Five So Bad They're Good Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

Five So Bad They’re Good Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

The horror genre has a lot to offer but even the most die-hard fans agree that there’s more bad than good ones released every year. Trying to watch every new horror movie that comes out becomes an exercise in patience. However, once in a while, a bad one is released that ends up being so awful, they’re actually good and pretty fun. To celebrate Halloween this year, we’ve picked out five ‘so bad they’re good’ horror movies that you can watch (preferably with a group), from The Happening to Dead Silence.

In case you missed it, check out our lists on the five most overlooked horror movies to watch this Halloween as well as the five best horror anime to binge for the spooky season. The list below is also in no particular order. They’re all bad and kind of awesome because they’re so bad, so pick your poison.

Five So Bad They’re Good Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

The Happening (2008)

One of the undisputed kings of the “so bad, it’s good” selection of horror, M Night. Shyamalan’s The Happening is what happens when a good concept far overshadows a clumsy execution. While it can’t necessarily be called a horror, the thrills of The Happening – about plants that release toxins which causes humans to kill themselves in creatively grotesque ways – is all it really has going for it. Otherwise, you’re stuck with Mark Wahlberg delivering bad dialogue with the conviction of a confused stage performer and it’s incredible to watch.

Exists (2014)

We included Willow Creek on our overlooked horror movies list as a bigfoot movie done right. Exists, from the director of The Blair Witch Project, is a bigfoot movie on the opposite end of the spectrum. It has absolutely none of the atmospheric thrills or chilling build-up of The Blair Witch Project but if you’re in the mood to watch some idiotic young people get hunted down by bigfoot, you’ve come to the right place. Exists may be bad but it has a charm to it that’s hard to ignore. You might end up loving it.

Black Sheep (2006)

New Zealand has a knack for producing quality horror movies (see Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive or The Frighteners) and whatever the hell is Black Sheep. Through some genetic experimentation, a flock of sheep are turned into mutated bloodthirsty killers on a countryside farm. Black Sheep is definitely self-aware enough to realise the insanity of its premise and it luckily plays most of it up for laughs. As an old-school monster horror movie, it fails spectacularly and it knows just how baaaaad it is (sorry for the sheep pun).

Detention (2011)

I struggle to call Detention a straight-forward horror movie as much as it is a throwback to slashers with a few modern pop culture twists. Starring Josh Hutcherson, it follows a group of high school students dealing with the arrival of a serial killer called Cinderhella. What ensues is very hard to explain – aliens, body swapping, time travel, etc. It’s a wild ride and one that never makes a lick of sense while you’re watching it, but the stylish direction (harnessing its inner Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) makes it much more entertaining than the sum of its parts.

Dead Silence (2007)

Dead Silence found a well-earned cult following since its release but not because it’s a well-made movie. Saw director James Wan continued his fascination with puppets in Dead Silence, putting a ghostly possession spin on the formula. In fact, Wan’s direction is the strongest element of the movie. The script, on the other hand, is a bloody mess. There’s a lot of missed potential here but to be fair, you can watch Dead Silence and still appreciate just how well-crafted the horror is, predating the excellent scares of The Conjuring.

Writer
Editor-in-Chief of Nexus Hub, writer at GLITCHED. Former writer at The Gaming Report and All Otaku Online. RPG addict that has wonderful nightmares of Bloodborne 2.

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