What makes a truly awful horror movie? The directors of our list of the 25 worst horror flicks of all time might be able to give us some guidance. We've seen enough truly bad ones to know 'em when we see 'em (and, just to clarify, we only considered movies that had theatrical releases -- because if we included straight-to-dvd stinkers, we'd be here all month), but we'll let you read through our countdown to see if you agree.Here are 25 of the worst horror prequels, remakes and so called originals ... if you find any of these playing on your flat-scream TV, you know to turn the channel immediately. There are no treats here -- the only thing scary about these movies is how terrible they are. You've been warned. -- By Ed Tahaney
25. 'Gothika' (2003) Halle Berry wakes to find herself possessed by a not-so-friendly blonde ghost in the insane asylum where she works. Oh, and she tries to remember why she axed her husband -- when she really should have axed her agent for allowing her to star in this howler. Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz also star; apparently, Downey Jr. accidentally broke Berry's arm during a scene, and the movie production was delayed for two months. They should have stopped there.
24. 'An American Werewolf in Paris' (1997)The looney heart's club band of a sequel that was made at least a decade too late. Why didn't the producers just get Rob Zombie to direct a prequel/remake of the John Landis original? That would easily be far superior to this howler. Better yet, why not make 'An American Werewolf in Barcelona' and get Woody Allen to direct? Things do not get hairy enough in this hokey horror flick starring Julie Delpy.
23. 'Leprechaun' (1993) Kiss my Blarney Stone! 'Return of the Jedi''s Warick Davis, who played Wicket the Ewok, stars as the little man looking for his stolen gold. Jennifer Aniston (boy, can she really pick 'em) also stars in this not-scary fairy tale set in South Dakota -- really. It's duller than a St. Patrick's Day parade without green beer. An unlucky 93 minutes of your life that will leave you screaming "I want me money back!"
22. 'FearDotCom' (2002)We pity the fools who logged on to this 'Ring' rip-off. Instead of a creepy video tape there's a killer website -- get it? Suckers die 48 hours after visiting the site online. You'll wish a deadly computer virus on the filmmakers if you manage to sit through this flick. Oscar-nominated actor Stephen Rea stars as the torturing doc -- now that's really tragic.
21. 'I Spit on Your Grave' (1978)It's the unpleasant tale of a woman, played by Camile Keaton, who seeks revenge after being gang-raped, repeatedly, by five men. She eventually -- and vilely -- kills them all. We want to be clear: We don't have a problem with revenge flicks per se, it's the perversion and sadism of this one to which we object. Film critic Roger Ebert described it as "a vile bag of garbage," and who can disagree?
Reader Comments (84)
randy at 12:00AM on Oct 20th 2009
pretty much everyone of these movies is great. I spit on your grave is a horror classis. Douchebag aol writers have no idea what they are writing about
rachel at 12:33AM on Oct 20th 2009
i agree w/ you. ive never seen all of these and a few sound stupid BUT there were several on this list that i actually like and a couple were classics so they need to do some re-thinking and consider making a new list.
rachel at 12:35AM on Oct 20th 2009
i agree w/ you. ive never seen all of these and a few sound stupid
BUT there were several on this list that i actually like and a couple
were classics so they need to do some re-thinking and consider making
a new list.
Derrick at 8:05AM on Oct 23rd 2009
I wouldnt go as far to say that everyone of them is great but there are several that have no business being on this list! Also, when you are writing a horror review & you say "you are repulsed by the sadism" of the movie then you have no business even watching horror. True Horror is repulsive. This idiot should go rent Twilight, call up his BFF and have a good cry while they share their feelings! morons!
Allen at 12:28AM on Oct 25th 2009
I 100% agree that I Spit on Your Grave is a horror classic. We studied that film in my graduate seminar on cinema and sexuality. In the genre of "rape revenge" there is no equal to this film. I wonder if the compiler of this list has even seen the film.
Richie at 9:01AM on Oct 29th 2009
What a terrible list I think aol purposely put horror classics on here simply to spark debate. I spit on your grave is defo a classic despite the "sadism" (sure thats what horror is about anyway!) and Rob Zombies Halloween i think did the original justice.
marita indans at 9:05AM on Oct 29th 2009
They certainly were not the worst Horror movies, and I totally agree with your comments.
Gothika was a very entertaining Horror film, and Robert Downey Jr, is an extremely engaging actor.
Sarmad Sheikh at 3:39PM on Oct 29th 2009
I don't know why "I Spit On Your Grave" is included in this list, as it's a film that does not deserve to be ridiculed. Whoever compiled this "worst 25" article missed the whole point of the film. The brutality and sadism was used wisely to make a very powerful anti-rape film. I shpwed this film to some people when I was at University and I was a bit concerned with having ladies in the audience whom I thought would be offended. In fact, they were glad that the film really pushed the message across. Any any guy who ever thinks about raping anyone would think twice if they see this! Get hold of the uncut version if you can, as the censored version releasedi n the UK just doesn't give the movie any justice.
travis at 9:02PM on Nov 4th 2009
ok, these are not the 25 worst horror films (of course it is only one persons opinion) but to say that "pretty much everyone of these are great" is definitely pushing it. and yeah "i spit on your grave" is a 'cult' classic, but it is easily rivaled by "Last House on the Left" (which took the rape revenge scenario so much further). i would say alot of these films are some of the most uninspiring and predictable, snore fests of the genre.
jeffreycastel at 7:57PM on Oct 20th 2009
hi
Neophyte at 1:35AM on Oct 24th 2009
Bye. (Kinda shy, are we?)
alsodane at 8:33AM on Nov 12th 2009
ineed watch same movies
LL37MOH at 9:27AM on Oct 23rd 2009
I cannot believe that 1985's "The Stuff" didn't make this
list. It is about a killer desert food. When my brother and I saw it in the theater we were the only two people there.
TOM at 3:47AM on Oct 25th 2009
Wha? "THE STUFF" is one of my top 20 white goo eating movies! If you want to see a REALLY bad horror movie, check out "MONSTER A GO-GO" or "A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER". There's a whole world of seldom seen movies so much worse than anything on this totally deficient list...truthfully, there's even a whole world of movies worse than anything made by Ed Wood!
Kanye West at 8:55PM on Oct 23rd 2009
This is a pretty good list, and Ima let you finish.... who are you kidding, this list is an epic failure.
KevenW at 6:53AM on Oct 24th 2009
I love a good horror movie. Very few are far between these days......
Dan at 8:07PM on Oct 24th 2009
I've about had it with these damn people. The Psycho remake was good, IMO.
toby at 8:33PM on Oct 24th 2009
ur a f*cking idiot a lot of them were real good jackass..
Yukers at 8:49PM on Oct 24th 2009
I am glad to see that The Hills Have Eyes made the list!!! I don't know about the other movies, but they should have listed Mausoleum 1983, The Ring and The Ring II to the list...LAME!!!!!
Marci at 10:55PM on Oct 25th 2009
I liked Blair Witch 2,the 2005 version of House Of Wax&American Werewolf In Paris! The rest I give ya are crappy! I would add Strangers to the worst list! It was awful!