LAUSR

ABSTRACT While the canon of so-bad-it’s-good cinema has predominantly centred upon American films, it is notable that a significant number of recent entries – including Miami Connection, Troll 2, Samurai Cop, The Room and Birdemic: Shock and Terror – were directed by non-American filmmakers working in America. Building on Hamid Naficy’s use of the concept ‘accented cinema’ to describe exilic and diasporic filmmakers working in the West, this article explores the cultural politics of accented cult cinema and investigates to what extent the celebration of these low-budget exploitation films as so-bad-it’s-good relies upon a (largely disguised) perception of foreignness.