25 Worst Netflix Original Horror Movies

Summary

• Here are some of the worst horror movies on Netflix, based on their Rotten Tomatoes scores:
• The Open House (2018) – 7% (critics) and 8% (audience)
• Secret Obsession (2019) – 28% (critics) and 16% (audience)

Horror movies tend to get a bad rap and don’t often reach critical acclaim and that’s the case for the worst horror movies on Netflix. Fans of the genre typically know better than to judge a film based on its critical reception like when critics initially balked at horror movies that became classics like John Carpenter’s The Thing. Yet, critics and viewers mostly agree that much of it falls short when it comes to Netflix’s original horror content.

It’s always fun seeing what new original horror movies Netflix is releasing, but some of the worst have plots that feel clichéd and characters that don’t feel compelling. Some of these films venture into so-bad-it’s-good territory, as purposely watching critically panned horror films is something of a pastime for some viewers. The worst horror movies on Netflix include a reboot of a popular slasher franchise and an adaptation of a short story by Stephen King, meaning any source material, no matter how renowned, can sometimes suffer under the weight of poor execution.

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25 Eli (2019)

A Boy Who Can’t Survive Outdoors Might Be Pure Evil

One of the reasons Eli ended up being one of the worst horror movies on Netflix is that it came out around the same time as Brightburn. The two movies are eerily similar — except Brightburn did it better.

Eli follows a young boy suffering from a rare condition that makes him allergic to the air he breathes. His parents take him to a medical facility that promises him life-changing treatment, but those who seek to help him have sinister intentions of their own.

While Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink does make an early appearance in the film, Eli suffers from pacing issues, making the final act of the movie rushed on top of the somewhat predictable plot. Critics mainly were apathetic to the movie, giving it a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences disliked it even more, giving it only a 37% rating. Eli seemed doomed because Netflix picked it up when Paramount couldn’t figure out how to market it (via Deadline).

24 Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020)

A Coming-Of-Age Vampire Hunting Movie

If it weren’t for its anticlimactic finale, Vampires vs. The Bronx may not have ended up being one of the worst horror movies on Netflix. Providing a fresh twist on the vampire genre with social messages about the horrors of gentrification, Vampires vs. The Bronx sees kids Miguel, Bobby, and Luis getting ready for a block party.

However, the neighborhood rapidly changes as a real estate company run by vampires fills the neighborhood with gentrified businesses. When people in the neighborhood go missing, the kids must solve the mystery and fight the undead.

Vampires vs. The Bronx fizzled out during what should’ve been a climactic battle, severely cheapening a fantastic buildup. Critics loved the movie, certifying it fresh with a 90% rating. However, what holds it down is the audience score, which is a rotten 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.7 on IMDb.

23 No One Gets Out Alive (2021)

A Haunted House Story Tackling Immigration

Had No One Gets Out Alive not fallen so heavily on common haunted-house movie tropes, it wouldn’t be so bad. However, not even its important message could save it. The film follows undocumented immigrant Ambar, who moves into a decrepit boarding house in Cleveland after the death of her mother.

…would’ve done better if it could’ve distanced itself from other haunted house horror movies.

Ambar remains optimistic despite her surroundings and under-the-table job. However, she soon starts experiencing supernatural visions that link to an ancient Aztec ritual. The film received relatively average reviews, with a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, and would’ve done better if it could’ve distanced itself from other haunted house horror movies.

The Netflix audience didn’t seem impressed, dismissing the movie with a 40% rotten score. One critic pointed out that the film failed from the start because it tried to create an “arthouse-style movie” that showed the hardships of immigrants with horror but failed in that aspect (via Fangirlish).

22 In The Tall Grass (2019)

A Stephen King Horror Tale Of Getting Lost In The Grass

An adaptation of the 2012 novella of the same name, a collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, In The Tall Grass sees a series of characters drawn into a weedy field only to discover that a dark presence is trapping them there — but it turned out to be one his lesser Netflix horror adaptations. Featuring a premise reminiscent of other King works like Children of the Corn and 1922, In The Tall Grass overstays its welcome and stretches its thin plot to the point of absurdity.

Stephen King co-wrote the story with his son, Joe Hill.

As critic Allan Allmacher of The MacGuffin puts it, “This was a great short film stretched out and padded to become a dull feature length flick.” The movie does get credit for a good cast led by Patrick Wilson and a great director in Vincenzo Natali (Cube), but critics ravaged it, with a 36% rotten rating and fans were worse, at 33% rotten.

21 Nightbooks (2021)

A Boy Uses His Horror Stories To Battle A Witch

Nightbooks had all the makings of being a classic 90s-era kids horror flick, but unfortunately, it struggled to capture anyone’s attention. Remaining fairly loyal to J.A. White’s book, Nightbooks sees horror fan Alex writing his own horrific tales in a notebook.

However, he is soon lured and captured by a witch, making friends with fellow captive Yasmin. The kids team up to bring down the witch for good, with Alex’s stories playing an important role. Unfortunately, Nightbooks starts strong and grows weaker throughout.

By the time it gets to the ending, audiences care little for the characters’ plight, and the third act falls flat. This was another movie that critics seemed to appreciate, with an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%. However, it is also one that the audience snubbed their noses at, with only a slightly above average 58% Tomatoes score.

20 The Curse Of Bridge Hollow (2022)

A Girl Teams With Her Father To Capture A Released Spirit

Marlon Wayans stars in one of the worst horror movies on Netflix, the horror-comedy The Curse of Bridge Hollow. The film follows the father-daughter duo Howard (Marlon Wayans) and Sydney (Priah Ferguson), with the former being more scientifically driven and the latter wholeheartedly believing in ghosts. When Sydney inadvertently releases the spirit of Stingy Jack, she and Howard must acquire a spell book to stop his curse from taking over the town before it is too late.

…the story lacks depth, and many of its humorous moments fall flat.

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While the movie is fun for the whole family and features Stranger Things actress Priah Ferguson, the story lacks depth, and many of its humorous moments fall flat. Even the talents of Wayans in the lead role didn’t help as critics were not kind, awarding the film a 48% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes while the audience was only slightly more amused at 53%.

19 The Whole Truth (2021)

Two Kids Are Sent To Their Grandparents & Find Horror

The Whole Truth featured a promising premise, but far too many twists and subplots made it one of the lesser Netflix horror movies. The Whole Truth follows siblings Pim and Putt after their single mother falls into a coma due to a car crash.

The pair are sent to live with their grandparents, whom they’ve never met, and soon find themselves swamped by paranormal experiences and tales from the past. Unfortunately, the Thai horror movie becomes indigestible as the runtime labors on, and audiences begin to grow weary of the characters as less and less makes sense.

The movie wasn’t successful enough on Netflix to earn enough reviews for a Rotten Tomatoes score, but the audience members who watched it hated it, awarding it a 30% rotten score on the site, with most calling it a great idea trapped in a disappointing movie.

18 Things Heard & Seen (2021)

A Couple Finds Their New Farmhouse Might Be Haunted

When Catherine Claire (Amanda Seyfried) moves with her husband to the rural town of Chosen, New York, she discovers sinister forces lurking on the old farmland the two have purchased. One part ghost story and one part domestic drama,Things Heard & Seen can’t seem to take its overused premise in any new direction.

According to critics, the film’s greatest offense seems to be its banality. The mark of a great horror movie comes from its ability to scare, disturb, or otherwise provoke the viewer, and Things Heard & Seen ranks relatively low on fright factor.

Critics bashed the movie, awarding it a low 39% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score was even lower at 23% rotten. The film tries to contrast domestic violence with hauntings but does so in a mostly mundane manner.

17 Ghost Lab (2021)

Two Hospital Employees Try To Prove The Paranormal Exists

2021’s Ghost Lab is a Thai horror movie that has the feel of a passion project gone awry, making it a disappointing Netflix horror movie. It begins with an interesting enough premise: two hospital employees are determined to provide scientific evidence of the paranormal after encountering something during the night shift.

However, the narrative, tone, and presentation all feel too uneven and experimental. Ghost Lab switches from a jump-scare-laden fright fest to a weird comedy at the drop of a hat, and audiences will bend over backward to keep up.

However, most Netflix subscribers are likely not willing to become that invested in the film. Critics hated the movie, awarding it a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score at only 34%. Most critics complained about the over-complicated plot that left too many things wide open for interpretation.

16 The Silence (2019)

Apocalyptic Movie About Killer Aliens

Even the presence of the esteemed Stanley Tucci couldn’t save this project from hitting on some of the worst horror movie tropes on Netflix. 2019’s The Silence sees a group of survivors struggle to eke out an existence after extraterrestrial monsters with supremely adept hearing invade the Earth. If that premise sounds familiar, it’s because The Silence features the same setup as A Quiet Place, which debuted the previous year.

The movie is based on the novel by Tim Lebbon

Unfortunately, The Silence lacks the tension and terror that were present in the film. The movie was actually based on an older horror novel, with Tim Lebbon’s book of the same name, so it wasn’t technically a copy of A Quiet Place, but it did have to live up to that movie’s success, and that caused this one to fall short. The original production company had to sell it to Netflix while attempting to avoid bankruptcy (via Quartz).

15 Cadaver (2020)

A Family Fights Sadistic Cannibals

In the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, a desperate couple takes their daughter to a dinner theater performance, which goes horribly awry when the hosts are revealed to be sadistic cannibals.Cadaver aims to be a sort of clever allegory, but it’s bogged down by plot contrivances and odd narrative choices, making it one of the worst horror movies on Netflix.

One of a handful of foreign horror films on Netflix, the Norwegian movie Cadaver is interesting in parts. However, it doesn’t quite deliver on its promises of social satire and delicately crafted scares, and it easily ranks among the worst horror movies of 2020. Its Rotten Tomatoes score ranks at a low 33% thanks to a predictable story, which was its biggest sin as a satire of sorts, and the audience hated it even more, with a 28% rating.

14 Old People (2022)

Old People Attack The People Who Forgot Them

The German horror flick Old People may never have set out to win an Academy Award, but the fact that the entire plot was made pointless thanks to its ending makes it one of the worst Netflix horror movies.

Old People sees a mother traveling back home with her two children to attend her sister’s wedding. However, trouble brews as the elderly soon begin attacking those around them with ruthless brutality.

In some way, Old People could’ve been a great commentary on society’s treatment of the elderly, but any semblance of a message (a curse to punish those who break family ties and abandon their elderly loved ones) is lost in its clunky narrative. While seeing the carnage when the older people attack is great, and highly unique, the movie is too slow-paced to make for a great horror movie.

13 The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

A Prequel To Cloverfield

In 2016, 10 Cloverfield Lane garnered praise for its terrifying intensity generated by John Goodman in a very out-of-his-element role. Its 2018 pseudo-sequel, The Cloverfield Paradox was more or less forgotten after premiering on Netflix. While it establishes an interesting cosmic horror premise and takes the Cloverfield anthology to new places, the film spends far too much time on exposition.

This is the third movie in the Cloverfield franchise.

Attempting to replicate interstellar horror epics like Alien or Event Horizon, The Cloverfield Paradox is bogged down by its tell-don’t-show manner of storytelling. Another big problem is that 10 Cloverfield Lane hid its main connection through most of the movie, but The Cloverfield Paradox wore it on its sleeve, and very few viewers cared enough or bought what the filmmakers were selling. Paramount kept postponing its release until Netflix finally came in to buy it.

12 There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)

A Slasher Killer Wears His Victim’s Faces

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Slasher films are all the rage, and while There’s Someone Inside Your House has its smart moments it still ends up disappointing most horror movie fans. The film instantly lures viewers in with an incredibly strong opening, which is what makes the rest of the tale so heavy-handed and disappointing.

The story becomes increasingly misguided as it trots along…

In There’s Someone Inside Your House, new Osbourne High student Makani and her friends Alex and Darby are hunted by a killer who wears a mask in the image of his intended victims’ faces. The story becomes increasingly misguided as it trots along, making the film unrecognizable from other entries to the slasher genre.

The movie did get a chance when it was released first at Fantastic Fest in 2021 and hit Netflix a month later. Critics awarded it a 47% Rotten Tomatoes average rating and fans loathed the movie, with a terrible 16% rotten score.

11 The Privilege (2021)

A Horror Movie About The Privileged

While The Privilege has important messages in its title, the film falls too closely in step with others of the genre, making it one of the worst Netflix horror movies. Finn, an affluent student, struggles with the traumatic death of his sister Anna and soon begins to experience increasingly disturbing nightmares. However, dreams and reality soon begin to mix as Finn questions whether or not his hallucinations are real.

The Privilege should’ve sought to break new ground but instead hangs shyly back, and the entire execution feels like a retread of all-too-familiar ground. The movie seems like it was on its way to something of a cult classic status with its format and twisting storyline, but it lost its audience along the way. Fans hated it, rating it at 10% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, while critics were only slightly kinder, with a 40% rating.

10 Nobody Sleeps In The Woods Tonight (2020)

Young People Battle Mutated Siblings

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a Polish horror flick that follows the haunted “teens in the woods” trope painfully closely. The movie sees a group of teens going to a technology-free summer camp in the woods.

Soon, they come across a pair of evil twins that have turned into human-ghoul hybrids after suffering the fallout from an asteroid that hit the Earth and are now bent on pure destruction. It takes the ideas from The Hills Have Eyes but adds a little sci-fi twist to the story.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight could’ve done well had it leaned further into campy territory since the plot clearly dictates this kind of narrative. It was actually a success on Netflix when released, one of the most watched titles on the streaming service, and it was enough for a sequel. While fans watched it, they didn’t love it, with the audience score sitting at a low 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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9 Malevolent (2018)

A Con Woman Is Possessed By A Demon

Not even the talent of Florence Pugh could save Malevolent, a disappointing outing on the streaming service. Pugh plays paranormal investigator Angela, who, with her brother Jackson, makes a living exploiting grieving families.

On a routine cash-grab appointment at the home of a father and daughter, a demonic presence attaches to Angela. The movie tries to deliver on themes of generational trauma and mental health, but ultimately fails to do the trick as all of its horrific elements lie in jump scares alone.

The film has a few bright spots, but had anyone else been cast as Angela, they likely wouldn’t exist. This is a movie where bad things happen to bad people, but unlike other horror movies of its type, nothing really happens to make the audience care about Angela or the film in general. Its Rotten Tomatoes audience score is a very low 17%.

8 The Wasteland (2021)

A Boy Fights For Survival As His Family Loses Control

Period horror movies are always risky business, either producing nominal successes like The VVitch or outright flops like The Woman in Black. The Wasteland is set in 19th Century Spain and is not one of the better efforts in the subgenre.

Edging into folk horror territory, The Wasteland sees young Diego being pushed into manhood on his birthday by his father while his mother wishes to maintain his innocence. A monster creeps ever closer to the door of their secluded home as Diego’s parents’ minds slowly unravel.

The film’s own logic is somewhat compromised in The Wasteland and features extreme repetitiveness at some moments. It was a festival movie that Netflix acquired, and it failed to make much of a dent on the streaming giant. Critics gave it some praise, with a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience hated it, with a 29% rotten score on the site.

7 Choose Or Die (2022)

Two Friends Learn A Video Game Is Killing People

In Netflix’s 2022 horror movie Choose Or Die, friends Isaac and Kayla are both having tough times in life, and they find out that if they play a video game, it can kill people. Kayla finds out a lot about this game, and it changes everything that she has previously thought about the world.

While the movie has a strong premise, it’s a bit confusing and convoluted, making it one of the worst horror movies on Netflix. The film doesn’t stand on its own when compared to other slasher horror movies.

Kayla and Isaac do appear afraid throughout, but Choose Or Die isn’t as fun as the premise promises. Critics bashed the movie, with a 30% Rotten Tomatoes score, calling it a nice entry point movie, and the audience score was a little kinder, sitting at a higher 47%, but still a rotten score.

6 Rattlesnake (2019)

A Woman Makes A Deal With The Devil

When a mother unwittingly makes a deal with the devil to save her child from a rattlesnake bite, she is forced to take the life of another to repay the debt. While 2019’s Rattlesnake features an interesting setup, it ultimately feels like little more than a collection of stylish shots of a desert wasteland.

It definitely isn’t one of the best horror movies of 2019. Much like In The Tall Grass, Rattlesnake’s plot doesn’t seem robust enough to warrant a feature-length film. It’s more or less a short story tediously stretched to the hour-thirty mark, and it’s made all the worse for it.

Critics praised the performances and the concept of the movie but didn’t find enough about it to love. The audience was even more harsh, as they ranked the movie at a drastically low 16% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: https://www.kidsland.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment