10 Horror Movies Test Audiences Loved (And Everyone Else Hated)

Halloween Kills was filmed in late 2019, and Universal held test screenings for the sequel in early 2020, mere weeks before the pandemic shut cinemas down globally.

And reports from those test screenings were extremely positive, noting both the intense violence and inspired use of flashbacks.

Ultimately Halloween Kills was delayed by an entire year, from October 2020 to October 2021, but the savage marketing certainly seemed to back up the rapturous early word on the movie.

But then it came out.

After premiering to mixed reviews at the Venice Film Festival, Halloween Kills' critical and fan response cratered on general release, with many citing the frankly braindead screenplay, questionable character decisions, baffling lack of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), and overall feeling that most of the movie did little to advance the story.

Though an easy box office success, the vitriolic fan reaction to the movie outside of its gnarly kills ensured expectations were categorically lowered for the recent Halloween Ends, which fared even worse.

The gulf of opinion between those test screenings and the final film is drastic enough to make you consider whether Universal needlessly tinkered with it during the near-two years they had it sitting on a shelf.