The horror genre thrives today because it has produced some of the greatest movies in history. It’s a style of filmmaking as old as cinema itself and continues to frighten and entertain audiences with its many wonderful stories. Whilethis genre is full of iconic chillersthat have become significant to our pop culture, it’s not without its faults.
There have been many awful horror movies throughout horror history. This is not a surprise to most horror fans, as some notable flops were spectacularly terrible. But while there are a lot of them that areso bad that they’re good, there are ones that are just too atrocious to watch entirely. The following ten below are horror movies that are notoriously bad and almost painful to sit through.These stinkers are all terrible from start to finish and aren’t even entertainingly bad; they are just mind-numbing, incredibly dull, and shockingly unpleasant.From weak slasher flicks to underwhelming supernatural horrors, here are ten of the most unwatchable horror movies.
10’The Bye Bye Man' (2017)
Directed by Stacy Title
Starting off isThe Bye Bye Man, directed byStacy Titleand released in 2017. This supernatural snoozefest is as generic as these types of movies come. It often competes alongside a few others asone of the worst horror movies of all time, and that’s due to its many flaws. It’s painfully boring, poorly acted, makes no sense, and is not the least bit terrifying.
While it has a few unintentionally funny moments here and there,the rest ofThe Bye Bye Mancan mostly be brushed off. It honestly comes across as a forgettable horror flick that’s not scary or interesting.There’s nothing much here to invest in, making it hard to sit all the way throughout its run time.
The Bye Bye Man
9’The Disappointments Room' (2016)
Directed by D. J. Caruso
Talk about an unfortunate title likeThe Disappointments Roombecause “disappointed” pretty much sums up everyone’s feelings after watching it. Released in 2016 and directed byD. J. Caruso, this underwhelming flick isone of the dullest haunted house films ever made, a generic, uninspired mess that’s pointless from start to finish and wastes the talent of its cast.
Though not as aggressively bad as others on this list,The Disappointments Roomis monumentally boring and predictable.While it’s supported by a pretty interesting cast, includingKate Beckinsale,Mel Raido, andLucas Till, they unfortunately aren’t given much to do here and don’t make it much more entertaining. Overall,it’s a forgettable and skippable film that could have worked had its writing and plot been more thought out, but ultimately, it just made a complete mess of itself and failed to stand out in any way.
The Dissapointments Room
8’Slender Man' (2015)
Directed by Sylvian White
2015’sSlender Manis one of the most painfully obvious cash grabs in horror history. This uninspired, generic flop tried desperately to ride off the popularity of a popular internet creepypasta that failed spectacularly to capture what made the legend so intriguing. What audiences were treated to was a lackluster mess with terrible CGI,mediocre writing, and even worse scares.
Just because an internet legend is popular doesn’t mean it could make for an exciting feature-length film.Slender Manis unwatchable, with barely any unintentionally funny or mildly amusing parts. Though it had the material to be a fun, unsettling chiller, it fell flat right from the start and never picked up thereafter. It’s another hard skip for anyone genuinely looking for a good horror experience.
Slender Man
7’Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Many popular horror movies have unnecessary franchises, but one that often stands out as the worst of the worst is theJawsfranchise.Steven Spielberg’s1975 original film wasa thrilling, monumentally suspenseful horror classicthat has come to define summer blockbusters. Its sequels, however, never came close to its level of quality, least of all the franchise’s low point:Jaws: The Revenge.
Jaws: The Revengeis just one big embarrassing mess.The plot is absolute nonsense, most of the performances are either over-the-top or spectacularly underwhelming, there is no suspense, and overall, it’s a massive insult to the first film.While there are a few so-bad-it’s-good moments here and there, this one can be avoided entirely and offers no real excitement.This one tried to be like the firstJaws, but ultimately sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Jaws: The Revenge
6’One Missed Call' (2008)
Directed by Eric Valette
Hollywood seriously needs to consider whether it’s worth remaking more popular international horror movies, or else they might make something horrible like anotherOne Missed Callagain. Indeed, this 2008 disaster isone of the worst foreign horror movie remakes of all time, a complete flop that failed incredibly to honor or even try to be like the 2003 Japanese original. It’s a poorly CGI, generic, nonsensical flop that is more laughable than scary.
Any genuinely creepy moment or unique scare in this one has already been done far better than its predecessor. The 2008One Missed Calltries to take too much from the original and yet somehow fails to be any like it.It’s a failed mess that’s not creepy, not interesting, and never comes close to the level of quality that its original had achieved.If it had tried not being so derivative or maybe even tried to be a bit more creative, it might have stood out more.
One Missed Call
5’Psycho' (1998)
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Speaking of terrible horror remakes, who ever thought a shot-for-shot retelling ofSir Alfred Hitchcock’s decade-defining classicPsychowould be a great idea? Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmakerGus Van Sant, the 1998 remake ofPsychowas an unnecessary attempt at modernizing a classic horror masterpiece.
It was uninspired and soulless, and it featured a poorly miscast Vince Vaughn, who, although a fantastic actor who has done much better work in other pictures, could have never topped the late great Anthony Perkins in the iconic lead role as Norman Bates.This remake isone of the worst horror movies of the 1990s, a pointless cash grab that’s unwatchable and never comes close to being as exciting as its predecessor from thirty-eight years prior.
4’I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer' (2006)
Slasher movies, even when considered flawed, are usually great entertainment. But there are a few that are terrible, and are almost unbearable to watch. That best describesI’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, released direct-to-video in 2006. Widely consideredone of the most atrocious slashers in horror history, this one is that bad: featuring awful acting, weak kills, bland thrills, and a plot that barely connects to the other two films in the trilogy.
While the other two films,I Know What You Did Last SummerandI Still Know What You Did Last Summer, aren’t the best, and they’re honestly laughably bad at certain points,compared to this abysmal third entry, they are masterpieces.It’s frustratingly terrible from start to finish, never having one decent moment or a scene that works. The kills, which are usually a highlight for these types of movies, are underwhelming and don’t add much excitement.Overall,I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summeris a dumpster fire that feels painful to watch.
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
3’Apparition' (2012)
Directed by Todd Lincoln
When thinking about the most disappointing, underwhelming supernatural horror movies out there, one that doesn’t get brought up as much but should isTodd Lincoln2012’sThe Apparition. Where to begin with this one?The Apparitionis as generic as they come: a run-of-the-mills ghost flick with a predictable plot, bland characters, and lame scares.
How does a horror film with some pretty decent talent attached to it, likeAshley Greene,Sebastian Stan, and evenTom Felton, wind up being so dull and forgettable?This one is as lifeless as the ghost featured in it, and there are no decent scares or genuine suspense or tension to even try to grip viewers into what’s going on.There’s not much to get invested in here, making it difficult to return back to it for another watch.
The Apparition
2’The Devil Inside' (2012)
Directed by William Brent Bell
There are a lot of decent found-footage movies that the horror genre has created,some of which are almost perfect. But there are a lot of stinkers out there, one of them notably beingThe Devil Inside, directed byWilliam Brent Bellin 2012. Here is one of the most controversial horror movies in recent memory, not for its plot or heavy subject matter, but because of how frustrating people can get from its disastrous ending.
Recognized for havingone of the worst, most abrupt endingsin horror history,The Devil Inside’s downer ending is an unsatisfying cop-out that completely ruins everything the film was building towards.Watching this ending once will make almost anyone never want to see this film again, as it only leads to disappointment.It’s not entirely terrible; it’s just hard to watch because it amounts to pretty much nothing.
The Devil Inside
1’A Serbian Film' (2010)
Directed by Srdjan Spasojevic
Finally, let’s end with one of the most controversial andappalling NC-17-rated horror moviesin recent memory:A Serbian Filmdirected bySrdjan Spasojevic. This shocking exploitation flick has stood out over the last several decades, but not for a good reason. What makes this one so painful is its relentlessly bleak tone and shocking gore, not to mention the uncomfortable imagery that is too shocking to look at.
While some applaud its willingness to go all out with its violence and horrifying subject matter, it’s undoubtedly hard to sit through and difficult to come back for multiple viewings.Because of its graphic content that it’s ledA Serbian Filmto become one of the most banned movies in the world. Though it tries to go bold, it unfortunately went too extreme with what it was trying to do, ultimately making it an unwatchable viewing experience that is hard to see more than once.
