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Grab your flashlight and prepare to be terrified... by how bad these movies are! Join us as we count down our picks for the most awful, head-scratching, and downright boring excuses for scary movies ever made. From laughable creature features to infuriating sequels, these horror films missed the mark in every possible way. What's the worst scary movie you've sat through? Let us know!
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00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most awful, head-scratching, or just plain boring
00:12excuses for scary movies.
00:14Do you think the police know about this yet?
00:16I doubt it. If they did, they'd be at the cabin already.
00:21Number 20. The Wicker Man
00:24On one hand, we perversely admire Neil LeBoot's 2006 reimagining of Robin Hardy's classic The Wicker Man for the sheer
00:31WTF fever dream it brought to the screen.
00:34No! No! No!
00:41There's also the lunatic fringe performance of Nicolas Cage as the lead, with multiple memorable moments of yelling, screaming, and
00:48running in a bear suit to fuel meme generators for a light year.
00:51What is it? What's wrong, sister?
00:54Don't be frightened.
00:55However, as a horror film, it fails in tremendous fashion, cutting off the palpable atmosphere of the original at the
01:01knees, and relying on cheap jumps to frighten its audience.
01:05Take our advice. Just watch the 70s original instead.
01:08It is the Lord who hasn't laid waste your orchards!
01:12It is he who hasn't laid the bear!
01:13Reverence the sacrifice.
01:15Number 19. Children of the Corn
01:17You'd be forgiven for not even knowing that yet another adaptation of Stephen King's Children of the Corn hit theaters
01:23back in 2020.
01:24This was, after all, a franchise whose entries primarily tended to be direct-to-video affairs of varying quality.
01:36What both audiences and critics agreed upon, however, was that Children of the Corn 2020 didn't beat the 1984 original
01:42in any department, from the acting to the effects, pacing, or atmosphere.
01:47We're going to spread the word all across this country!
01:50You think there aren't others like us?
01:52Kids!
01:53Seeing their world and future just being traded away!
01:56Writer-director Kurt Wimmer feels lost adapting King's story, and fails to capitalize what could have been a good opportunity
02:02to update the Children of the Corn franchise.
02:05What a shame.
02:05Face it.
02:10It's done.
02:11Number 18. Plan 9 from Outer Space
02:14When aliens fear what human technology can do, they raise the dead to force the people of Earth to listen.
02:20If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is.
02:22Yes, she's a fine specimen. Are they all this powerful on planet Earth?
02:27This one is an exception, Excellency.
02:29Plan 9 from Outer Space is a hilariously over-the-top genre mishmash that unabashedly throws everything at the wall.
02:36Absolutely none of it sticks.
02:38But we have to give credit where it's due.
02:39There's very few movies as insanely ridiculous as Plan 9, especially from the 50s.
02:51While it's worth a watch to laugh at its complete lack of storytelling prowess, anyone searching for a real scary
02:56movie should look elsewhere.
02:58We gotta hand it to them, though. They're far ahead of us.
03:02Number 17. Fear.com
03:04Turn around, Benny. I don't want you watching this.
03:09Time seems to have forgotten the film even exists, other than the instances where critics recall how much they hated
03:14it at the time.
03:15Fear.com was so poorly received, in fact, that some have called for its reappraisal as a modern cult classic.
03:21Perhaps it's the film's usage of the internet as some sort of real-life videodrome that drives victims to self
03:26-destruction,
03:27or maybe it's the nasty and grungy cinematography.
03:30Come and find out.
03:33Don't you want to play with me?
03:36Either way, Fear.com is more than a mess, and will probably always be remembered that way, for better or
03:42for worse.
03:43You're enjoying this, aren't you?
03:45I just don't get out much.
03:48I don't see that.
03:50Number 16. The Disappointments Room
03:52Well, that's all in the title.
03:55Here, Kate Beckinsale stars as Dana, a woman who moves into a new house with her family,
03:59only to discover she's in one of the most cliché, boring horror films of all time.
04:13Okay, not exactly, but the flashbacks to the home's origins are so eye-rollingly dull,
04:19it feels like it's on purpose, to say nothing of the modern-day haunting.
04:23Dana, stop!
04:24Let me cut you!
04:25Dana, stop!
04:25No!
04:26Dana, give us a stop!
04:27Fine!
04:28Fine!
04:28Take it!
04:30Take that!
04:31Take this!
04:32Attack!
04:34Attack!
04:35Attack!
04:35Attack!
04:36For what it's worth, Beckinsale does a good job looking scared, although it's hard
04:40to say if that's acting, or her realizing she's stuck in a jump-scare-reliant snoozefest.
04:44Disappointing indeed.
04:46I think I can't tell anymore what's real and what's not real.
04:49Number 15.
04:50Birdemic Shock and Terror
04:52It's important for fans of genre cinema to differentiate between enjoyably entertaining
04:56bad movies, and those that are just poorly executed.
04:59Sir, don't you know that these birds are attacking people?
05:03Are these birds?
05:04Yes.
05:05No way, they're dead from the bird flu virus.
05:08There's a level of ineptitude behind 2010's Birdemic Shock and Terror that's not cut from
05:12the same exploitation cloth as similar films from the 70s and 80s.
05:16Instead, what we have here is a horror flick that doesn't possess memorable performances,
05:21entertaining sequences, or a legacy remotely connected to anything other than reprehensible
05:26CGI.
05:37At a certain point, it becomes necessary for us, as moviegoers, to value the finite amounts
05:43of time in our lives.
05:44Do you really want to waste it watching Birdemic Shock and Terror?
05:48You guys, you guys, get up.
05:49Get up, eagles.
05:50Eagles.
05:51Gotta go.
05:57Number 14.
05:59Slenderman.
06:00The odds are that there will be one great, defining horror film someday that takes its inspiration
06:04from a creepypasta.
06:062018's Slenderman, however, is not that movie.
06:09He wants us!
06:15It's box office drop-off was huge after an already meager debut, and the film largely
06:20left critics and audiences cold.
06:22Slenderman could have perhaps blazed a trail for a new generation of horror films based upon
06:26modern internet mythology, but the film instead comes across as half-baked, cliched, and not
06:32even all that scary.
06:33Slenderman can manifest in a variety of forms.
06:37Certain accounts speak of a hypnotic power that renders his victims helpless to stop themselves
06:42from walking into waiting arms.
06:47If you're thinking about checking out Slenderman, you're probably better off just researching
06:50the source material.
06:52We talk and write about him, share pictures, click on links, photoshop images.
06:56That's how a virus works.
06:59That's how it spreads.
07:00Number 13.
07:01The Creeping Terror.
07:03We're willing to give older films a bit more slack, since taste in filmmaking hadn't
07:07quite developed to what they are today.
07:08But you have to draw the line somewhere, and we're making it at the Creeping Terror.
07:20What it's supposed to be is a chilling creature feature about an alien who feasts on a group
07:25of unwitting victims.
07:26What it actually turns into is an hour of victims who stay perfectly still while a glorified
07:31carpet slowly swallows them up.
07:39Even for the 60s, the Creeping Terror is a laughable attempt at true horror.
07:44Bradford told Martin what he had just confirmed, that these monsters were highly specialized test
07:49animals.
07:52It's not too strange to see actors branch into the horror genre looking for different kinds
07:57of roles, and Lindsay Lohan definitely took her shot with 2007's I Know Who Killed Me.
08:07The movie's plot is pretty bonkers, with the sort of logic that you might have found back
08:12in 1970's Italy in their Giallo brand of violent mystery thrillers.
08:16Lohan's performance as an abducted woman with identity issues didn't win over critics,
08:20to put it lightly.
08:30While I Know Who Killed Me has amassed something of a cult audience, there are many more who
08:34call it one of the worst films ever made.
08:36We'll let you be the judge.
08:37We've done everything we can to keep this out of the press, but it's bound to get out
08:40sooner or later.
08:41Number 11.
08:42Jaws the Revenge.
08:43Ever wonder if a shark can feel vengeance?
08:46Well, this ill-advised sequel is going to answer the question anyways.
08:52Long after it was past time to get out of the water, Jaws decided to make things personal
08:57by having its iconic villain follow Ellen Brody to the Bahamas.
09:00We wish we were kidding.
09:09Gone is the tension, commentary, and filmmaking dazzled the first iteration.
09:14In its plays, Jaws the Revenge is a cheap, lifeless dud that was clearly only made for
09:19a quick buck.
09:20There's a good reason people say the Jaws franchise ended with two.
09:31Number 10.
09:32The Devil Inside.
09:34Imagine this.
09:35The ending to a mainstream theatrical film being so poorly received, people are still
09:39mad about it to this day.
09:41Have you witnessed a real exorcism, father?
09:45Yeah.
09:46Right after he saw the Easter Bunny.
09:50Yes.
09:51We're talking about the Devil Inside, and the gall of its creators to end their tale of
09:55demonic possession with a text image and an internet link for more information.
10:00Michael!
10:01Yeah!
10:05To be fair, the film's screenwriters stuck to their guns and defended their decision at
10:08the time, but this hasn't helped The Devil Inside rise up from its well of infamy.
10:12There have been a lot of demonic possession movies out there that are worth your time.
10:16Why would you waste it by watching this one?
10:18Yeah, can you hear us?
10:19So we're going to regain consciousness.
10:21Temp is returning to normal.
10:23Take care, they're gone!
10:29Over.
10:30Number 9.
10:32Exorcist 2 The Heretic.
10:33Another day, another sequel to a legendary horror film that really didn't need one.
10:38When will they learn?
10:40But you weren't supposed to remember anything.
10:43I know.
10:44The Heretic gets points for bringing Linda Blair back, but it loses them all by giving her
10:49precious little to do beyond look scared and deliver exposition.
10:52Unfortunately, the rest of the film is just plain awful, with derivative ideas and unconvincing
10:58storytelling all around.
10:59How we went from an Oscar-winning classic to this is beyond us.
11:03I'm afraid of!
11:07I'm afraid of!
11:07I'm afraid of!
11:10Even worse, The Exorcist's franchise just won't stay dead.
11:14After The Heretic, The Beginning, and the 2023 reboot all failed to deliver, we're thinking
11:19this franchise might really be cursed.
11:21I am no devil.
11:25There is none.
11:30Number 8.
11:31House of the Dead.
11:32In 2003, director Uwe Boll treated moviegoers to House of the Dead, his cinematic adaptation
11:38of the Smash video game franchise.
11:40What the hell was that thing?
11:42Our best friend.
11:44Not anymore.
11:45Boll's low-budget, tax-bracket approach to cinema may have served him well financially,
11:50but the writing was on the wall for House of the Dead almost immediately upon release.
11:54This film barely broke even in the United States, and received poor reviews almost across
11:59the board.
12:05The visual effects are dated even by 2003 standards.
12:08The performances are either listless or poor, and the overall sentiment is that House of the
12:13Dead deserves something just a wee bit better.
12:15Preferably, something actually watchable.
12:17Who are you?
12:19Who are you?
12:20We're here to rescue you.
12:22Oh, thanks.
12:25Number 7.
12:26Manos, the Hands of Fate.
12:27This independent B-movie has a pagan cult, a family of victims, and a decently chilling
12:32idea about marriage.
12:33And yet, it wastes it all.
12:36If you persist in this foolishness, your usefulness will have come to an end.
12:40Say what you will, I will have no part of this madness.
12:43Putting aside the fact that the writer-director made the film out of a bet, and that the cast
12:47and crew had little to no filmmaking experience, The Hands of Fate is just bad.
12:52Not even in a so-bad-it's-good way.
12:54Just plain, head-scratchingly terrible.
13:06The entire film is 70 minutes of incoherent scenes, continuity errors, hammy acting, audio-visual
13:13issues, and a profound lack of entertainment.
13:16At the very least, it will scare you.
13:18Just not for the right reasons.
13:20I am Michael.
13:21I take care of the place while the master is away.
13:25Number 6.
13:26Cabin Fever.
13:27Fans of Eli Roth often point to his 2002 film Cabin Fever as one of the director's
13:32best efforts.
13:33The 2016 remake, though, not so much.
13:37Hey, I'm doing this for you.
13:39I'm doing this for all of you.
13:41I'm not dying like that.
13:42What are you mean, dying?
13:43Harry, stop the parent.
13:45You stay in that bed!
13:46No way!
13:48Headed by a new director, the results were largely extraneous at best, and tediously
13:53nonsensical at worst.
13:54There's no plan.
13:57Not anymore.
13:58Much of the black humor present within Ross' original film has been excised,
14:02in favor of a tedious, and by-the-numbers attempt at body horror.
14:06The 2016 remake even earned itself a dreaded 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, with basically everyone
14:11agreeing you should avoid it like an actual flesh-eating virus.
14:14Don't drink the water!
14:16It's in the water!
14:18Number 5.
14:19Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey.
14:21Is there anything sacred left anymore?
14:23We doubt it, because we're discussing the 2023 horror film Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey.
14:28Why are you doing this, please?
14:30We used to be friends, why are you doing this, please?
14:37This entry from director Reese Frake-Waterfield ruffled a lot of feathers with its, let's say,
14:43reimagining of a classic childhood hero.
14:45It'd be one thing if Blood and Honey cared enough to make the titular character a bit more
14:49engaging than an actor in a bad suit.
15:00However, the film instead chooses the lowest-hanging fruit, adorning them with typical slasher movie
15:06violence that failed to live up to both positive and negative attention.
15:09Let her go, I'll stay with you forever, take me instead.
15:16Number 4.
15:17Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.
15:20Like the second chorus of a bad Christmas song, this abhorrent slasher tries to repeat
15:24the magic of its first entry, and only succeeds in ending up on the naughty list.
15:28Come on!
15:31Let me in!
15:33I want to talk about old times.
15:40To start, Part 2 can barely be considered its own film, considering it spends an unforgivable
15:45half-hour recapping the first installment.
15:56The second issue is that the new footage was shot over 10 days, with almost an entirely
16:00new cast and creative team, and boy can you feel it.
16:04Don't even get us started on the acting.
16:06All that to say, this is one massive box of coal under the tree.
16:10Merry Christmas!
16:12Christmas!
16:14Santa's back!
16:21Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
16:23Number 3.
16:24The Haunting of Sharon Tate.
16:26Every now and then, a movie comes around with a premise so strange that you can't help
16:31but scratch your head and take notice.
16:38Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean a flick like The Haunting of Sharon Tate is
16:42fresh.
16:43Retelling the story of the doomed actress and her time with the Manson family, this movie
16:47is as far from tasteful as it gets.
16:54Instead, it's a sad, depressing damnation of the film industry, with a truly perverse twist
16:59ending to boot.
17:00There's no joy or commentary in telling this story, and it probably shouldn't be viewed
17:04by anyone.
17:05I guess you could say, I live in a fairytale world, looking at everything through rose-colored
17:12glasses.
17:13Number 2.
17:13Alone in the Dark.
17:15Travel light.
17:17You're carrying enough baggage for the both of us, trust me.
17:20The Resident Evil series may be something of an outlier when it comes to successful film
17:24franchises based upon video games.
17:26That's because, when movie fans do think of such films, and the reported lack of quality,
17:31they're usually thinking of Drek like 2005's Alone in the Dark.
17:34I thought you were dead, you asshole.
17:37God.
17:39Just give me five minutes, alright?
17:40I can explain everything.
17:41Notorious director Uwe Boll brought together Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, and Christian Slater,
17:46and couldn't do a thing with them.
17:48There's just zero chemistry.
17:49The special effects are also laughably bad.
17:52On top of an abysmally boring plot, and clear disregard for the source material, trust
17:57us, and stay far, far away from this one.
18:16Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's Aria, Songs from Iran.
18:21One, reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
18:25Check out the full track and album below.
18:44If it seems as if studios were scrambling to remake Asian horror cinema in the 2000s,
18:49that's because they were, and largely thanks to the success of The Ring in 2002.
19:02Make no mistake, however.
19:04One missed call is absolutely not in the same league as The Ring, or the original work,
19:08or really an engaging movie at all.
19:11The film can't even be compared with the lowest of B-movie fare.
19:14It's just that bad.
19:24As a matter of fact, it wasn't even screened for critics prior to release, and the universally
19:29negative reception makes it obvious why.
19:31We may sound like a broken record at this point, but we'll say it again.
19:35Some films just shouldn't be remade.
19:41What's the worst scary movie you've ever had the displeasure of sitting through?
19:44Share the pain with us in the comments below.
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