Russian troupe makes hilariously low-budget remakes of Titanic, Men In Black, and more

Back in 2008, the cool duo of Jack Black and Mos Def starred in an odd, divisive film called Be Kind Rewind, directed by Michel Gondry. In it, Mos Def’s character gets electrocuted, becomes magnetized, and accidentally wipes every VHS tape in the video store where he works. Later, when a customer comes in and wants to rent Ghostbusters, they decide to just recreate the entire movie themselves and rent it out at a higher cost, deeming the film “sweded.” They went on to swede the likes of Robocop and Rush Hour 2 via cheap props and one-take shots, and (arguable) movie magic was made.

Enter Russian troupe Studio 188, who are filling the “swede” void by making their own low-budget remakes of big budget movies. The YouTube group is comprised of five actors and one director who all take part in recreating scenes shot-for-shot with household products, handmade props, and a shit-ton of food. “It takes about two days to create a video, including preparation, making props, 10-12 hours of filming, and about 12 hours of editing,” Studio 188's Sergei Nosov told Russia Beyond earlier this year. The effort definitely shows.

Here’s the crew doing scenes from Titanic, in which they use an iron, a salad, and a meat cleaver to recreate the doomed vessel. Other shortcuts include cheese crumbles to represent an iceberg, cans of shaken-up beer for the flooding, and a crudely drawn crayon portrait for…well, you know.

Then there’s the troupe’s remake of Men in Black, in which the cast paints their bodies black and white so they don’t have to buy suits; wear sleeping masks so they don’t have to buy sunglasses; and strap a belt to an alarm clock so they don’t have to buy a watch. Practically every alien is a piece of food. The alien in the dead guy’s face in the morgue is just a fucking mushroom with eyes drawn on it.

Head over to Studio 188's YouTube channel to see the troupe’s remakes of Kill Bill, The Avengers: Infinity War, and our personal favorite, The Matrix.