The Most Unwatchable Film of All Time

image via Alex Heremet

Andy Warhol was a man known for being visionary in a way very few people could even pretend to understand. His film-making endeavors are as equally baffling, whether he was filming a man receiving a blow-job for thirty-five minutes, or someone sleeping for six hours. But if there is one film that takes the cake for strangeness, it would be his 1964 “masterpiece” Empire, which has been called the most unwatchable film of all time.

Empire is an eight hour film Warhol created by filming the Empire State Building at night for six hours. Notice I said he only filmed it for six hours, but the film itself is eight hours. That's because Warhol, for reasons only known to himself, slowed the frame rate from 24 fps to 16 fps.

image via Wikipedia

“Too exciting. Slow it down.”

The film starts at sunset, until the building slowly emerges a the light dies down. What follows is six hours of staring at the Empire State Building's illumination flicker on and off. Then plot twist! the outdoor illumination shuts off, leaving the viewer staring at a black screen for the last hour and a half of torture.

image via Shutterstock

Viewers upon finishing the movie.

Notable moments occur whenever Warhol changes the reel, as for a split second you can view his face in the reflection of the glass due to his neglecting to shut off the lights before restarting the reel.

It is regarded as possibly the most un-watchable film of all time, presumably because one wants to gouge their eyes out in boredom before finishing.

image via Wikipedia

Warhol's target audience.

In 2004, the Library of Congress decided that Empire was of historical or cultural significance, and has been added to the National Film Registry for preservation, which begs the question; what will the aliens think of us when they uncover this film?

Not an error, just a screenshot.