Worst Movies Ever Made According To Fans: The Bottom 20
Giant Freakin Robot's team compiled the 20 worst movies ever made according to fans, a list led by Monster a Go-Go and House of the Dead.
FANS 20 WORST MOVIES EVER MADE
Look, not everything from Tinsel Town can be as good as the best classic movies of all time. Some Hollywood movies are bad, some are terrible, and then there are these ones. The films that appear on this list are not just bad movies, they’re the worst movies ever made, at least according to fans.
We know the joy that can come from watching a terrible film. Goofy lines paired with horrible special effects and lousy acting can make for some of the best (unintended) comedy there is.
That’s why our movie experts have collected data from review aggregators like the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic to come up with the list of the unbeatably 20 worst movies ever made according to all of the fans out there.
Some of these films go as far back as the 1960s when filmmakers began experimenting with out-of-this-world plotlines and making some of the best and worst science fiction content ever created. Others were made as recently as the early 2000s when director Uwe Boll was somehow an in-demand Hollywood director (he’s got three movies on this list).
But it may be surprising to hear that some of the best-known worst films, like The Room (2003) and Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), didn’t end up in the top 20—they’re just too good!
So, if you’re in the mood to watch something terrible (and we mean terrible), take a spin through Hollywood history as we look at the 20 worst movies ever made, according to fans.
WORST MOVIES EVER MADE: THE TOP 10
1. Monster A Go-Go
The 1960s were a golden age for Hollywood science fiction films. This was the decade that brought Charlton Heston’s Planet of the Apes, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Ishirô Honda’s fifth addition to the Godzilla franchise: Mothra Vs. Godzilla. These films were considered some of the best science fiction movies of their day. Unfortunately, even on the most liberal of great science fiction movie lists, Monster a Go-Go will not be found.
Both fans and critics alike consider Monster a Go-Go (1965) to be one of the worst movies ever made, although it’s not entirely the film’s fault. Monster a Go-Go had the potential to be a fairly decent space-monster popcorn flick if it hadn’t been for director Bill Rebane running out of money halfway through production. This left the film unfinished for years until Herschell Gordan Lewis bought the feature and added a few new scenes and dialog to it.
The only problem was that Lewis finished the film almost five years after the original production started. This meant that most of Monster a Go-Go’s cast had moved on in their careers, and many of the characters had to be recast halfway through the movie, which was done without explanation to the audience. While Lewis was able to get one actor back, the man looked so different from the character he had played years before that he was recast as his own brother.
A combination of mismatching characters, a bizarre plot that makes no sense, and a low-budget production (so low that instead of using a real phone ringing, at one point, they had some guy make the sound effect with his mouth), has sealed Monster a Go-Go’s fate as one of the worst movies ever made according to fans.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the watch. Monster a Go-Go is so bad that any modern film viewer could have a great time mocking every editing error and out-of-place piece of dialog while simultaneously reeling in the tragedy that such a terrible movie was ever made. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
2. House of the Dead
As brainless as the zombies in the film, House of the Dead (2003) is a trainwreck of a movie filled with bad acting, bad dialog, bad cinematography … basically, everything is very bad. This is why this 2003 catastrophe is one of the worst movies ever made according to fans.
House of the Dead was the first theatrical release for German director Uwe Boll in what would become a long line of terrible films in his filmography. After wrapping production on House of the Dead, Boll would go on to direct a cluster of rotten movies, two more of which also appear on this list of the worst movies ever made—Alone in the Dark (2005) and BloodRayne (2005).
Based on the Sega video game of the same name, House of the Dead starred Jonathan Cherry, Tyron Leitson, Clint Howard, Ona Grauer, and Ellie Cornell. In a film so bad it should be good, House of the Dead is just bad. And yet, somehow, Lions Gate still greenlit a sequel. House of the Dead 2 was directed by Michael Hurst in 2005, which was thankfully slightly better than the original. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
3. Battlefield Earth
For those who love terrible art, Battlefield Earth (2000) is a gold mine.
Starring John Travolta, many fans and critics have fought to give this Roger Christian-directed sci-fi travesty the number one spot as the worst movie ever made in the modern era, to both fans and critics alike. Filled with over-the-top camp, terrible acting, even worse special effects, and a messy, nonsensical plot, this is a film that no viewer could watch with a serious face.
In fact, upon its release, Battlefield Earth was ostracized and bullied by critics who felt they’d been conned into watching the laughably bad movie. Based on the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard’s novel, Travolta begged Hollywood studios for 15 years to let him make this film. When the feature was finally greenlit, Travolta both produced and starred in the movie, believing that he was “breaking a new genre.”
After Battlefield Earth was released and quickly became known as one of the worst movies ever made, Travolta turned to his friends and fellow filmmakers, George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino, whom Travolta publicly insisted told him the film was a “great piece of science fiction.”
Whether what Lucas and Tarantino apparently said was their honest opinion or simply a few empty words meant to console a friend, the majority of the world wholeheartedly disagrees. Battlefield Earth is a great movie to watch if (and only if) you’re in the mood for a terrible, hoaky, really bad film that is bound to give a good amount of unintended laughs. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
4. Alone in the Dark
Directed by German filmmaker Uwe Boll, Alone in the Dark (2005) was Boll’s second attempt at a horror film hit. Two years earlier, Boll had directed what had been universally acknowledged as the worst horror video game movie adaptation ever made, House of the Dead. No one could have anticipated things getting worse.
In 2005, Boll adapted the video game Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare into a movie about paranormal investigators who face off against a supernatural antagonist, and he was met, once again, with overwhelmingly negative reviews. While House of the Dead had received abysmal ratings, with Rotten Tomatoes showing 10 percent approval from movie watchers and only a 3 percent approval rating from critics, Alone in the Dark tanked with only 1 percent approval from critics. However, movie watchers seemed to like Boll’s second box office feature a bit more than before, this time giving it 11 percent approval.
While Alone in the Dark was also widely considered one of the worst movies ever made according to fans, audiences began to find a new appreciation for Boll and his second film. While House of the Dead is irredeemably bad, Alone in the Dark managed to make it into the realm of “it’s so bad it’s kind of good.” As long as viewers don’t sit down with the expectations of watching a thriller, there’s a good chance they will squeal with glee at the sheer ridiculousness of what is happening on screen. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
5. Manos: The Hands of Fate
Nothing good can come from gambling. At least, that’s the lesson Harrold P. Warren teaches us since Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) is the exact result of a bet the man had with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night). As a salesman who dabbled in theater, Warren had the strange fate of meeting Silliphant and betting the esteemed writer that horror films were so easy to make that even a salesman from Texas (like Warren was) could make one.
So that’s what Warren set out to do. After scribbling a few plot points down on a napkin during his meeting with Silliphant, Warren wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Manos: The Hands of Fate. It’s a story about a family lost on their road trip in Texas who stumble upon a devil-worshiping cult that uses human hands as sacrificial offerings during their ceremonies.
In addition to Warren, the film also stars Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, Diane Adelson, Stephanie Neilson, Sherry Proctor, and Robin Redd. Many of the cast and crew had never made a movie before and were people Warren knew from the local theater scene. Instead of paying them wages for their time on set, Warren promised them each a cut of the profits.
Upon the film’s release, Manos: The Hands of Fate was immediately regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. That was no surprise, considering that it was a no-budget independent film put together by a group of artists who had no idea what they were doing.
For several years, Manos was listed as the worst movie ever made on IMDb before it was switched out for the 1965 science fiction trainwreck, Monster a Go-Go. Manos has also been featured on Entertainment Weekly as the number one worst movie ever made and was listed as the second worst film ever on Floyd Conner’s book, Hollywood’s Most Wanted, a book describing the worst films ever made. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
6. Bolero
While some films are so campy, so outlandish, so bad that they’re actually a pretty good time (think about how many The Room screenings still happen), Bolero (1984) is not one of those movies. Written and directed by John Derek, Bolero is the romantic drama of a 23-year-old orphaned heiress who is determined to travel the world until she finds the right man to take her virginity.
While the film’s plot obviously doesn’t stand the test of time, that’s not why Bolero is known as one of the worst movies ever made. If the plot weren’t bad enough, the non-existent chemistry between the characters could be enough to add this film to this list. However, it’s the pure boredom that comes from watching a lackluster script read aloud by an incompatible cast that would make any viewer want to turn off their television screen and never turn it on again.
While Bolero made enough at the time of its release to have a small profit (it grossed $8.9 million on a $7 million budget), it was justly roasted at the Raspberry Awards that same year. Bolero was nominated for 11 Raspberry Awards and won six of those, including Worse Picture for director John Derek and Worst Actress for Derek’s wife, the protagonist, Bo Derek. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
7. Simon Sez
There are plenty of movies out there that have been ripped by critics only to have fans come to their rescue. Unfortunately, there are also tons of films out there that no matter how hard they try not to, fans eventually agree with critics. This is where we stand with Simon Sez, a 1999 action “comedy” film that should have, but didn’t, end the acting career of former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman.
The film follows Rodman’s Simon, who is an Interpol agent, as he is collecting information on a really bad man who is into weapons trading on the French Riviera. At the same time, and this is supposedly where the “comedy” comes in, an old classmate of Simon’s, Nick (played by comedian Dane Cook), asks Simon to help him find his employee’s daughter, who appears to have been kidnapped by the same man Simon has been hunting down. Hijinks ensue as Simon and Nick team up while getting some unexpected help from two monks and one very feisty woman.
Many 1-star fan reviews followed this horribly misplaced film, directed by Kevin Alyn Elders (writer of the Iron Eagle franchise) but here is all you need to know about the level of entertainment you’ll get from Simon Sez. The film was made on a $10 million budget. In total, it brought in $292,000. Somehow, fans have given the film a 16 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. – Rick Gonzales
8. Fair Game
Back in 1995, the pairing of William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford sounded like a surefire hit. The film was an action thriller called Fair Game, but unfortunately, fans have since called it one of the worst movies ever made. So, what went wrong?
First off, William Baldwin was still living off the high that was the 1991 hit, Backdraft, but had recently been seen in the lackluster thriller, Sliver, with Sharon Stone, so the shine on his star was fading a bit. Secondly, this was supermodel Cindy Crawford’s first feature film, and it was one she was not prepared to do and had been trying to turn the part down, telling producer Joel Silver she did not want to become an actress. It showed.
The story follows Baldwin as a cop who is out to protect Crawford’s Kate McQuean, a lawyer who runs into trouble when she tries to seize a boat that is being used as a bargaining chip in a divorce. Little does she know, the boat is being used by a former KGB agent and his men, and they do not want to give up the boat.
The pairing of Baldwin and Crawford did nothing for audiences, as they mainly pointed to Crawford’s lack of acting ability. Although the film was billed as a thriller, it ended up missing the key component of a thriller, the thrill. With a $50 million budget, Fair Game was only able to bring in $11.5 million at the box office, not only making it a box office disaster but one of the worst movies ever made, according to fans. – Rick Gonzales
9. Bloodrayne
You’ve got to give German director Uwe Boll credit. Regardless of what critics and audiences think, he keeps trying. Known for being a director who consistently cranks out horrible movies based on video games, Boll stepped away from filmmaking in 2016 to become a restauranter before deciding in 2020 that he was better suited to make films. One of the films that sent him to the restaurant business was the horrible 2005 film BloodRayne, which was based on the Terminal Reality video game series of the same name.
The film starred Kristanna Loken as the title character, Rayne, who is a combination of vampire and human called dhampirs. Her quest is to stop her father, Kagan the Vampire King, from wiping out the human race. Along the way, she is joined by the Brimstone Society, a group whose sole purpose is to rid the world of vampires.
As with many video games turned into movies, BloodRayne suffers from Boll’s inability to bring to the big screen what the video game promised. Boll completely wastes his cast, which also included Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Rodriguez, Udo Kier, and what may be the best part of the film, Meat Loaf.
The film “enjoys” a 17 percent favorable audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for six Golden Raspberry awards, which included Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Loken), Worst Supporting Actress (Rodriguez), Worst Supporting Actor (Kingsley), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Director. As far as fans go, it is telling when the film’s original screenwriter says it was the “worst movie ever made.”
Another fan, Laura Bailey, the voice actress who portrayed Rayne in the video games, said of BloodRayne, “Oh God, that movie sucked. And that movie was so bad. I saw it on The Movie Channel, and I couldn’t even get through 20 minutes of it! It was so bad, and it was kinda sad that they took that because I really liked the games.” – Rick Gonzales
10. Left Behind
No doubt, there are always good intentions when making movies. How can there not be with all of the time, money, and effort put into a film? We are sure that the makers behind the film, Left Behind, had nothing but great intentions when the film was conceived, unfortunately, the end result was something that audiences did not like.
Left Behind is a 2014 apocalyptic thriller that is based on the Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins novel of the same name. The story follows passengers on an airplane who must somehow deal with a worldwide event while in the air. Passengers begin to disappear from the plane, leading people to believe that God has taken his true believers up to heaven, leaving the rest of the world to their own devices to face the end of days.
While that sounds like a story that needs to be told, the execution turned out to be poor at best. Nicolas Cage stars in the movie as one of the pilots of the airplane and one of the many left behind. The film also stars Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson, Nicky Whelan, and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.
Audiences did not flock to this film, although those that did found the film to be cheesy and poorly made. As a film that should be asking important theological questions, the film appears to be more concerned with landing the plane. Not even Nic Cage’s subdued charm (we are so used to him going over the top) can save this film.
The few who saw Left Behind have given the film a 19 percent favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is better than expected, but certainly low enough to put it in the category of fan’s choice of worst movies ever made in fans eyes. – Rick Gonzales
11-20 TERRIBLE FILMS
11. Birdemic: Shock and Terror
Sometimes all you need to do is look at the title of a movie, and you just know. Take, for instance, Birdemic: Shock and Terror. That alone should probably tell you the level of filmmaking one can expect.
The first thing you should know about this film is that it is considered a “romantic” horror film that was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 masterpiece, The Birds. The one and only resemblance to that film is that there are birds terrorizing a small community. The next thing you should know about this film is that it was made on a $10,000 budget. Yikes.
So, what could one expect in terms of film quality and amazing special effects on a $10,000 budget? Yes, you guessed it, little to none. The film stars Alan Baugh and Whitney Moore (who?) as a young couple who are old classmates. Rod (Baugh) is a software salesman, while Nathalie (Moore) is a Victoria’s Secret model (stick with us here). Things go from good to bad in a hurry for the couple when they begin to realize something is wrong with the birds. See, these birds, because of global warming, now spit acid, and when they hit the ground, they explode and burst into flames.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror was written and directed by James Nguyen after he spent some time in Half Moon Bay, California. Audiences probably feel that he would have been better off not picking up his pen, as they pointed out the acting and dialog, special effects, terrible editing, and sound, all combined to make up one of the worst movies of all time according to fans.
Believe it or not, the film did spawn a sequel, the 2013 Birdemic 2: The Resurrection, and there is even chirping about a third film called Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle. – Rick Gonzales
12. Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus
Steve Urkel, an action hero? Yes, this is what you will get with Mega Shark versus Crocosaurus, a 2010 monster disaster film that is actually a sequel to the 2009 monster disaster film Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus. Where is Godzilla when we need him?
For those of you up on your Family Matters trivia, you’ll know that Steve Urkel was played by actor Jaleel White. In this film, he has gone from the ultimate nerd to Lieutenant Terry McCormick, the lone survivor from Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus. This time, we find our intrepid hero testing out a sonic shark-repelling device that undoubtedly will come in handy sometime down the road.
Everything is put into motion when an illegal diamond mining operation in the Congo wakes up a 1,500-foot-long, prehistoric crocodile. For reference, 1,500 is pretty much how tall the Empire State Building in New York stands, so that is one large crocodile. Urkel has his work cut out for him.
Along with White, Mega Shark versus Crocosaurus starred Gary Stretch, Sarah Lieving, and Robert Picardo, who played The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. Although the film ended up being a complete mess, it also spawned other films in the Mega Shark series – Mega Shark versus Mecha Shark, as well as a fourth film, Mega Shark versus Kolossus. – Rick Gonzales
13. Fascination
It may have been an inspired bout of irony that urged the director of this film, Klaus Menzel, to call the movie Fascination when it is, in fact, anything but fascinating. Complete with bad acting, extremely cheesy dialog, and over-the-top softcore love scenes, Fascination (2004) is a story about murder, betrayal, lust, and greed—all things that should make the film interesting but instead turn it into a snoozefest of a feature.
Although Fascination is undeniably bad, it is not a contender for the absolute worst movie ever made where fans are concerned (although it’s pretty high up on the list at number 13). The main reason for its redemption is actress Jacqueline Bisset (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), who is the one beacon of hope this film can provide. Next to Bisset, the rest of the cast is a throng of amateurs who make up for their lack of acting skills by taking off their clothes as often as possible.
The script for Fascination is like Swiss cheese, with so many holes that the plot of this mystery thriller is barely held together. It was written by Daryl Haney, John L. Jacobs, and Menzel, and between the three of them, they were unable to come up with a decent screenplay with passable dialog. The film stars James Naughton, Adam Garcia (known for being the voice of Kangaroo Jack in the 2003 film of the same name), Stuart Wilson, and Alice Evans.
Although Fascination is almost as terrible as you can get, like many bad movies, it can still be enjoyable to watch. Just reframe the idea that you’re about to watch a thriller and instead imagine you’re sitting down to watch a comedy spoof on the genre instead, and you’ll probably have a good time. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
14. The Avengers (1998)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has increased interest in superheroes over the course of the past 15 years, but another set of Avengers arrived in the 1990s to prove how unsuccessful a team of spies could be.
The Avengers was a film adaptation of a British television show popular in the 1960s but never found an audience some 30 years later. Costarring Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery, 1998’s The Avengers is one of the worst movies ever made according to fans.
The Avengers concerned a team of British agents who go on a mission to foil the plans of Sir August de Wynter (Connery), a wealthy terrorist hellbent on destroying the world using a weather-changing machine he invented. Super spies Emma Peel (Thurman) and John Steed (Fiennes) lead an all-star team to stop de Wynter, thus, saving the world from total annihilation.
The film is supported by a British ensemble cast that would have been better off in a different project, including Jim Broadbent, Fiona Shaw, comedian Eddie Izzard, and Eileen Atkins.
The box office gross of The Avengers says it all, as the 89-minute film only netted roughly $54 million worldwide against a budget of $60 million. Audiences were not keen on an updated movie version of the famous television series.
The film was nominated in almost every category imaginable at the Razzie Awards, taking home the prize for Worst Remake or Sequel that year. – Matthew Creith
15. Feardotcom
When it comes to horror films, there is a fine line between creepy, skin-crawling, terror-evoking cinema and repetitive, nonsensical garbage. Unfortunately for the team that put together Feardotcom (2002), this film falls under the latter. Directed by William Malone (House on Haunted Hill), Feardotcom is a disorganized and confusing mess of a feature made complete with needless violence, flimsy acting, and an unoriginal script.
Moshe Diamant (who is also known for another feature on this worst movies ever made list, Simon Sez) is responsible for the film’s story about a ghost who has made a website that kills any viewer who logs on. Josephine Coyle (Ballad of the Nightingale) and Holly Payberg-Torroija (The Guardians) also worked as contributing writers on the script. Feardotcom stars Stephen Dorff, Natascha McElhone, Stephen Rea, and Udo Keir.
Although it’s not the worst horror film ever made (that honor goes to Monster a Go-Go, which is number one on this list), Feardotcom is one of those movies where you will feel as though you have fewer brain cells than you did when the film started once the credits start to roll. An illogical mashup of One Missed Call, Untraceable, and The Ring, Feardotcom is mindless content that, at its best, can pass for background entertainment. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
16. A Beautiful Life
Actor Dana Delany has shown herself to be a fantastic performer in hit television shows like Desperate Housewives and China Beach. However, the jump to making movies was not an easy transition for the two-time Emmy Award winner, as she learned when starring in 2008’s A Beautiful Life. Directed by the late Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Chomski, A Beautiful Life has scored an astonishing 0 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer with a dismal Audience Score of 23 percent.
Based on the play Jersey City by Wendy Hammond, A Beautiful Life follows Maggie (Angela Sarafyan) as she flees her abusive father and falls in love with David (Jesse Garcia) as he searches for his mother in Los Angeles. The movie attempts to shine a light on illegal immigration and the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles strip clubs but ends up being a showcase for wasted talent across the board.
A Beautiful Life was marketed as an independent film and presented at the Los Angeles Film Festival, but not even costars Dana Delany, Debi Mazar, and Bai Ling could save it.
A Beautiful Life was supposed to be released theatrically in 2008 but was shelved until 2009. It did not receive a wide release and eventually went straight to DVD in 2011. Viewed as an amateurish effort by everyone involved, A Beautiful Life has gained little attention in the decade since its release. – Matthew Creith
17. The Haunting Of Molly Hartley
The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008) isn’t so much about a haunting, the way the title suggests, but is more like a high school-based devil thriller movie. Except that it isn’t all that thrilling. For this devil-takes-on-high-school b-flick, Director Mickey Liddell (Jackie) cast a gang of Los Angeles pretty people to play teens who worship the devil.
The film uses the typical jump scares, like loud noises, quick flashes of objects across the screen, and small details in the mirror to cause the audience’s blood pressure to rise. And it may succeed in making the occasional viewer jump from freight once or twice throughout the film. However, overall, The Haunting of Molly Hartley doesn’t contribute anything new to the horror genre and relies on classic tropes, clichés, and ploys to provide the bare necessities of a thrill.
Overall, The Haunting of Molly Hartley wouldn’t be so terrible if it weren’t for the film’s abysmal ending. It’s as though screenwriters John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine gave up halfway through the final act and decided to end the movie without any justification or explanation of the plot.
It’s for this frustrating reason that this lackluster horror film ends up on this list of the worst movies ever made, according to fans. It’s infuriating to sit through an hour-and-a-half film and never get the satisfaction of seeing the ending the film had been building up to the entire time. – Sckylar Gibby-Brown
18. Daddy Day Camp
Regarding sequels, Daddy Day Camp might be the quintessential example of an established formula gone wrong. Starring Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr., the movie is a sequel to 2003’s Daddy Day Care starring Eddie Murphy.
While Murphy’s charm and comedic genius helped lift the initial film to a box office gross of $164 million, Cuba Gooding Jr. wasn’t as much of a draw when Daddy Day Camp grossed $18 million worldwide.
Daddy Day Camp was the feature film directorial debut of television icon Fred Savage, but critics and audiences universally panned the movie upon its release. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Charlie Hinton, a daycare worker who opens his own summer camp to give his son a great camp experience that Charlie wished he would have had when he was growing up.
Unfortunately for Charlie, a rival camp opens up and provides obstacles for Charlie’s camp that might leave him financially ruined.
Despite winning the Academy Award for his supporting work in 1996’s Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding Jr.’s acting roles since the mid-1990s have been less than stellar.
Daddy Day Camp might be one of the worst movies the actor has made, as he was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor, and the film earned Worst Prequel or Sequel in 2008. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Revolution Studios from capitalizing on the franchise as they produced Grand-Daddy Day Care starring Danny Trejo in 2019. – Matthew Creith
19. The Emoji Movie
Just because a flick is a box office success doesn’t necessarily mean it has attracted fans to keep watching the movie for its content. Such is the case with The Emoji Movie, a computer-animated comedy built on the premise that emojis are real and have actual feelings. For those unfamiliar, emojis became celebrated as a way to reflect emotional cues while texting a conversation, using smiles and pictograms to convey the meaning of a particular sentence for context.
But even if emojis were once a popular staple of conversation via cell phones and email chains, it doesn’t mean a major studio like Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation should make an entire film based on this concept. However, The Emoji Movie grossed over $217 million against a budget of $50 million. It included a talented voice cast of T.J. Miller, James Corden, Maya Rudolph, Anna Faris, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sofia Vergara.
Yes, the poop emoji is used frequently in The Emoji Movie, as are all of your iPhone or Android favorites. But the story of Gene (Miller) trying to get out of his “meh” zone into a “normal” state of being didn’t quite sit well with audiences after the first viewing.
The film earned Worst Picture at the Razzie Awards, and most critics believe the movie’s box office success came from children who wanted to see their favorite animated faces on the big screen. Most adult viewers saw the movie as a ploy by corporations to advertise to families with little substance behind any of the characters. – Matthew Creith
20. Cabin Fever (2016)
2002’s Cabin Fever was directed by noted filmmaker Eli Roth and became a cult favorite among horror movie fans. 2016’s Cabin Fever, on the other hand, took Roth’s initial concept and decided to set fire to its originality.
The fourth installment in the Cabin Fever franchise, the confusingly titled Cabin Fever starred Samuel Davis, Matthew Daddario, Gage Golightly, Nadine Crocker, and Dustin Ingram in a supposed remake of the 2002 movie.
2002’s Cabin Fever marked a turning point in the creativity of writer and director Eli Roth, who delighted horror fans with such films as Hostel and Death Wish after the success of Cabin Fever.
The film spawned several sequels after introducing a sexy ensemble cast that included Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, and Giuseppe Andrews. As Roth’s directorial debut, Cabin Fever essentially launched his career and was favored by critics and audiences for using blood and humor to further the story.
2016’s Cabin Fever depicts a group of friends staying at a remote cabin who inexplicably surrender to a flesh-eating disease killing them one by one. Written by Roth and Randy Pearlstein and directed by Travis Zariwny, the movie grossed less than $100,000 at the box office before it went straight to video on demand in February 2016.
While many of the Cabin Fever films feature Eli Roth’s signature use of gore and comedy, audiences felt that this installment lacked humor, and it increased the violence to a distasteful degree. – Matthew Creith
