10 Horror Movies That Actually Benefitted From Bad Acting
1. The Happening
The Happening is considered one of M. Night Shyamalan's worst films and showed how far the director had fallen despite his promising start. It also shows the filmmaker's ability to take credible talent and transform them into awkward, bumbling, actors.
Case in point, Mark Wahlberg.
The former rapper proved his acting chops with his then-recent role in The Departed, which earned him an Oscar nomination. Unfortunately for Marky Mark, The Happening washes away all goodwill from that part with his baffling and alien turn as high school teacher Elliot Moore.
Casting tough guy Wahlberg as a science teacher is odd enough, but the actor makes Shyamalan's oddball dialogue into something special with his own weird line delivery that is stilted and inhuman. He talks to plants, randomly sings 'Black Water' by the Doobie Brothers to prove he and his companions are normal, and of course, he says 'What? Noooo,' when accused of trying to murder an old lady in her sleep.
Of course, the actor isn't completely to blame as Shyamalan's terrible dialogue would be a challenge for anyone to get through. But Wahlberg gives a performance that is both enthusiastic and unenthusiastic which when combined with the lines given to him, turns The Happening into an unintentional comedy.