10 Worst Horror Movies Of 2023 (So Far)

4. Nefarious

The Popes Exorcist
Soli Deo Gloria Releasing

Steve Deace is an American broadcaster and conservative activist who backed Donald Trump and once challenged members of the Iowa Supreme Court who were pro same-sex marriage.

A nice guy then.

Thankfully, the film adaptation of Deace's book A Nefarious Plot completely bombed, proving that karma is in fact real.

The movie, which was just called Nefarious, starred Entourage's Jordan Belfri as a psychiatrist who has to work out if a criminal (Sean Patrick Flanery) is genuinely possessed by a demon.

Cue a film stuffed to the gills with overtly-religious messages as the staunchly atheist shrink has his lack of faith challenged.

There's nothing wrong with doing a faith-based horror, but this one handles its subject matter so clumsily. It also leans into some troubling ideas, such as implying that abortion amounts to murder.

It doesn't help that the two leads - who make up most of the film's action - are pretty boring. At the end of the day, their characters can be reduced to "man who is possessed by demon" and "man who is not possessed by demon".

Simplicity can be effective sometimes, just not here.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.