Around Halloween each year, fans of scary movies start searching for films to get their fix of frights. It’s enjoyable to re-watch classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Psycho, but a horror film is usually most terrifying when you see it for the first time. That’s when it can really catch you off guard and shock you with surprising turns and gruesome scenes.
If you search for new horror movies online-for example, by Googling phrases like “best horror films” or “most famous horror films”-and then check those results against review aggregators like Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll notice something interesting: many of the most popular and widely-seen horror movies ever made actually received poor reviews from critics. We’re not just talking about low-budget films like your Troll 2s. These are movies that became huge franchises, continuing to generate sequels, spin-offs, and television series even today.
Here are 15 examples of horror movies that have become classics on home video and streaming, even though they weren’t initially praised by critics when they were released in theaters. (These films span almost 50 years, so we’re talking about movies that have really stood the test of time!) I’ve included each film’s Rotten Tomatoes score, as well as a representative review, so you can see what critics thought of them at the time.
This really highlights that horror, just like any other movie genre, is all about personal opinion. What one person considers scary, another might find cheesy, in poor taste, or even boring. So, don’t dismiss any of these films from your Halloween watchlist simply because of what the critics say.
Saw (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50
Sample Review: “It’s baffling how a film this shallow and childish was even produced.” – Associated Press
Final Destination (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49
Sample Review: “Final Destination isn’t very suspenseful or thrilling.” – Newsday
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49
Sample Review: “I appreciate that the filmmakers attempted to take the story in a new direction. However, the plot they selected was incredibly dull.” – ChrisStuckmann.com
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48
Sample Review: “Some movies are just bad, while others are truly awful. But then you get the exceptionally foolish, manipulative, and disturbing films that you wish you could erase from your mind.” – Los Angeles Times
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47
Sample Review: “It begins very promisingly but loses steam, similar to a fantastic old car during a long journey.” – Salon
Teen Wolf (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46
Sample Review: “Despite being a fairly harmless film, Teen Wolf is surprisingly dull.” – The New York Times
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46
Sample Review: “It’s as silly and awkward as the name suggests.” – Dallas Morning News
The Purge (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 41
Sample Review: “The film, which aims to be a suspenseful thriller, unfortunately becomes a drawn-out and preachy experience.” – The Dissolve
Anaconda (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 41
Sample Review: “Unappealing, not scary, and lacking even the expected nudity, Anaconda is simply bad.” – Austin Chronicle
The Grudge (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 41
Sample Review: “It seems a horror movie can have too much unnecessary violence.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Resident Evil (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36
Sample Review: “Fans of the game will likely be let down. Those hoping for a good zombie movie will also be disappointed, as will fans of Paul Anderson.” – Empire
Children of the Corn (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36
Sample Review: “It becomes increasingly ridiculous as the years go on.” – eFilmCritic.com
Leprechaun (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 35
Sample Review: “…straight-to-VHS rubbish…” — film-authority.com
Silent Hill (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 34
Sample Review: “Silent Hill? Nonsenseville, more like.” — BBC
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 25
Sample Review: “This movie isn’t suitable for anyone under 13, and even teenagers and adults won’t enjoy it.” – People Magazine
Great Comedies That Got Bad Reviews
Caddyshack (1981)
Comedies often don’t receive much praise from critics. Many films that became hugely popular were initially panned when they were released. A great example is Caddyshack, a much-loved comedy from the 1980s, which critics at the time weren’t very kind to. Some reviews described it as a disappointing sequel to Animal House, which was also co-written by Harold Ramis. In fact, The New York Times bluntly called it an “Animal House spinoff” and said it wasn’t even as funny as ‘Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie.”
Spaceballs (1987)
Dark Helmet complains, saying “Shoot! Nothing ever works, even in the future!” President Skroob is shown being affectionate with several women. Many characters are insultingly called A-hole. (“Keep shooting, you guys!” Dark Helmet commands at one point.) And this goes on and on. Despite all this, Spaceballs received a PG rating, which is why my parents allowed me to watch it when I was young, and it became my favorite film. (Star Wars is excellent; Star Wars with swearing and silly jokes is even more fun.) While kids (and I, in particular) loved it, movie critics in the 1980s didn’t. You can keep trying, but you’ll never change my mind – Spaceballs is a great movie.
Ishtar (1987)
The biggest Hollywood failure of the 1980s was a comedic take on the classic Crosby-Hope Road movies. However, it came with incredibly high expectations because the making of the film was famously difficult and costly. Director Elaine May, producer and star Warren Beatty, and star Dustin Hoffman were constantly arguing. Honestly, looking back at the reports about Ishtar‘s production, it’s hard to tell where all the money went-unless journalists were buying a lot of Dustin Hoffman’s headbands! But that’s not really the point. If you weren’t one of the people who invested in Ishtar, the financial side doesn’t matter much. What *does* matter is the fantastic comedic connection between Beatty and Hoffman, who play two clumsy songwriters who accidentally get caught up in a secret conflict over control of the Middle East.
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone’s over-the-top, silly humor wasn’t well-received by critics at first-many of them disliked it. However, despite the negative reviews, Home Alone became the highest-grossing movie of 1990. Over time, it’s become a beloved Christmas tradition-like It’s a Wonderful Life, but with more slapstick injuries to the groin! It’s hard to understand how anyone could write a negative review of it (and it happened; Roger Ebert famously gave Home Alone two and a half stars, while he rated Home Alone 3 with three stars. It doesn’t really add up!).
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
Even clever comedies often struggle to impress critics. Silly comedies rarely have a chance. And sequels to silly comedies? You’d almost have better luck getting good reviews with a movie called Critics Are Morons. Hot Shots! Part Deux faced all those challenges: it was a comedy, a deliberately dumb one, and a follow-up to another silly movie. On top of that, Hot Shots! Part Deux parodied the over-the-top action films of the 1980s, a genre that many critics also didn’t enjoy, weren’t familiar with, or simply didn’t get. It seemed destined for negative reviews, and indeed, Hot Shots! Part Deux received mostly lukewarm to poor reviews upon its release. (It still has a low score on Rotten Tomatoes.) But that doesn’t make this Rambo spoof any less funny.
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
When it comes to silly comedies… a film called Dumb and Dumber probably wasn’t going to impress many critics, even if it was actually a cleverly funny movie. Nowadays, the Farrelly brothers’ first big success is remembered much more fondly. (The follow-up, Dumb and Dumber To, also received negative reviews. However, it’s actually much funnier than those reviews suggest.)
Heavyweights (1995)
Heavyweights isn’t Hamlet. However, it’s also a far cry from typical children’s movies. The script was co-written by Judd Apatow, and the cast includes a young Kenan Thompson and a mid-90s Ben Stiller playing Tony Perkis Jr., a fitness guru. Perkis Jr. is essentially a practice run for Stiller’s similar character, White Goodman, from Dodgeball. It’s definitely worth watching, particularly if you’re looking for something funny to enjoy with your kids that’s a bit different from the usual.
Billy Madison (1995)
It’s interesting to notice a trend when looking at reviews throughout a comedian’s career: their first successful projects often receive worse reviews than their later work. One explanation is that comedians improve with age and experience, leading to better movies. This is likely true in many instances.
However, it also makes you wonder if critics’ understanding of a comedian’s style influences their reviews. For example, when looking at reviews of Billy Madison, it seems like many critics simply didn’t understand Adam Sandler’s humor. But over time, the reviews of Sandler’s work generally got better (though not always!).
Tommy Boy (1995)
In the 1990s, TV critics weren’t very enthusiastic about Saturday Night Live, and movie critics were even more critical when cast members started appearing in films. (Refer to the previous item on this list.) It’s true that some SNL movies (and comedies with former SNL stars) weren’t very good. However, others were genuinely hilarious-like Tommy Boy, which was a perfect vehicle for Chris Farley. The movie features Farley as the son of a brake-pad company owner who must go on a sales journey to rescue the business, aided by a somewhat annoying colleague (David Spade). Surprisingly, critics didn’t like “Tommy want wingy!” – I find that puzzling.
MouseHunt (1997)
I’ve been following Gore Verbinski’s work for a while now, and by the 2010s, a lot of us who appreciate directors with a unique vision really started to recognize him. We loved his diverse, big-budget films like The Ring, Rango, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. But for some reason, his first movie, MouseHunt, doesn’t get nearly as much attention – maybe because it’s just so silly and over-the-top. It’s a hilarious story about two brothers (played by Nathan Lane and Lee Evans) desperately trying to catch a mouse that’s causing chaos in their inherited mansion. It’s full of amazing physical comedy and surprisingly good special effects – it feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon come to life, but Verbinski brought his signature technical skill to it. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, you should definitely check it out.
Dirty Work (1998)
I always felt Norm Macdonald was tragically underrated during his life. He was famously fired from SNL – seemingly just for being too funny – and he kept delivering great work in all sorts of formats right up until his passing in 2021, even though a lot of it didn’t get the critical love it deserved. Take Dirty Work, for instance. It’s got a measly 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie sees Norm playing a guy who starts a business getting revenge for people, alongside his friend (Artie Lange). And get this – it was directed by another seriously underappreciated talent from the ’90s, Bob Saget! Honestly, Dirty Work isn’t a cinematic masterpiece, and some of the humor is definitely…questionable. But it’s often genuinely hilarious – much funnier than a lot of the comedies that *did* get praised back then – and Norm is fantastic in it. (Seriously, what was up with those enormous shirts?!) I’m definitely adding Dirty Work to my rewatch list for this weekend.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
In 1998, some critics were confused by The Big Lebowski, seeing it as an odd next step after the Coen brothers’ most praised film, Fargo. Following a highly successful and Oscar-nominated movie, the Coens chose to create… a rambling, funny mystery centered around a laid-back detective? Many critics struggled to understand it given the Coens’ previous work. However, when the film was seen separately from the success of Fargo (which was much more serious in tone), it came across as much more unique and unconventional.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Actors in their thirties portraying high school students? Completely random, off-the-wall jokes? A can of mixed vegetables that talks? Wet Hot American Summer puzzled many critics. But maybe the critics missed the point. They were just jotting down their opinions-like everyone else-and most of us absolutely loved Wet Hot. It’s easily one of the most hilarious and bizarre comedies of the 2000s.
Jackass: The Movie (2002)
I understand that Jackass isn’t for everyone, particularly professional film critics. The Rotten Tomatoes score for the original movie reflects this – at 49 percent, opinions were almost evenly split between positive and negative. However, I’m a bit surprised that the first Jackass movie – which many consider the funniest in the series – actually received the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of all the films. (The newest installment, Jackass Forever, scored an 86 – nearly twice as high as the first film!) It’s possible that critics developed an appreciation for crude humor over time, perhaps because newer, younger critics grew up with the television show and movies.
The Break-Up (2006)
The Break-Up is often awkward and uncomfortable to watch, and that seems to be the point. As a movie about the difficult end of a long relationship between Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, it doesn’t offer typical romantic comedy enjoyment. But… what would you expect from a film titled The Break-Up? I find the idea of a break-up movie strangely appealing. Or maybe my wife and I-we still playfully shout “Baby wanted 12!” and “Mind meld! Mind meld!” at each other-are the only ones who realize how many memorable lines this movie has. (Most critics didn’t seem to think so; it only has a 34 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.)
Hot Rod (2007)
The way critics responded to the Lonely Island’s Hot Rod is very similar to how they reacted to Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison: many simply didn’t understand it. The film’s unusual humor is certainly strange, but it is genuinely funny-so much so that Hot Rod has become a major cult comedy from the 2000s. It also helped that Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island achieved even greater success later on, leading their fans to discover this early, hidden treasure. The common reaction was always: “How could this movie have received such negative reviews?!?”
The House Bunny (2008)
If anyone other than Anna Faris played the main role, The House Bunny-the story of a Playboy Bunny (who’s only 27, but considered “old” in that world) kicked out of the Mansion and tasked with guiding a group of misfit sorority sisters-would likely be difficult to watch. But with Anna Faris, it’s hilarious, and she delivers one of the best comedic performances of the 21st century. The supporting actors are great too; Emma Stone and Kat Dennings are among the sorority sisters who Faris helps navigate the world of womanhood. Ironically, over half of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for The House Bunny are actually negative.
Step Brothers (2008)
I’m really surprised Step Brothers has a negative score on Rotten Tomatoes. I remember everyone enjoying Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers as well. It seems not everyone agreed, though. Over time, however, fans have embraced the film. It’s definitely more unusual than Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s previous work, and some see it as the best representation of their comedic style. But I suppose not all critics can enjoy a great Catalina Wine Mixer.
Semi-Pro (2008)
Among the films on this list, Semi-Pro has one of the lowest scores on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s actually the one I’ve seen the most! Will Ferrell stars as the owner and best player of a struggling ABA team, the Flint Tropics, who’s trying to make them good enough to join the NBA. The low score isn’t much of a shock; critics generally only like Will Ferrell comedies when he works with Adam McKay-and even those weren’t always hits, as we saw earlier. However, the movie has some really funny scenes and a great supporting cast (including Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Will Arnett, Andy Daly, Andy Richter, David Koechner, Rob Cordry, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, and many more) that put it on par with some of Ferrell’s better-regarded work. And let’s not forget he sings a song called “Love Me Sexy.” “Love Me Sexy!” Are you not entertained?!
MacGruber (2010)
Both critics and audiences failed to connect with MacGruber. The film performed poorly in theaters, earning only $9.3 million – not enough to cover its $10 million production cost. It seems people weren’t interested in seeing the SNL sketch about a clumsy action hero expanded into a full-length movie. However, MacGruber offered more than just a longer version of the TV sketch; it cleverly satirized the entire action movie genre and included some of the most outrageous comedic moments seen in the last 25 years. The negative response to the film frustrates me so much that I feel an overwhelming urge to repeatedly write KFBR392 in a notebook.
Read More
2025-10-04 00:32