Famous Horror Movies That Got Surprisingly Great Reviews

You’ve probably heard horror movie directors say they create films “for the fans, not the critics.” But let’s be real – no director actually makes a movie for critics. There aren’t enough of them to matter, and they don’t even buy tickets! Unless you’re making a film destined to earn almost no money, trying to please critics is just not a smart move.

It might surprise some movie fans, but film critics generally enjoy watching movies. It’s easy to forget that people don’t become critics if they dislike film! Why would anyone choose a difficult, low-paying career if they didn’t love what they do? Unless someone enjoys hardship and being broke, it’s simply not a sensible choice.

If you check websites like Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that film critics actually enjoy a lot of movies, even in genres they’re often said to dislike, like horror. They don’t just appreciate classics from famous directors like Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho or John Carpenter’s Halloween either. They also give positive reviews to lower-budget, more sensational films – exploitation movies, monster flicks, and even sequels and prequels. I’ve put together a list of 10 examples, and I created it with the fans in mind, not the critics.

Famous Horror Movies That Got Surprisingly Good Reviews

Hostel (2005)

Horror movies often seem to get worse reviews the more gore they have – maybe someone should study that! Eli Roth’s Hostel is definitely a gory film, about backpackers tortured by Europeans, but it actually received surprisingly positive reviews. Its 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes is just barely “fresh,” but it’s better than most movies in the “torture porn” genre received – the sequel, Hostel: Part II, for example, didn’t do as well.

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 71%. Troma Entertainment is known for low-budget, over-the-top movies – titles like The First Turn-On!, Killer Condom, and Rabid Grannies haven’t exactly been critically acclaimed. However, some of their films, including their most famous creation, The Toxic Avenger, have received decent reviews. This success is likely why The Toxic Avenger spawned three sequels and a recent, higher-budget remake starring Peter Dinklage.

Happy Death Day (2017)

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 71%, Happy Death Day initially seemed like a simple copy of Groundhog Day, featuring a protagonist stuck repeating the day of her murder until she could solve it. However, the film surprised both critics and viewers, becoming a worldwide success with $125 million in earnings and even spawning a sequel, Happy Death Day 2U.

Malignant (2021)

With a score of 77 on Rotten Tomatoes, James Wan’s Malignant initially appeared to be a standard psychological horror film about a woman experiencing frightening visions that become reality. However, the trailers deliberately concealed a surprisingly unexpected and bold twist. Once revealed, the film’s positive critical reception becomes much clearer – it’s a daring movie that fully commits to its vision.

The Shallows (2016)

Okay, so the premise – Blake Lively in a bikini fighting a shark – sounded a little ridiculous, I’ll admit. But honestly, The Shallows is really good! The director, Jaume Collet-Serra, did an amazing job building tension. It’s a legitimately suspenseful movie, and the whole battle between Lively’s character and the shark is just incredibly intense. It definitely exceeded my expectations!

Saw X (2023)

With an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Saw X is a surprising success. Previous Saw movies—all nine of them—received negative reviews on the site. The series had even tried to reboot itself twice after the seventh film, which was falsely advertised as the last one. Despite a history of confusing storylines and extreme violence, Saw X earned the best reviews of any film in the franchise. Its success might be due to a simpler approach: the film takes place between the first and second movies, allowing it to sidestep the complicated events and character replacements that followed. It seems that with these horror sequels, less is more—which is a bit ironic considering the Saw films are known for their elaborate and complex traps.

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Okay, so Ouija… let’s be real, it started from a board game designed to scare kids, and the movie itself wasn’t exactly a critical darling – it landed an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t winning any awards. Still, it made money despite a tiny budget, and I always figured that was down to the whole ideomotor effect – you know, people subconsciously moving things and thinking it’s supernatural. That success led to a prequel, and honestly, that’s where things got interesting. The prequel was surprisingly good. It turned out to be because Mike Flanagan, a really talented horror director, took the helm. He basically ignored the first film and used the Ouija board as a jumping-off point to tell a really compelling story about a family of fake psychics who end up facing a real ghost. It was a smart move, and it totally worked.

Crawl (2019)

With an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Crawl is a great example of how filmmaking style can elevate a simple premise. The movie, about a woman pursued by alligators, could easily have been a forgettable thriller. However, director Alexandre Aja, with Sam Raimi producing, turned it into a genuinely terrifying and gripping monster movie. As critic Roger Ebert famously said, it’s not what a movie is about, but how it’s presented that truly matters, and Crawl proves his point.

Terrifier 2 (2022)

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 87%, the horror series Terrifier has quickly become a phenomenon. What started as a small independent project from Damien Leone has exploded into a major franchise, complete with action figures and a haunted house attraction at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. While the films are quite controversial due to their extreme gore, they’ve received generally positive reviews – all three Terrifier movies are currently rated ‘Fresh’ on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, Terrifier 2 has earned a higher score than iconic films like Easy Rider and A Clockwork Orange!

M3GAN (2022)

With a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2022 hit M3GAN surprised everyone with its cleverness. The film centers on a life-sized doll powered by artificial intelligence who becomes overly protective of her owner. It’s both a funny and frightening story, and critics clearly understood and appreciated what made M3GAN special – something that doesn’t always happen with horror films.

Drew Struzan’s Greatest Movie Posters

The Thing (1982)

The famous poster Drew Struzan designed for John Carpenter’s The Thing doesn’t actually look much like the creature in the movie. The alien in the film constantly changes shape, while the figure on the poster appears to glow with an unseen face hidden within a hooded coat. Despite this difference, the poster perfectly captures the film’s mysterious and terrifying atmosphere, suggesting that anyone could be hiding a terrible evil beneath a normal exterior.

Unfaithfully Yours (1984)

This overlooked comedy, originally based on a film by Preston Sturges, features a striking poster by Drew Struzan. It shows Dudley Moore dramatically ripping sheet music with a knife, towering over a picture of Nastassja Kinski, who plays his potentially unfaithful wife. While Struzan didn’t create the two different taglines on the poster, his artwork perfectly captures their spirit.

Back to the Future (1985)

Drew Struzan is best known for his posters for the Back to the Future trilogy. The first poster perfectly captured the film’s energy, showing Michael J. Fox emerging from the DeLorean, looking at his watch amidst fiery trails. He successfully built on this design for the sequels: Part II featured Doc Brown and a futuristic look, while Part III added Doc’s love interest, Clara, and elements of the Old West. Even now, these posters are instantly recognizable and represent the unique feel of each film.

The Goonies (1985)

The movie poster for The Goonies perfectly captures the film’s thrilling cliffside scenes. It shows the kids’ treasure hunt in Oregon with a literal depiction of the dangerous situations they face – you can even see a treasure map in the background! I especially like how the poster shows a stalactite breaking off in Josh Brolin’s hand, with rocks falling everywhere, which really emphasizes the excitement and peril.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

A common feature of Drew Struzan’s movie posters was depicting the main hero as much larger than everyone else, giving them a legendary quality. However, his poster for Big Trouble in Little China cleverly flips this idea on its head. The film itself playfully mocks over-the-top action heroes. Kurt Russell’s character, Jack Burton, thinks he’s a capable hero, but he’s actually clumsy and relies on his companion, Wang (Dennis Dun), to save the day. Struzan’s poster exaggerates Jack’s confidence with a large, imposing image, setting viewers up to be surprised by how inept he actually is in John Carpenter’s film.

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

Drew Struzan was renowned for his ability to depict large groups of actors on movie posters, instantly capturing each character’s essence through their pose and expression. He skillfully used this talent on several posters for the Police Academy films, perfectly portraying the unique personalities of each comedian. Many consider his final Police Academy poster, for Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, to be his best work – it’s full of character, even down to the small detail of Bobcat Goldthwait’s shoe falling off.

Masters of the Universe (1987)

The Masters of the Universe movie wasn’t very good – it was actually quite cheesy. However, you’d never guess that from the poster Drew Struzan created. It’s full of powerful imagery, with energy radiating from Dolph Lundgren’s sword and his impressive physique, making the movie look incredibly cool. If the film itself had matched the poster’s dramatic flair, it wouldn’t have been such a big failure.

Coming to America (1988)

This is another fantastic Drew Struzan poster, and like many of his works, it makes the main actor seem incredibly imposing by showing him much larger than everyone and everything around him. Eddie Murphy’s pose in this poster is particularly striking – his hand on his jacket, the other on his hip, puffed-out chest, and huge smile all combine for a really memorable image. It’s so iconic that even after 30 years, I could easily recreate it from memory if you asked me to.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Struzan was incredibly skilled at capturing a person’s likeness, even when painting cartoon characters or puppets. He created posters for several Muppet movies, but his work for The Muppet Christmas Carol is often considered his best. It beautifully combines his talent for exaggerated, yet recognizable, portraits with a dramatic and visually striking composition, all rendered in a painterly style.

The Flintstones (1994)

To be honest, I remember seeing this poster as a child and always thought it was a photograph. It wasn’t until much later that I learned it was actually an illustration. That really speaks to how incredibly skilled Struzan was at painting realistic faces, expressions, and even things like dinosaurs and ancient birds.

Cutthroat Island (1995)

Despite being a major box office failure in the 1990s – even contributing to the downfall of Carolco Pictures and effectively ending pirate films in Hollywood for nearly ten years – Cutthroat Island featured a stunning poster by Drew Struzan. Widely considered one of his best works, the poster beautifully captures stars Geena Davis and Matthew Modine, and is filled with incredible details, from the smoke rising from the cannons to the textured edges that resemble an antique treasure map. It’s such a vivid image, you almost expect to feel seasick!

Mallrats (1995)

As a huge fan of both Kevin Smith and Drew Struzan, it was amazing to see them team up for the Mallrats poster. Struzan just got Smith’s vision – taking these everyday, kind of goofy New Jersey guys and treating them like legendary heroes was brilliant. The way he made it look like a classic, worn comic book cover? That was the perfect touch, and it really captured the spirit of the movie.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

Drew Struzan designed the posters for all the Star Wars Special Editions and prequel films, and choosing the best one is really a matter of opinion. Personally, I think The Phantom Menace poster is his best work. It’s a beautifully arranged collection of characters, droids, and spaceships, all set against the striking image of Darth Maul. The darkness of Maul’s face really stands out compared to the brighter, more optimistic images of Liam Neeson and young Jake Lloyd.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

By the early 2000s, Drew Struzan’s movie posters had become so well-respected that seeing one displayed in a theater lobby almost instantly told you the film was a major release. That’s certainly how I felt when I first saw his poster for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Seeing his artwork on the poster made me immediately believe the movie would be as popular and successful as the books it was based on.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2003)

According to artist Drew Struzan, he started working on this artwork in 1982 when he was asked to create some initial designs for the Blade Runner movie poster. Warner Bros. eventually chose a different artist, so Struzan never finished it. However, when director Ridley Scott created the “final cut” of the film in the early 2000s, he recalled Struzan’s concept and asked if they could use it then. Struzan agreed, and this completed image represents one of the highlights of his impressive career.

2025-10-27 18:00