10 Horror Movies That Aren’t As Bad As Everyone Says
The not-so-rotten remakes! The underrated hillbilly horrors! The unheralded hauntings!
Some critics just seem to have it out for the horror genre.
Despite recent releases from acclaimed indie distributors A24 and Blumhouse receiving praise, many reviewers still operate under the assumption that horror movies are by definition a little tawdry, a lower art form, and not worthy of serious discussion.
The critically adored films of Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and Anna Biller may be starting to change that perception, but even then many releases by these creators are branded as "elevated horror".
The term seems to exist primarily to allow self-serious cineastes an excuse to praise horror without being, heaven forbid, a horror fan.
It's an inexplicable phenomenon as, since the beginning of film as a medium, horror cinema has always featured some of the art form's most interesting and innovative movies. From the gritty intense aura of seventies horror to the witty, deconstructive approach of nineties contributions to the genre, horror has often set trends which more mainstream genres followed in the years after.
With this in mind, this list is here to run down som surprisingly solid horror films that didn’t deserve the critical drubbing they received upon release.
10. Fright Night
1985's original Fright Night was an agreeable, funny, and surprisingly scary story of a paranoid teenager who discovers his new neighbour is a vampire and struggles to defeat the charming bastard via the help of his new girlfriend Amy and his dorky friend Evil Ed.
It's an imperfect but fun film, from Spider-man namesake/corny horror legend Tom Holland, and one which wasn't beloved by critics upon its initial release.
However, the originally frosty critical consensus didn't stop critics from complaining when the film was remade in 2011, with many reviews bemoaning the new film's "unoriginality", whilst conveniently not addressing the original film's reception.
Of course, 2011's Fright Night is actually a blast despite the negative reviews.
This fun, scary remake was early evidence of I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie's promise as a filmmaker and acts as evidence that many critics don’t seem to even watch horror remakes before claiming they’re terrible.
With a stellar cast including a scary Colin Farrell, a hilarious David Tennant, and the always-welcome addition of Christopher Mintz-Plasse, this one also benefits from some stellar teen romance chemistry between romantic leads Imogen Poots and the late Anton Yelchin.