Ever See a Horror Movie That's So Bad It's Good? These Are the Best-Worst of Them.
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These days, there is no shortage of amazing horror movies out there. If you want your horror with a mix of cultural commentary, Zach Kregger's Barbarian has you covered. And if you dig a good ol' fashioned slasher with a high body count, you’d love Evil Dead Rise. These films and many others have been described as elevated or prestige horror, taking an often underappreciated genre to critical acclaim.
Sometimes, though, you don’t want to watch a good movie. What about those of us who take sick pleasure in watching something truly bad? But a bad scary movie can’t be just plain bad, because that’s boring. The best underrated horror films are the ones that are so bad that they become memorable. They reach such depths of camp that they actually become masterpieces. These movies special effects that are so horrible that you have to laugh, a plot so stupid that you don’t bother following it, and dialogue so damn cringey that you have to ruthlessly mock it.
This is also important: There's nuance in the so bad it's good scary movie. It can’t be flat-out bad, like many of the Halloween sequels, and not a campy cult classic like Evil Dead 2. This mystical, proverbial film is something that most people would dismiss as trash, but if you keep your mind open, you’ll discover something more. So, If you’re in the mood to throw popcorn at the screen and go on a wild ride, check out this list. Heckle away, people.
Saw VI
The many sequels of Saw have tried to reach the depraved heights of tension and dread as the original, but usually end up flopping on the bathroom floor. But Saw VI kicked the franchise back into gear. What makes this sequel stand out? This time, Jigsaw’s victims actually deserve the trials they must endure. A corrupt health insurance executive who withholds coverage from desperate people has the bad luck of denying John Kramer. In doing so, he earns himself a starring role in Jigsaw’s new game. The formula may feel familiar, but the gnarly traps and earnest social commentary makes this Saw sequel a gem.
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House II
House II is definitely one of those sequels where it does not matter if you haven’t seen the first one. In fact, it’s probably advisable that you don’t watch the original, so that you don’t come to House II with any preconceived notions. Is this a haunted house film, a B-movie, or a really bad comedy? In the land of So-Bad-It’s-Good, it can be all of that and more!
House II follows a couple of yuppies as they move into an inherited house. The first thing they do? Dig up an ancestor that was buried in the backyard! Said great-great-grandfather is actually not dead—he’s undead. Plus, the house is home to various time portals, which will take you back to prehistoric times or Aztec civilizations. Just strap yourself in for the ride, because even the most discerning bad-horror-movie fan won't guess where this one’s going.
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Dead Silence
James Wan’s 2007 feature film, Dead Silence, is an unexpected follow-up his success with 2004's Saw. What did Wan do with that Saw goodwill? He made a movie about haunted puppets, of course! But this is no Slappy from Goosebumps. We follow Jamie Ashen as his life is torn apart by the arrival of a ventriloquist dummy that brutally murders his wife. This prompts Jamie to return to his extremely creepy hometown, where a gothic mystery unfolds. Turns out, the secrets that haunt the town that can be traced back to a dollmaker who handmade over 100 (!!) dolls. Wow, lady—that might have been disturbing back in the day, but today it would be a booming side hustle on Etsy. Critics and horror fans alike have dismissed Dead Silence as unoriginal and downright nonsensical, but its dedication to being a weirdo creepfest—with some truly unhinged plot twists—makes it worth a watch.
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Idle Hands (1999)
Idle Hands is an underrated, Halloween-themed comedy. Devon Sawa really amps up the charm and hilarity as a teenage boy whose right hand becomes possessed by evil. Sawa struggles with his homicidal hand like he graduated from the Evil Dead school of possessed body parts. This movie is stuffed to the seams with zany bits, such as a life-saving bong, zombie Seth Green microwaving a frozen burrito, and The Offspring's Dexter Holland getting scalped while playing at a high school dance. Idle Hands may have bombed at the box office, but it's a horror comedy that's genuinely funny and creative—with quality (and fun!) practical effects.
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Society
Ever wondered if your family is actually a bunch of aliens who want to feast on your insides? Well, then you'd have a lot in common with the protagonist of this movie! This ambitious and disgusting movie has some serious social commentary, exploring classism, corruption, and the all consuming exploitation of the elite. But Society also has lots of crazy, cool body horror... and a finale that might make you a bit queasy.
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House of Wax
This underrated film was written by the same people who penned The Conjuring. House of Wax follows a group of high school friends who are about to go their separate ways after graduating. When their car breaks down, the friends follow a stranger to a nearby ghost town to buy auto parts. There, they find a set of twins with sinister intentions—and a wax museum that's a little too life-like. I've always had a fear of wax museums, and this movie does not hold back on exploiting the inherent creepiness of wax figures. Although House of Wax was dismissed by many, especially for Paris Hilton's performance, it's a creative story with truly scary and interesting set pieces.
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Castle Freak
As you may have guessed from the title: yes, there is a castle in this movie, and yes, there is definitely a freak as well. Castle Freak may very well be my favorite entry on this list. From the twisted mind of Stuart Gordon, who directed the cult classic Re-Animator, comes Castle Freak, which also stars Jeffrey Combs. Here, Combs plays an alcohol-addicted, grieving father who has inherited a 12th-century castle that he moves his wife and daughter into. Yep, turns out there's a freak in the castle. Things get freaky as the family is stalked by this freak, and people start dying and freaking out. How many times can I say freak in this blurb? If you're into scary castles, dark family secrets, and an absolutely wild Jeffrey Combs, you'll thoroughly enjoy this weird gothic tale.
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Frankenhooker
What's Frankenhooker, you ask? Oh, why, it's a Frankenstein hooker! This movie starts off innocently enough. It picks up with a young man who has failed out medical school, is really into mad science, and invents a remote-controlled lawnmower.
Unfortunately, the lawnmower mows down his beloved girlfriend. The grief kind of goes to the guy's head! Er, well, to her head as well, since he's preserving it in some sort of cranium-preserving juice. The logical next thing to do is to find a prostitute whose body is suitable to transfer her dead head on to, so that you can resurrect your girlfriend Frankenstein-style, right?
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The Boy
The Boy was easily brushed off, with critics calling it formulaic and forgettable. If you ask me, I say the story's twists and turns have a pretty neat payoff at the end. The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan takes her turn as a scream queen in this film. She plays a young woman escaping from an abusive relationship, who takes on a job as a nanny... to a doll that an older couple treats as their deceased son. Of course, the film dives into the haunted doll trope for some scares, but the nanny starts bonding with the haunted toy. The actual big bad turns out not to be some unholy doll, but something much more human.
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I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Sure, this "teens did something bad and get hunted down by a killer" movie might have been turned into the butt of many jokes. Give it another watch. You'll find that I Know What You Did Last Summer is full of legit suspense, tense chase scenes, and great dynamics between the characters. Plus, Jennifer Love-Hewitt's iconic, "What are you waiting for, huh??" scene actually hits quite hard in 2022.
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Final Destination (The Whole Series)
Yes, I do mean all five movies! Although the Final Destination franchise never reaches the heights of other prestigious slasher movies like Scream or Halloween, it has left an undeniable imprint on the horror genre. These movies were quickly brushed off as uninspired. But if you sit through any Final Destination flick, you'll find yourself entertained by the endless supply of over-the-top, campy death scenes, and some pretty impressive plot twists.
Put on a marathon of all the sequels, which are all on HBO Max, and hype yourself up about how you'd totally cheat death in all of these insane scenarios.
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CHUD
This one's a no-brainer. CHUD stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. As if the subway could get scarier, now you can picture CHUD chasing you through the tunnels. The premise: what if the government was dumping toxic waste into the sewers, and that toxic waste was turning homeless people who are forced to live underground into mutants who crave human flesh? Well, in our messed-up world, this doesn't seem that unbelievable. Although the creatures in this film are more silly than scary, CHUD is a creature feature everyone should see at least once.
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The Visit
This M. Night Shyamalan flick is a strange one, even for M. Night Shyamalan. Is The Visit a comedy? Is it a cautionary tale about the effects of aging? Is it a thoughtful reflection on abandonment? It might be all of that, sure! But most importantly, it's so bad that it's good. The scares here involve a lot of adult diapers, naked grandmas, and dirty, child-sized ovens. If you can stomach some gross-out poopy scares, you'll be in for a laugh-out-loud, crazy-ass time.
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The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Is it feminist for a female director to shoot a slasher movie where women get violently butchered and are topless half the time? That's tough to say. But it does make for a surprisingly fresh entry in the slasher genre. There's a driller killer on the loose on the eve of a slumber party. From there, we get plenty of visual gags, creative editing, and even girls eating cold pizza from a dead pizza guy. If you want your gnarly kills to be paired with a side of jokes, fire this one up on your next movie night.
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Motel Hell (1980)
After all the blood-splattering in '70s exploitation movies, you'd think the '80s would be different. Nope. Motel Hell takes B-movie tropes head-on, making for a hell of a strange story. Vincent and Ida, our antagonists, make sausage out of human meat that they "harvest" in their garden. If that doesn't already sound wild enough for you, there's a final fight scene at the end that'll make your jaw drop.
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Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)
Ever thought that Ice-T should be in a movie where a rapping Leprechaun goes on a killing spree? Well that's no longer a fever dream. It's a reality. Want to see a Leprechaun kill someone with an afro pick, groupie girls smoke four leaf clover weed, and an evil leprechaun rap? This movie's got you covered. It's full of laughs, terrible repetitive raps, and sincere protagonists that you can root for.
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Troll (1986)
Do you love Gremlins? Well, you'll hate Troll. It has weird little monsters hiding in laundry rooms, ratburgers, and two protagonists named Harry Potter. (Did J.K. Rowling watch this movie?). Things get downright trippy in this movie about a family who moves into an apartment building... which is also a passageway into an alternate troll universe. You'll love watching a possessed little girl imbued with supernatural troll strength beat up on her older brother like he's a sack of a flour! Oh, and there's a truly strange cameo from Julia Louis-Dreyfus in her first-ever film role.
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
I know, I know, it may seem like blasphemy to put this ninth installment of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise on any type of horror movie list. But this brand-new addition to the saga... is wild. There's plenty of cringe dialogue written for Gen-Z, but written by Gen X. Pointless plot twists! And wasted use of an original character. But a slasher scene on a party bus, lit by neon lights, soundtracked by obnoxious EDM music, and live broadcast on someone's Instagram?! It's something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
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