There are movies that are so bone chillingly bad that critics and viewers the world over lament the fact that they were ever made. Then there are movies that were judged so bad by the very studios that commissioned them that they have simply been buried out of sight, never to be seen lest they fatally contaminate the bankability of their directors or stars.

Some films on this list may have been red lighted because they were simply too controversial for their time (in some cases, any time). However, the vast majority of them were simply forgotten about because of their extreme and offensive putridity.

9. The Day The Clown Cried

Jerry Lewis. In a serious role. As a clown. In a concentration camp. During the Holocaust. Let all of this sink in for a bit. Ready to cue up the tape? Us, neither.

8. Memory Of The Camps

This film actually did garner a premier showing, forty years after its completion, at the Berlin Film Festival in 1984. Parts of it can even be seen on Youtube. However, the film as a whole was judged so controversial that it could never be shown.

It was produced by the legendary master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, but the real life horrors of Nazi concentration camps were far in excess of any fictional necrophiles cavorting at a run down motel. The film’s completion is said to have driven Hitchcock into a week long depression.

7. The Brave

So far, The Brave has proven to be Johnny Depp’s directorial debut and finale, all in one. It’s not like he’s responsible for this turkey all by himself. Iggy Pop composed the film’s soundtrack, and Marlon Brando costarred in one of his final roles.

But the film, which supposedly concerns a gent (played by Depp, natch) who agrees to be murdered for half a million dollars was only released in very limited run in European cinemas. The reaction from Hollywood was so universally hostile that the film has never been released here, even on video or DVD.

6. Song Of The South

Remember this classic old Disney film, the one that gave us “Zip A Dee Doo Dah, Zip A Dee Ay”? Pretty much everyone reading this who is above the age of 40 has seen this one, whether in the theater or on TV. No longer. The film was finally judged by modern audiences to be in extreme breach of political correctness, and a re-release in any form is highly doubtful. No reaction from Uncle Ben or Aunt Jemima has yet reached the media.

5. Superstar: The Life Story Of Karen Carpenter

Director Todd Haynes has given the world such undeniable rock music related classics as Velvet Goldmine and I’m Not There. However, the genius artiste can also thank his lucky stars that he was providentially barred from giving the world this hideous stinking turkey.

Superstar is the (highly stylized and fictionalized) life story of Karen Carpenter, whose tragic life story can easily be Googled (it ends in anorexia).  Only, instead of actors, almost all parts were played by Barbie dolls. Karen’s brother Richard was the man who was responsible for stopping this bomb dead in its tracks, after suing to have the director’s rights to use Carpenters music in the film revoked.

4. Who Killed Bambi?

A documentary that was apparently pitched as a punk rock version of A Hard Day’s Night. Roger Ebert (yes, that Roger Ebert) wrote up a script, and filming commenced, though the project was shelved when Hollywood execs realized the full implications of a feature length film starring rock’s most intentionally unlikable crew.

3. Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales

Take a look at that title, and now absorb the fact that it was written and conceived by Richard Pryor. In 1969. At the the height of the Black Panther/Black Power movement, while the Watts and Detroit riots were still of recent memory. Three guesses why this one was never released. Amazingly, Pryor was given his own summer replacement run of four episodes on network TV in 1977. It took 35 years for them to see DVD release.

1. Dark Blood

Dark Blood remains in limbo, even though its bankability should be assured by the fact that it contains the final performance of deceased 90’s heart throb, River Phoenix. However, at the time of his demise, Phoenix had completed most, but not all, of his scheduled scenes. Naturally, such an unexpected mishap left the film’s production crew in a bind as to what to do next.