10 Movies Ruined By Fan Overhype

It's not uncommon for movies to be rapturously received on the film festival circuit, only to be met with a considerably more muted response from general audiences.

This is especially true in the horror genre, given the many "arthouse" horrors that premiere at festivals like Sundance, Cannes, and TIFF, where they receive wildly enthusiastic five-star reviews only to land more indifferently outside of the film festival bubble.

And there's no better example of this than The Bababook, which premiered at Sundance 2014 and, going by the volcanic response from critics in attendance, it was basically the second coming of Christ.

By the time it finally trickled down to general audiences almost a year later, the response from even many die-hard horror fans was, "Pretty good, but is that it?"

After reading glowing critical reactions for so many months, the hype was real, only for many to ultimately find The Babadook to be an above-average horror flick that didn't quite rise to that next level.

Many other "arty" horror movies that premiered at film festivals have been stuck with the same "overhyped" label - for one, It Follows - yet it's The Babadook that best demonstrates the wide chasm of experience between festival audiences and general multiplex crowds.

The lesson here? Don't exhaust yourself reading dozens of wildly adulatory reviews of interesting-looking horror movies.