We wanted nightmare fuel, but we got boring ghouls... Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the worst horror movies to be released within the parameters of the year 2000 to 2023. We're putting up a SPOILER ALERT, just to be safe.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the worst horror movies
00:07 to be released within the parameters of the year 2000 to 2023.
00:11 We'll be singling out one film per year on through the modern day and also putting
00:16 up a spoiler alert just to be safe.
00:19 You're gonna die and I don't feel a thing behind it.
00:23 2000, Book of Shadows, Blair Witch 2.
00:27 The writing was perhaps on the wall that no sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project
00:33 was going to perform as well as its predecessor.
00:36 The writing was definitely on the wall then when the studio rushed out said sequel a year
00:42 later and decided not to produce it in the same found footage style.
00:47 You think that your makeup and black clothes give you power, that you're just a scared,
00:53 cowardly little girl underneath all that.
00:56 Book of Shadows, Blair Witch 2 feels sickening with the sort of jarring editing that often
01:02 plagued horror films during this period.
01:05 There's also a complete lack of tension and suspense and even its meta plot lines about
01:10 the original Blair Witch are trite and forced.
01:13 You know if you don't believe in the Blair Witch then why the hell did you bother to
01:17 come?
01:18 I thought the movie was cool.
01:20 Book of Shadows was probably better off not attaching itself to the Blair Witch name.
01:25 Uh, Jeff, I think we've had enough videotaping for one weekend.
01:29 Yeah, dude.
01:30 Tour's over.
01:31 2001, Jason X.
01:33 That's not Jason Voorhees, is it?
01:36 There's an old rule of thumb when it comes to horror franchises that are starting to
01:40 run out of ideas.
01:41 Take 'em to space!
01:42 It worked for the Leprechaun, right?
01:44 Wait, actually, forget we said that.
01:46 Because Jason X is yet another example of how interstellar travel isn't necessarily
01:51 going to deliver a guaranteed upgrade for your slasher movie title characters.
01:56 Jason Voorhees had already been to Camp Crystal Lake, Hell, and Vancouver/Manhattan by the
02:02 year 2001, so the Friday the 13th franchise took the logical next step and giant leap
02:07 for mankind.
02:09 Jason X admittedly does possess one of the best kills in the entire franchise, but the
02:13 film on a whole looks cheap, acts stupid, and generally offers more laughs than scares.
02:19 Oh, this stuff's got so many levels!
02:23 2002, Fear.com
02:25 Turn around, Benny.
02:27 I'm disgusting.
02:28 I don't want you watching this.
02:30 Fun fact, 2002's Fear.com served as the only instance where the writer of this video
02:36 walked out of a movie.
02:38 True story aside, however, time seems to have forgotten the film even exists, other than
02:44 the instances where critics recall how much they hated it at the time.
02:49 Fear.com was so poorly received, in fact, that some have called for its reappraisal
02:54 as a modern cult classic.
02:57 Perhaps it's the film's usage of the internet as some sort of real-life videodrome that
03:01 drives victims to self-destruction.
03:03 Or maybe it's the nasty and grungy cinematography.
03:07 Either way, Fear.com is more than a mess, and will probably always be remembered that
03:13 way.
03:14 I'm a mess, aren't you?
03:15 I just don't get out much.
03:18 I can see that.
03:20 2003, House of the Dead
03:21 Director Uwe Boll struck again in 2003 with House of the Dead, his cinematic adaptation
03:27 of the Smash video game franchise.
03:30 Boll's low-budget tax-bracket approach to cinema may have served him well financially,
03:35 but the writing was on the wall for House of the Dead almost immediately upon its initial
03:40 release.
03:41 What the hell was that thing?
03:43 Our best friend.
03:45 Not anymore.
03:46 This film barely broke even in the United States, and received poor reviews almost across
03:51 the board.
03:52 The visual effects are dated even by 2003 standards, the performances are either listless
03:57 or poor, and the overall sentiment just feels like House of the Dead deserves something
04:01 just a wee bit better than this.
04:04 Who are you?
04:05 Who are you?
04:06 We're here to rescue you.
04:09 Oh.
04:10 Thanks.
04:11 2004, Exorcist
04:12 The Beginning
04:13 No, you asked the question, now you're going to listen to the answer.
04:17 Hey, did you know that 2023's The Exorcist Believer wasn't the first film to disappoint
04:22 fans of this demonic franchise?
04:24 2004's Exorcist The Beginning was a last-ditch attempt from production company Morgan Creek
04:30 at squeezing some satanic juice from old scratch after they initially scrapped writer/director
04:36 Paul Schrader's Dominion prequel to The Exorcist.
04:39 God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
04:44 God the Son.
04:46 It's not working.
04:47 Redeemer of the world.
04:48 That film would eventually see the light of day, but the sad truth is that both Schrader
04:53 and this effort from Die Hard 2 director Rennie Harlan aren't great.
04:57 Exorcist The Beginning is more full of bloody cliches than Dominion, and as a result feels
05:01 more like a product, a cash grab without a soul for Bazuzu to steal.
05:07 2005, Alone in the Dark
05:08 Travel light.
05:09 I can't have enough baggage for the both of us, trust me.
05:13 The Resident Evil series may be something of an outlier when it comes to successful
05:18 film franchises that are based upon video games.
05:22 That's because, when movie fans do think of such films and their reported lack of quality,
05:27 they're usually thinking of Drek like 2005's Alone in the Dark.
05:32 I thought you were dead, you asshole.
05:35 God, just give me five minutes, alright?
05:38 I can explain everything.
05:40 Notorious director Uwe Boll brought together Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, and Christian Slater,
05:47 and couldn't do a thing with them.
05:48 There's just zero chemistry.
05:50 The special effects are also laughably bad, and the whole thing feels like a bad idea
05:56 right from the jump.
05:57 Stay far away from this one.
06:00 2006, The Wicker Man
06:02 Oh God.
06:03 Oh my God.
06:04 Oh my God.
06:08 On one hand, we perversely admire Neil LaButte's 2006 reimagining of Robin Hardy's classic,
06:14 The Wicker Man, for the sheer WTF fever dream it brought to the screen.
06:20 There's also the lunatic fringe performance of Nicolas Cage as the lead, with multiple
06:25 memorable moments of yelling, screaming, and running in a bear suit to fuel meme generators
06:32 for a light year.
06:33 However, as a horror film, it fails in tremendous fashion, cutting off the palpable atmosphere
06:40 of the original at the knees, and relying on cheap jumps to frighten its audience.
06:49 Take our advice, just watch the 70s original instead.
06:54 2007, I Know Who Killed Me
06:56 The idea behind actors seeking to escape typecasting by gravitating towards horror or thriller
07:01 roles isn't a new one, and Lindsay Lohan definitely took her shot back with 2007's
07:08 I Know Who Killed Me.
07:16 The movie's plot is pretty bonkers, with the sort of logic that you might have found
07:21 back in 1970s Italy and their Jalo brand of violent mystery thrillers.
07:27 Lohan's performance as an abducted woman with identity issues didn't win over critics,
07:32 although I Know Who Killed Me has amassed something of a cult audience.
07:36 However, there are likely many more people who call this one of the worst films ever
07:42 made.
07:43 We'll let you be the judge.
07:46 2008, One Missed Call
07:47 Ah, the rain.
07:50 What hast thou wrought?
07:55 If it seems as if studios were scrambling to remake Asian horror cinemas in the 2000s,
08:01 that's because they were, and largely thanks to the success of The Ring in 2002.
08:06 Make no mistake, however, One Missed Call is absolutely not in the same company.
08:12 The film can't even compare with the American remake of The Grudge.
08:16 It's that bad.
08:18 It wasn't even screened for critics prior to release, and the reception by fans and
08:23 horror writers after the fact was almost universally negative.
08:28 We may sound like a broken record at this point, but we'll say it again, some films
08:33 just shouldn't be remade.
08:34 Who was it?
08:35 It was a funeral.
08:36 It sucked.
08:37 2009, Halloween II
08:42 Every movie out there, no matter how bad, has its defenders.
08:46 And there are some, including the person writing this video, who will gladly come to the aid
08:50 of Rob Zombie's Halloween movies.
08:53 However, there's no denying the backlash that this 2009 sequel received after it followed
08:58 up an already divisive Halloween from 2007.
09:11 Fans of the masked Michael Myers didn't appreciate the imaginative and hallucinogenic
09:15 dream sequences, nor the fact that Myers walks around without the damn thing for a large
09:21 chunk of the film.
09:22 Oh, and Myers also speaks in this one.
09:29 Halloween II swung for the fences and took a big chance, but there will always be a large
09:34 contingent of horror fans who simply want more of what they know.
09:38 2010, Birdemic, Shock and Terror
09:41 It's important for fans of genre cinema to differentiate between enjoyably entertaining
09:46 bad movies and those that are just poorly executed.
09:50 There's a level of ineptitude behind 2010's Birdemic, Shock and Terror that's not cut
09:55 from the same exploitation claw as similar films from the 1970s and 80s.
10:01 Instead, what we have is a horror flick that doesn't possess memorable performances,
10:13 entertaining sequences, or a legacy remotely connected to anything other than reprehensible
10:18 CGI.
10:19 At a certain point, it becomes necessary for us, as moviegoers, to value the finite amount
10:25 of time in our lives.
10:27 That said, do you really want to waste it watching Birdemic, Shock and Terror?
10:32 2011, Hellraiser, Revelations
10:38 The writing was on the proverbial wall when it came to the production of 2011's Hellraiser,
10:44 Revelations.
10:45 Heck, the only reason the film was even made was out of necessity so that Dimension Films
10:50 wouldn't lose the creative rights to the franchise.
10:59 The Hellraiser series was already one of diminishing returns at this point, but Revelations didn't
11:05 even have Doug Bradley returning as a xenobite pinhead at this point.
11:09 As a result, fans got a rush job with horrid effects, laughable performances, and an atmosphere
11:15 totally unworthy of Clive Barker's original horror classic.
11:21 2012, The Devil Inside
11:36 It was a horror movie ending that made audiences so steaming mad that many are still PO'd
11:42 about it to this day.
11:44 We're talking about The Devil Inside and the gall of its creators to end their tale
11:50 of demonic possession with a text image and an internet link for more information.
12:02 To be fair, the film's screenwriters stuck to their guns and defended their decision
12:06 at the time, but this hasn't helped The Devil Inside rise up from its well of infamy.
12:12 There have been a lot of demonic possession movies out there that are worth your time.
12:16 Why would you waste it by watching this one?
12:20 2013, The Last Exorcism Part 2
12:25 You just know you're in for a bad time when you're watching a sequel to a film titled
12:29 "The Last Exorcism."
12:35 To be fair, we appreciate that the filmmakers behind The Last Exorcism Part 2 abandoned
12:40 the gimmicky found footage style in favor of a more grounded and serious-minded occult
12:46 study.
12:47 Fans largely balked at this sequel, however, as did many critics, although there were a
12:51 few dissenting voices of positivity.
13:02 The Last Exorcism Part 2 was effectively a nail in the coffin for this possession franchise,
13:07 however, despite an ending that left things wide open for a third entry.
13:12 2014, Ouija
13:14 As friends we've gathered, hearts are true.
13:17 Spirits near, we call to you.
13:19 If there's a presence here, please make yourself known.
13:24 Our next entry is one of the rare instances where a film's follow-up is far superior
13:29 to the original.
13:30 We're talking about 2014's Ouija, which adapts the classic Parker Brothers spirit
13:36 board into a feature-length film.
13:49 There's a threadbare plot here involving predictable possessions, but Ouija fails in
13:54 the execution.
13:56 It's cliche after cliche with this first film, whereas Mike Flanagan's 2016 prequel,
14:02 Ouija, Origin of Evil, improves upon the original in every way.
14:08 Our advice?
14:09 Start with number two and never look back.
14:12 All signs point to no with the first Ouija.
14:17 2015, Paranormal Activity The Ghost Dimension
14:21 There's no denying that the Paranormal Activity franchise has given horror fans some credible
14:26 sequels over the years.
14:28 2015's Paranormal Activity The Ghost Dimension, however, is probably not one that comes up
14:33 too often in discussion.
14:38 Gregory Plotkin had edited previous entries in the franchise, with The Ghost Dimension
14:43 serving as his directorial debut.
14:45 This inexperience shows, unfortunately, with most fans abandoning this entry due to its
14:51 perceived lack of scares.
14:53 Original footage films were also largely passe by 2015, and Paranormal Activity The Ghost
14:58 Dimension wasn't doing anything to bring them back in favor.
15:03 2016, Cabin Fever
15:08 Fans of Eli Roth often point to his 2002 film Cabin Fever as one of the director's best
15:14 efforts.
15:15 The 2016 remake of said film, however, not so much.
15:18 The end results of this effort from director Travis Ceruni are largely seen today as extraneous
15:24 to need.
15:25 A remake that probably never needed to get off the ground.
15:32 Much of the black humor present within Roth's original film has been excised in favor of
15:36 a tedious and by-the-numbers attempt at body horror that limps along to the final conclusion.
15:42 Cabin Fever 2016 even earned itself that dreaded 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, with basically everyone
15:48 agreeing that this was a bad idea right from the jump.
15:54 2017, The Bye Bye Man
16:10 There have been a slew of horrendous supernatural horror films haphazardly produced in the 21st
16:16 century.
16:17 The Bye Bye Man may be among the very worst to boot.
16:27 You'd think that film studios might be able to avoid genre pitfalls like this in 2017.
16:34 But nope, here we are with another supernatural stinker.
16:44 Nothing ever clicks with The Bye Bye Man.
16:47 From its poor acting and unoriginal script, to confusing editing choices and a complete
16:53 lack of focus.
16:54 This one's not even good enough for the bargain bin.
16:57 Forget goodbyes, don't even say hello to this one.
17:02 2018, Slender Man
17:04 The odds are probably good that there will be one great, defining horror film produced
17:09 someday that takes its inspiration from a creepypasta.
17:13 2018's Slender Man, however, is not that movie.
17:18 Its box office drop was huge after an $11 million debut, and the film largely left critics
17:24 and audiences cold.
17:33 Slender Man could have perhaps blazed a trail for a new generation of horror films based
17:39 upon modern internet mythology, but the film instead comes across as half-baked, cliche,
17:46 and not even all that scary.
17:57 If you're thinking about checking out Slender Man, you're probably better off just researching
18:02 the source material.
18:04 2019, The Haunting of Sharon Tate
18:11 Every now and then, a movie comes around with a premise so strange that you can't help
18:17 but scratch your head and take notice.
18:19 Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean a flick like The Haunting of Sharon Tate
18:24 is fresh with its tale of the doomed actor who would perish at the hands of the Manson
18:30 family.
18:31 Instead, this film borders on the distasteful and exploitative, a sad and depressing affair
18:38 that takes real-life events and presents an alternate reality with an almost perverse
18:43 twist near the end.
18:49 The Haunting of Sharon Tate is just a mess, an ugly and offensive film that takes no joy
18:55 in its story and probably shouldn't be viewed by anyone.
19:00 2020, Children of the Corn
19:02 You'd be forgiven for not even knowing that yet another adaptation of Stephen King's
19:07 Children of the Corn hit theaters back in 2020.
19:10 This was, after all, a franchise whose entries primarily tended to be direct-to-video affairs
19:16 of varying quality.
19:18 What both audiences and critics agreed upon, however, was that Children of the Corn 2020
19:23 didn't beat the 1984 original in any department, from the acting to the effects, pacing, or
19:29 atmosphere.
19:36 Writer/director Kurt Wimmer feels lost adapting King's story and fails to capitalize upon
19:42 what possibly could have been a good opportunity to update the Children of the Corn franchise
19:46 for the modern day.
19:48 What a shame.
19:51 2021, The Unholy
19:56 2021's The Unholy had the initial potential to be a good, or at least interesting, adaptation
20:03 of the 1983 novel Shine by author James Herbert.
20:06 The inexperience of first-time director Evan Spilotopoulos, ahem, shone through, however,
20:12 with the final product.
20:18 The traditionally Christian worldview adopted by the film's plot didn't make all moviegoers
20:23 of faith happy, nor did the tired scares make old-school horror fans content with what was
20:28 on their screens.
20:35 What we had at the end was a mishmash of demonic tropes and satanic shenanigans that felt tired.
20:41 Not even the name recognition of Sam Raimi as a producer could save The Unholy.
20:47 2022, Firestarter
20:49 We're not going to necessarily poo-poo the idea of horror remakes across the board.
20:54 After all, movies like The Fly proved that success was more than possible with the right
20:59 creative people on the job.
21:01 Firestarter did not live up to that lineage, unfortunately, with both fans and critics
21:06 snuffing this one out before it could even ignite a spark.
21:18 The 1984 original is fondly remembered by moviegoers today, and some of the characterization
21:24 in Firestarter 2022 does attempt to connect with its audience.
21:28 The film quickly loses steam, however, and drops these attempts in favor of bad CGI,
21:33 uneven pacing, and a general lack of tension or scares.
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22:00 2023, Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey
22:04 Are there any sacred cows left anymore?
22:07 We doubt it because we're discussing the 2023 horror film Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey.
22:12 This entry from director Reese Frake-Waterfield ruffled a lot of feathers with its, let's
22:18 say, reimagining of a classic childhood hero.
22:25 It might be one thing if Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey cared enough to make the titular
22:29 character a bit more engaging than an actor in a bad suit.
22:33 However, the film instead chooses the lowest hanging fruit, adorns them with typical slasher
22:38 movie violence, and essentially fails to live up to both positive and negative attention.
22:47 Feel like defending any of these horror misfires?
22:50 Sound off in the comments.
23:03 [music]
23:13 (upbeat music)