10 Horror Movies Hated By Critics But Audiences Loved
2. Thirteen Ghosts
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 18%
2001's remake of 1960's horror film 13 Ghosts was panned into the ground by the press upon release, who fobbed it off as a soulless, pointless remake of a movie that, honestly, wasn't that great to begin with.
Yet that's also precisely why Thirteen Ghosts, in all of its aggressively early-aughts style, stands out from the glut of horror remakes being produced of its era.
Without being hopelessly shackled to iconic, much-loved source material, director Steve Beck was able to truly let his freak flag fly.
Sure, its frantic editing hasn't aged spectacularly, but as haunted house movies go, this one has a lot going for it - namely some incredible production design for the focal house and outstandingly gnarly gore effects, especially when a certain character gets cleaved in two by a sliding door.
It moves fast, is unapologetically, trashily gratuitous in regard to both gore and nudity, has a great cast - running the gamut from Matthew Lillard to Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham! - and smartly maximises its bombastic style over its less-assured narrative.
Thirteen Ghosts was a quintessential gateway horror film for many young viewers in the early 2000s, and over 20 years later remains hugely watchable - no matter what critics thought at the time.