10 Worst Horror Movies Of 2026 (So Far)
7. The Bride!
On paper, putting Jesse Buckley on screen with Christian Bale to tell a Bride of Frankenstein story was a winning idea. It had all the potential in the world, which may be why Warner Bros. threw so much money at the project, but ultimately it just didn't work.
It should be said that Maggie Gyllenhaal took a lot of risks with the story and direction, and should be commended for her vision of putting the Bride centre stage for once, but the unfortunate truth is that many of these risks just didn't land.
The performances of Buckley and Bale were strong, but the confused framing device that had Mary Shelley herself possessing Ida/The Bride throughout was distracting, and what looked as though it would be a fun Bonnie and Clyde-style story from the trailers just never got off the ground.
Had the film failed to light up the box office on a small budget, it wouldn't have been the end of the world - Universal Monsters haven't always been massively financially successful, after all - but the lethal combination of an eye-watering budget and poor reception led to The Bride! landing as one of the biggest bombs of the year, possibly the decade.