12 Great Actors Trapped In AWFUL Horror Movies

The films that won't appear on these actors' resumes.

Olivia Wilde The Lazarus Effect
Blumhouse

If done right, the horror genre can be the resting place of some of the most nerve-racking cinema experiences that will haunt viewers to their very core. Films like Hereditary, Don't Look Now, and The Exorcist are just a small handful of what's possible when every aspect of the filmmaking comes together to deliver a single, terrifying vision.

On the other hand, however, whenever things go wrong or some things don't work quite how they were intended, everything can come crashing down, with all traces of terror devolving into tedium or hilarity. Whether it's the result of predictable scares, an uninspired script, shoddy effects, or some horrifying acting, it doesn't take much for a horror film to fall flat on its face.

Unfortunately, many mainstream horror releases tend to be more inline with the latter. Low budget cheap thrills to earn a profit, there's rarely any value to be found in them. But even the most atrocious horrors can have one shining light of talent in the form of a great actor trying to make the most of a bad situation.

Forever trapped in the frames of these flops, here are the actors that won't be including these films on their resumes.

12. Imogen Poots - Black Christmas (2019)

Olivia Wilde The Lazarus Effect
Universal

Horror films aren't just for Halloween; they can be enjoyed at any occasion, including Christmas with the likes of Rare Exports, Krampus, and Black Christmas, a forerunner of the slasher genre. Although. But one horror that's best avoided all year round is the 2019 re-imagining of this slasher icon.

Instead of a group of sorority sisters being terrorised by a mysterious killer hiding in their house, this updated version sees a group of college girls become the targets of a murderous cult of male students during the Christmas break.

While the film attempts to put a fresh spin on the horror classic by weaving in a feminist interpretation, the film was met with criticism for its messy, exposition-heavy script, cliched tropes, and overall lack of technical competence. There's even a sequence that shamelessly rips-off the famous corridor jump scare from The Exorcist III.

Fronting the cast of mostly new-comers was English actor Imogen Poots. Starring in the likes of claustrophobic Neo-Nazi nightmare Green Room and co-starring alongside Jesse Eisenberg in recent indie horror Vivarium, Poots has shown herself to be more than a capable addition into the horror canon.

It would be better to just forgot about this subpar slasher.

Contributor
Contributor

Glasgow-based cinephile who earned a Masters degree in film studies to spend their time writing about cinema, video games, and horror.