10 Horror Movies Critics Were Way Too Harsh On

1. Halloween II

Stigmata movie
Universal Pictures

Really, what's not to love about 1981's Halloween II?

You've got a movie that picks up immediately after the finale of John Carpenter's iconic Halloween. Michael Myers is continuing his laser-focussed Laurie Strode hunt. Donald Pleasence is on erratically brilliant form as the shrieking, desperate Sam Loomis. Pamela Susan Shoop's Karen Bailey has one of the absolute best deaths in the entire franchise. And we had a fiery, explosive finale that ends with The Chordettes' Mr. Sandman playing over the closing credits.

The problem Halloween II had, of course, is that, much like Jaws, the deck was stacked against it.

After John Carpenter opted against directing this follow-up, it was Rick Rosenthal in the director's chair. That was an obvious strike against the movie for many critics - and fans - but the major thing going against Halloween II is that it had to live up to one of the most influential films in the entire history of horror.

It had the same villain, the same protagonists, the same musical beats and was set in the same town as Carpenter's 1978 picture, yet the critical response to Halloween II was far from kind.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.