10 Most Overrated Horror Films Of The Past 20 Years

10. Ringu

What The Critics Said: “Subtly expressive faces and spooky interiors are the order of the day in this original, powerful treat.” (BBC)

Why They’re Wrong: “What we need,” Sam Goldwyn once said, “are some brand new clichés.” There’s nothing startlingly original about this Japanese film, but the image of a long-haired female ghost, who’s using a videotape to haunt the living, provided hack filmmakers with enough clichés for the next decade.

Given its reputation, you’d expect more from the film than a rather ordinary story about a journalist whose investigation into a young girl’s death uncovers dark secrets in a small town (what is this, Hammer House Of Horror?) The characters are cold, the plotting is pedestrian and if you find the sight of a man with a towel on his head terrifying, you deserve all you get.