There have been plenty of fake movies within movies over the years, but only a few seem genuinely interesting enough to make fans wish they were real. Fake movies have historically been used in a variety of ways, although they’re often great for parody. Movies about Hollywood can have fake movies as jokes, and some movies take this idea one step further by making fun of themselves with a fictional stand-in.
For a movie within a movie to be truly memorable, it usually has to stand out as something worth watching. This is what differentiates a fake movie that’s little more than a joke from something more interesting. It helps if the filmmakers put as much care and effort into their fake movies as their real ones. Some movies within movies have their own fans, even though they don’t exist and nobody will ever see them in full.
10Metalstorm
The Fall Guy (2024)
The Fall Guyis about a stunt performer trying to locate the star of a huge sci-fi blockbuster before the studio pulls the plug on the movie. Between his investigation and some dangerous chases across Sydney, he also finds time to work on set, and this is whereThe Fall Guyshows glimpses ofMetalstorm.It appears to be an apocalyptic sci-fi actioner that borrows fromDune, Mad Maxand Star Wars.
Metalstormmight look like a bland big-budget spectacle at first, but there are a few things which make it stand out. The way that Emily Blunt’s director character talks about it suggests a deep and thoughtful analysis of the story, for one. The commitment to practical effects is another appealing element toMetalstorm.The Fall Guyis packed with great stunts, and some of these would be inMetalstorm.
The Purple Rose of Cairois a great romantic comedy that doubles as a love letter to the cinema. It follows a disillusioned and mistreated wife in the 1930s who seeks out a distraction by going to the movie theater, until one of the characters steps out of the screen and the two fall in love. The fake movie within a movie is a beguiling adventure story about explorers searching for lost treasure in exotic locales, sort of likeIndiana Jones, Secret of the IncasorThe African Queen.
The fake version ofThe Purple Rose of Cairothat exists within the movie seems like the perfect kind of movie to fall in love with.
The fake version ofThe Purple Rose of Cairothat exists within the movie seems like the perfect kind of movie to fall in love with, which serves the plot perfectly.The Purple Rose of Cairoexplores the escapism that art can offer, highlighting both the positives and the negatives. Ultimately, it seems to suggest that such fantasies can’t have tangible effects on a person’s life, but they are still worthwhile.
The Coen brothers' Hollywood satireHail, Caesarhas plenty of fake movies parodying the trends of the 1950s, with a Gene Kelly-style musical starring Channing Tatum and a British comedy of manners that the studio shoehorns a young western star into.Hail, Caesargets its title from the studio’s most expensive movie, a swords-and-sandals epic starring George Clooney’s overpaid megastar Baird Whitlock.
The fakeHail, CaesarwithinHail, Caesaris a riff on Old Hollywood epics likeBen-Hur, CleopatraandHercules.
The fakeHail, CaesarwithinHail, Caesaris a riff on Old Hollywood epics likeBen-Hur, CleopatraandHercules.It looks like it could be a great cinematic spectacle as soon as Eddie Mannix recovers his star from the clutches of a cell of communist revolutionaries.Hail, Caesarisn’t often considered among thebest Coen brothers movies, but it certainly deserves a lot more attention than it gets.
Terrance and Philip often show up inSouth Park, and the crude Canadian comedy duo provide the show with an opportunity for some self-parody. This reaches its peak in the show’s first movie,South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut,which starts with Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny becoming obsessed with the new Terrance and Philip movie, a gleefully offensive comedy packed full of fart jokes calledAsses of Fire.
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WithAsses of Fire,theSouth Parkwriters managed to predict the moral outrage that their own movie caused. The rest ofBigger, Longer & Uncutis all about how people with no sense of humor overreact to a silly comedy movie and attempt to turn it into the moral issue of the day. Ultimately, the United States goes to war with Canada over a movie about farting on people. WhileAsses of Firelooks terrible, the waySouth Parkuses it is brilliant.
6The 14 Fists Of McCluskey
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodexamines the tumultuous period in the movie industry’s history when Old Hollywood transitioned into New. It gives Tarantino an opportunity to indulge his love of cinema. He recreates a few old classics likeThe Great Escape,buthe also invents some fake classics to illustrate the career of fading star Rick Dalton.The one that looks the most exciting isThe 14 Fists of McClusky,and the flamethrower in the fake movie comes back in the ending ofOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Fans of Quentin Tarantino’s movies will likely see the similarities betweenThe 14 Fists of McCluskeyandInglourious Basterds.
Fans of Quentin Tarantino’s movies will likely see the similarities betweenThe 14 Fists of McCluskeyandInglourious Basterds.Both movies revel in Nazi-bashing action, with scenes in which Nazis are burned to death by the heroes, andInglourious Basterdsis also a fictional fantasythat doesn’t pay attention to the true story of World War II. IfThe 14 Fists of McCluskeyis half as good asInglourious Basterdsthen it’s bound to be a great movie. It’s also a great example of the kind of simple, thrilling movies Dalton thrives in, which runs counter to many New Hollywood trends.
Michael Keaton’s character inBirdmanis an aging actor famous for his role in a blockbuster superhero franchise from decades earlier who is trying to get some critical prestige to his name. Despite the similarities between Keaton’s past as Batman and Riggan Thompson’s past as Birdman, the script was written without Keaton in mind. It’s a simple coincidence that Keaton shares such a history with his character.
Despite the similarities between Keaton’s past as Batman and Riggan Thompson’s past as Birdman, the script was written without Keaton in mind.
Birdmandoesn’t actually show any clips of the fictional superhero trilogywhich made Riggan Thompson a global star, so it can be a little hard to guess its quality. However, it’s clearly a huge hit, and the context clues suggest that its at least on par with Keaton’s Batman movies. The character design is also a big positive. The specifics of the fictionalBirdmanmovies aren’t important to the plot ofBirdman.If anything, the vagueness is the point, because it suggests hollow spectacle.
4Hamlet
Last Action Hero (1993)
Last Action Herostars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a fictionalized version of himself, and he shows a great sense of humor by poking fun at his public persona. The fake movies thatLast Action Hero’s version of Arnie star in are only a little more explosive and excessive than real-world hits likePredatorandThe Terminator.One that stands out is Schwarzenegger’s ass-kicking adaptation of William Shakespeare’sHamlet.
There are already a lot ofradical Shakespeare adaptations, likeThe Lion KingandWest Side Story,so an action-heavy interpretation ofHamletcould be a genuinely great movie. The Danish prince is out for revenge like many classic action heroes, and he’s also dealing with a traumatic past and a troubled love life. Schwarzenegger has the comedic style to make aHamletaction thriller work for real.
Screamworks as a slasher movie, but it’s also satirizing the entire genre from the inside out. Its frequent references to other horror movies, especially the tropes, show intelligent self-awareness as it toys with its audience. To make things even more blatant,Scream 2introduces the in-universeStabfranchise, which gives theScreammovies a way of directly commenting on themselves.
Scream 2introduces the in-universeStabfranchise, which gives theScreammovies a way of directly commenting on themselves.
TheStabmovies have been a great running joke throughout theScreamfranchise.They provide a way forScreamto laugh at its own self-indulgent tropes, but they can also be used as a way for the filmmakers to have a conversation with their audience. The way people talk about theStabmovies reflects the most common criticisms of theScreammovies. TheupcomingScream 7will likely continue this tradition, as both theScreamandStabfranchises spiral out of control.
Tropic Thunderhas a lot of fake movies, most of which are meant to be terribleto satirize the money-hungry but artistically bankrupt Hollywood system. The worst of the worst movies areSimple Jack,an offensive, maudlin Oscar-bait drama, andTheFatties: Fart 2,an intolerable gross-out comedy.Tropic Thunderis about a group of actors trying to make a war movie, but they end up inadvertently making a documentary about their hellish time in the Vietnamese jungle.
The only other fake movie inTropic Thunderthat might actually be decent to watch isSatan’s Alley,a queer period romance starring Tobey Maguire.
Tropic Blunderis accompanied by the clunky tagline"The true story behind the making of the most expensive fake true war story ever.“It would undoubtedly be a sensation in the real world if a group of A-list actors were forced to become real-life action stars in hostile territory, so it’s clear to see the appeal. The only other fake movie inTropic Thunderthat might actually be decent to watch isSatan’s Alley,a queer period romance starring Tobey Maguire.
1Angels With Filthy Souls
Home Alone (1990)
Home Aloneis known for the creative booby traps Kevin uses to protect himself from the two burglars, butit’s also a movie about the childish fantasy of being completely unsupervised.With his parents and his overbearing siblings temporarily out of his life, Kevin gets to enjoy himself by eating all the ice cream he wants and watching a movie that’s clearly not suitable for someone so young.
A sequel,Angels With Even Filthier Souls,appears inHome Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Angels With Filthy Soulsseems to be a spin on Humphrey Bogart’s 1938 crime classicAngels With Dirty Faces.It seems like it could be a genuinely interesting gangster movie, but what’s more interesting is how Kevin uses the tape to scare off a pizza delivery guy, and the burglars themselves.Home Alone’s fake movieseems completely real, with the right atmosphere and the look and sound of a movie about 50 years older thanHome Alone.
