10 Horror Movies Hated By Critics But Audiences Loved
3. Idle Hands
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 15%
1999's Idle Hands is nothing if not a horror film which suffered from spectacularly poor timing.
Released just 10 days after the Columbine High School massacre, it arrived in cinemas at a time when critics and audiences alike didn't have the stomach for a film centered around a teen killing spree and the national conversation was dominated by whether or not the Columbine killers were influenced by violent movies.
This isn't to excuse the critiques of all reviewers from the period, but it certainly didn't help, which combined with the movie's theatrical release being significantly scaled-back meant that audiences didn't really have much of a chance to discover just how damn fun Idle Hands actually is.
Devon Sawa is terrific as a stoner teenager who finds himself battling his own murderous possessed hand in this howlingly insane horror-comedy that's packed with inspired slapstick, impressively well-aged gore, and an all-timer cameo from The Offspring. What's not to like?
In the very least, horror fans came around to Idle Hands once it hit home video, and today it endures as a seasonal classic that's perfect to watch around Halloween.