 1984 film The Philadelphia Experiment. Not that that should make you want to see it.