10 More Horror Movies Hated By Critics But Audiences Loved
The gulf between critical reception and audience fanfare is HUGE.
There are two immutable facts about the horror genre - it's more prone to critical scorn than any other type of movie, and it's also the genre where reviews have the least amount of impact on the mainstream.
The horror genre has proven itself impressively "critic-proof" over the years, because when audiences just want to see some flashy brutality and fringe spookiness, they don't necessarily crave a great script and top-shelf acting.
Horror fans are an enthusiastic and forgiving bunch, but beyond that, they know what they like, and they aren't about to let pesky critics tell them what they should and shouldn't enjoy. This likely explains why there's sometimes a massive divide between the critical and audience reception of a new horror movie.
And so, because the horror genre loves nothing more than sequels, as a follow-up to our 10 Horror Movies Hated By Critics But Audiences Loved, here are ten more horror films which were loathed by critics but keenly embraced by fans.
From entries into major horror franchises to critically panned one-offs which became cult classics, these films all took a beating from reviewers only to be soundly enjoyed by general viewers at large...
10. Underworld
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 31%
Critics didn't have much kind to say about Len Wiseman's 2003 vampire-werewolf actioner Underworld, largely dismissing it as a stylish yet monotonous genre exercise that came and went without making much of a dent.
But general viewers had way more of a blast, per its 79% audience approval rating, not to mention the fact that it was a surprise box office hit, grossing almost $100 million worldwide and in turn kickstarting a wildly popular - if consistently critically eviscerated - five-film franchise.
Needless to say, the prospect of watching Kate Beckinsale kick ass in skin-tight PVC was far more alluring to audiences than critics, and resulted in a series with over half a billion dollars in box office receipts thus far. But beyond that, Underworld's Gothic style was so perfectly attuned to the mainstream tastes of the early 2000s, and releasing a few years before Twilight as it did, audiences hadn't yet grown tired of seeing vamps and werewolves duke it out.