10 Horror Movies Critics Were Way Too Harsh On

8. Sorority Row

Stigmata  movie
Summit Entertainment

Stewart Hendler's Sorority Row is one of those rare remakes that actually surpasses an original.

That original was 1982's The House on Sorority Raw, and Hendler's 2009 effort took that formulaic slasher and breathed new life into it in a way that felt fresh yet familiar.

Is Sorority Row an all-time classic of the genre? Nope. What it is, though, is a brisk, entertaining slasher that's the perfect tonic when you're looking for something easy to watch for 90 minutes or so. The kills aren't overly gory, the plot isn't particularly clever and the performances aren't all that noteworthy, yet the film is a nice time-filler that ticks all of the right boxes for those of us with a penchant for '80s horror tropes.

Plot-wise, Sorority Row sees an opening act prank massively backfire, resulting in the death of a college girl. After her friends hide the dead body down a mine shaft, a year later the group all start to be targeted by a mysterious figure who knows what they did. Again, all very generic, all seen before, but nowhere near as awful a viewing experience as some would have you believe.

Regardless of how it's a great popcorn horror flick, critics hated Sorority Row when it hit the silver screen.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.