10 Movie Flops That Will Become Cult Classics

5. Fantastic Four

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Fox

I’m probably sticking my neck out with this one, but consider this: there was a good movie in amongst the bad wigs and obvious reshoots that we never got to see. If Josh Trank’s 2 hour plus cut ever sees the light of day, it will blow the release print out of the water.

Time Out called Fantastic Four a movie of two halves “the first likeable and fun, the second tiresome and loud.” It takes its time (50 minutes) setting up the characters, but then goes horribly wrong as second guessing by the studio dilutes their motivations and muddies the narrative. By the second half, you’re no longer invested in the characters or their story because they’ve become more like pieces on a chessboard.

It wouldn’t be the first time a studio threw away a decent film and ordered reshoots to make it “commercial” – exactly the same thing happened to Clive Barker’s Nightbreed, whose scope and majesty was junked in favour of a slasher movie that would appeal to the Friday The 13th crowd.

Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'