20 Great Horror Roles Ruined By Terrible Acting

In the original Fantasy Island TV series, Mr. Rourke became an iconic TV character of his day. In the 2020 movie, however? The less said, the better. 

The mysterious owner of a supernatural island that grants people's wishes, Rourke needed to be sinister, charismatic, and otherworldly. He was when played by Ricardo Montalban (who later played Khan in the Star Trek franchise) in the original TV series, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, they cast Michael Pena in the film, which was another flagrant miscasting in every sense. 

Michael Pena is a very talented actor indeed, and he's been delightful in plenty of projects - there lies the rub. He's such a warm, appealing on-screen presence, and he just can't quite capture the air of otherworldly menace this character so needed. 

At the same time, it needs to be said that this particular film was truly, irretrievably dreadful, and it's arguably one of the worst movies in any genre of the 2020s so far. No one could've saved Fantasy Island in this state, but getting its central figure right would've been a start.