When the original “American Pie” came out in 1999, it was a huge success. Not only was it hilarious, but it also revitalized the market for teen comedies. I mean, who doesn’t find it funny if a dad catches his son using a pie to simulate sex? Like all famous movie trends, far too many directors tried to capitalize on the success of “American Pie.” Unfortunately, apart from the first two sequels to the movie, most are pretty terrible. Most people cannot stand the straight to DVD American Pies or the rip offs, but I find them some of the most entertaining pieces of cinema.

After “American Pie,” “American Pie 2,” and “American Wedding,” most people would view the series as going downhill. The following straight to DVD films: “American Pie Presents: Band Camp,” “American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile,” “American Pie Presents: Beta House” and “American Pie Presents: The Book of Love,” all received incredibly negative reviews. I, however, still enjoy the lack of good writing or acting. What could be better than really terrible actors trying to get laid through poor plot lines and random appearances by Eugene Levy? I find that there is a downward trend, with each sequel getting progressively worse to the point of nonsensical filmmaking. “Band Camp” is still decently good, in my opinion, although that may be just because I know what band camp can be like. “Naked Mile” at least has a humorous Viagra shtick. “Beta House” has the entertaining Greek Olympiad, and “Book of Love” is just…“Book of Love.” I love watching one of these films and thinking, “Wow, I’m laughing at the writing, but for all the wrong reasons.” The lines aren’t funny, the characters aren’t developed, but the ridiculousness of the situation is wonderful.

The knock-offs that have no relation to the “American Pie” series are even worse. They lack character connections to the original series and have more absurd plot lines. The worst offenders are often the funniest. I have often found myself staring at the summary and wondering: How did someone succeed at pitching this? One of the most ridiculous plot lines is the one of “MILF,” a 2010 film about nerdy college guys who just cannot seem to get with girls at their school. In order to remedy this, they decide to go after older women, who are shockingly easy for them to get with. The plot twist in the movie, which is about as good as anything M. Night Shyamalan has done recently, is that one of the guys starts dating another’s mom in secret. Meanwhile, the other two have a bet to see who can score the most MILFs, leading them into absolutely crackpot situations, such as a woman who dowses them in food while they have sex. Their plans work out too well, and soon the four guys have to throw a giant party to dump the MILFs (who are now stalking them) onto other college guys. Shit truly hits the fan when one discovers that his best friend is dating his mom. Like all raunchy teen comedies, this film has a happy ending. I won’t spoil it though, in case for some reason you actually feel like watching it one lonely afternoon.

The all-time worst of these rip offs is the 2004 film “Freshman Orientation.” A freshman at a large state university is mistakenly assumed to be gay by the girl of his dreams and plays along with her assumption in order to win her over. As you’d expect, the film uses all clichés and stereotypes about queer college students in order to attempt humor. Militant lesbian and flamboyant man humor can only get you so far. But the film luckily has one redeeming quality, the appearance of John Goodman as the boy’s mentor in “acting gay.” It’s hard not to love John Goodman, but a queer take on the “American Pie” style of humor just doesn’t work.

These films aren’t good. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t entertaining. They reveal to the viewer the stereotypes and humorous clichés that provide the bare bones of most raunchy humor. While they are not funny in the way they intended, these films always make me laugh out loud. I sure do love a bad movie.