20 Recent Horror Movies EVERYONE Knew Would Suck

Horror is unquestionably one of the most popular of movie genres, and horror fans sure are an enthusiastic bunch, eager to see the best in a film that otherwise might not be the greatest, but sometimes there's no getting around the fact that a new horror movie just doesn't work. In fact, it might be genuinely quite awful.

While this can come as a surprise when it's something we're genuinely excited about, it's also fair to say that the writing is often on the wall months before release - hell, perhaps even before a single frame of it has even been shot.

That's certainly the case with these 20 recent horror duds, most of which were panned by critics and general audiences alike. But it came as little surprise to most, as it was clear in the lead-up to release that a miss was surely on the horizon for these pictures.

Whether teased out by poor marketing or simply the lackluster cast and crew credits, there wasn't too much hope for these horror films before they came out, and they ended up duly living down to expectations. While it's always nice to be surprised, when a movie gives you an iffy first impression, it's often for good reason.

Past behaviour being the most reliable indicator of future behaviour, it wasn't remotely surprising that The Strangers - Chapter 2 was another risible entry into the slasher franchise. After all, last year's glorified reboot was a dull, tension-devoid rehash of the original 2008 film, so why expect any different from this sequel, which was shot back-to-back with it?

Even when word got out that director Renny Harlin reshot portions of the film following the vitriolic response to Chapter 1, it was still impossible to expect much good to come from it. So, it was merely par the course that The Strangers - Chapter 2 was another dreadfully lackluster slasher that made the fatal horror franchise mistake of demystifying the titular stalkers far too much.

The entire point of the original Strangers is that the villains are ciphers, and their lack of backstory and motive is what makes them scary, but this new trilogy has misguidedly attempted to flesh out their lore to wildly diminished returns.

Needless to say, the only question about next year's The Strangers - Chapter 3 is whether it can plumb even lower depths than its two immediate predecessors.