10 Critically Reviled Horror Movies (That Weren't Actually That Bad)

Horror icon Wes Craven’s fourth instalment of his most famous franchise was always going to have a hard time impressing critics given the decade-long wait between films, not to mention its predecessor’s disastrous performance. Scream 3 more than deserved the lukewarm reception it received, with the mediocre instalment undoing much of the franchise’s mythos as well as providing more smug failed attempts at satire than actual inventive horror.

Despite this, Craven brought together an impressive cast including Alison Brie, Hayden Panettiere, and Adam Brody as well as a string of hilarious cameos to round out the original series’ trio of survivors. The resulting film was not only filled with sharper wit than the third movie, but also had a clever twist which acted as a perfect punchline to the script’s obsession with reboots and remakes. The characters were likeable as ever and the original cast’s chemistry still sparkled, so what was missing for critics?

Well, call us cynical, but we’re pretty sure a fourth instalment could reinvent the wheel and it would still be looked down on by most critics as more evidence of horror’s preference for long-running franchises, wherein each subsequent release is often seen as automatically inferior to their originals, rather than being judged on their individual merits.