10 Horror Movies That Squandered HUGE Potential

10. Brightburn

Brightburn has one of those banger horror movie concepts that every writer in Hollywood probably wishes they came up with - what if Superman was an evil kid?

An R-rated Dark Superman movie produced by James Gunn and written by his brothers Brian and Mark? The potential for this one speaks for itself, and yet, Brightburn ultimately feels like a thin first draft of a much better movie.

Psychological complexity and moral ambiguity are in short supply throughout, with the film largely using its R rating to coast on some brutal gore, all while protagonist Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) remains a frustrating cipher all the way to the sequel-baiting conclusion.

There are definitely some neat ideas within Brightburn, but it also goes the easy, predictable route far too often, and simply lacks the sophistication of movies penned by James Gunn himself.

It'd certainly be intriguing to see another filmmaker take a crack at the same concept sometime down the line, because it's just too damn good to toss away on one mediocre movie.