The horror genre is filled with excellent examples of classic terror and superbly executed stories that have gone down in the IHMDB. Efforts that terrify generations of movie-goers for years, haunting their dreams and making them hide behind the sofa endless times over. However, there is no denying that it is a genre filled equally with absolutely awful flicks. Bad b-movies, atrocious ‘special’ effects, and non-sensical plot lines are all aspects of terrible horror filmmaking that has reared its ugly head on more that one occasion. So, without further ado, here are a select few titles from that back catalogue of quite literally horrible horror movies.
TROLL 2 (1990)
Some horror films have actually gone down in history as being so bad that they have since become cult classics enjoyed for their awfulness. One such movie is writer/director Claudio Fragasso’s follow-up to 1986’s ‘Troll’. The horror b-movie released in 1990 was notable for the fact that it didn’t actually feature any trolls whatsoever and had no discernible connections to that of the first movie. Yet, just a few years back, this dreadful effort found a new lease of life thanks to its cult following which even led to a special spin-off documentary entitled ‘Best Worst Movie’.
THE HAUNTING (1999)
Any genre of movie suffers from the dreaded remake treatment and horror is quite a regular victim of such atrocities. When done right it can be great (David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ for example) but sadly many fall very short of the mark. We’ve decided to include Jan de Bont’s extremely lacklustre 1999 redo of Robert Wise’s classic 1963 chiller simply as an example of how horror and tension can be immediately cancelled out for the audience when it comes to using excessive CGI. Quite frankly it’s a yawn-fest.
FEARDOTCOM (2002)
A movie that many have never even heard of is William Malone’s techno-horror ‘Feardotcom’. One of the early examples of how the web could be used in horror, the film starring Stephen Dorff lacked originality and its comparisons to a number of J-horror efforts and other similar movies was astounding. Unoriginal, uninspired and for the most part undecipherable.
HOUSE OF THE DEAD (2003)
German director Uwe Boll has become a notorious figure in filmmaking for creating some truly terrible movies throughout his career which are often criticised and reviled. His 2003 adaptation of the popular Sega video game ‘House of the Dead’ is one such case. Often seen as one of the worst video game adaptations of all time, this laughable attempt at a horror film sees college students attempt to tackle crazed zombies; if you’re intrigued by that premise then don’t be fooled, House of the Dead fails to deliver in almost every way possible.
DEAD MAN’S HAND: CASINO OF THE DAMNED (2007)
Surprisingly there aren’t many places that horror hasn’t attempted to invade at some point. Once such venue is in the inner workings of a casino and Las Vegas is the location for the utterly forgettable Charles Band helmed horror ‘Dead Man’s Hand’. Even appearances from popular horror icons Sid Haig (‘The Devil’s Rejects’) and Michael Berryman (‘The Hills Have Eyes’) couldn’t save this butch up about a couple of mobsters haunting a casino. The effects are weak and you may find yourself extremely bored for at least two thirds of the movie. In fact, if you want your horror fix your better off enjoying some horror movie games at Royal Casino instead of indulging this snooze fest.
