10 Horror Movies Critics Were Way Too Harsh On

Horror is a most unique corner of cinema. Audiences are rewarded with an absolutely ludicrous amount of possibilities across the genre - whatever your taste, horror has your flavour.

The thing is with horror, film critics are so hot or cold on the overall genre and its subsequent numerous subgenres. Regardless of what fans think, more often than not a new offering is completely slammed by the critical masses.

In terms of studios and mainstream coverage, film critics are pivotal to the movie industry. Their word can be the difference between a picture being a massive success or being a total failure, as many a person bases their own viewing habits on what they're told be those people who are paid to watch and review films.

What's worth keeping it mind, though, is that those critics may not always get it right, and there are countless times when critics have slammed a horror movie, only for it to be well received by audiences. For example, Psycho was completely slaughtered when it first hit the silver screen back in 1960, as was The Thing a few decades later.

With all of this in mind, then, here are ten horror movies that critics needlessly slammed in a way that was so, so uncalled for.

Jeannot Szwarc was given one of the most poisoned chalices in cinema history.

For the French filmmaker, he was tasked with taking the baton from Steven Spielberg and somehow putting together a worthy sequel to Spielberg's iconic Jaws. As in, one of the greatest movies of all time and a picture that launched the concept of the summer blockbuster.

To his credit, Szwarc's Jaws 2 is a damn fine movie. The problem is, of course, it got tore apart by the majority of critics - and fans, to be fair - upon its release because, quite simply, it wasn't Jaws.

Jaws 2 was never going to have the same impact as Jaws, and it was never going to change the face of the film industry like Jaws did. When viewed without trying to compare every frame and line of dialogue to Spielberg's picture, 1978's Jaws 2 stands up as one of the best shark movies out there.

With Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton and Jeffrey Kramer some of the returning faces here, Jaws 2 sees Amity Island once again tormented by a great white shark. This time out, a large focus is on a group of teenagers - including Chief Brody's two sons - who find themselves stranded at sea, while this apex predator circles them.

One particular thing of note, too, is that Jaws 2 features one of the all-time great movie screams, as Ann Dusenberry's Tina delivers a chilling "SHARK!"