Pity the poor Fantastic Four. As if they had things bad enough at the hands of Roger Corman and Horatio Hornblower, they've gone on to star in one of the most explosive and loudest movie misfires in years; Josh Trank's already notorious Fantastic Four. Or should that be Fant4stick? Fantfourstick? There's no denying that Fantastic Four is a failure - a poor adaptation of the bright, colourful source material, and a bad film in general. But plagued by so many problems behind the scenes as it was, it's little wonder that things turned out quite so rosy. And yet, go in with realistically lowered expectations, give the thing a chance and take it on its own merits, and maybe Trank's Fantastic Four isn't quite so bad. Reviews have praised its first half, a film which at least tries to be something a little different, and injects some genuinely effective body horror and sci-fi into the proceedings. Granted, genuinely effective body horror is the last thing anyone wants from a Fantastic Four movie, but at least they tried. No, when it comes to trashing your property (not a reference to allegations regarding Trank and his rented home) there are far worse perpetrators out there, having done much worse damage to beloved characters and franchises. Here we take a look at ten such cinematic monstrosities - comic book adaptations which make Fant4stick look like Marvel's Greatest by comparison.
A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.
