Sometimes it's good to be bad. These 10 tacky, unoriginal, and unrealistic horror movies turn out far better and scarier than they have any right to.
It may seem paradoxical to call something tacky and then go on to discuss how great it is but it's a fairly common occurrence for horror movie fans. Cheap andtrashyexploitationis the backbone of the genre and it actually produces some creative results from time to time.
RELATED:10 Underrated 1990s Horror Movies You Can Stream Today on Amazon Prime
These movies may have been rightfully mauled by critics but that doesn't mean that they don't have value. Here are 10 tacky, unoriginal, and unrealistic horror movies that turn out far better and scarier than they have any right to.
Horror and machismo aren't two things that are typically mixed together outside of maybe hiring a bodybuilder or wrestler to play a slasher villain because of their intimidating stature. So to see Sylvester Stallone, of all people, in what essentially amounts to a horror movie makes for a memorable experience at the very least.
Eye See Youa.k.a.D-Toxis set almost entirely in a secluded retreat for psychologically battered cops where Stallone's detective finds himself after losing a game of cat and mouse against a serial killer. The bodies start to pile up when it appears that his killer has found him but the real chills come from the surprisingly striking brutalist architecture of the set.
Long time writer of theSawfranchise Marcus Dunstan ditches most of the bells and whistles of the torture porn icon to make this stripped-down, and often quite smart, home invasion movie.
Josh Stewart's cat burglar breaks into a family home to rob it blind but discovers that he's chosen the same night to break in as a demented serial killer who's transformed the house into a booby-trapped kill box. The ensuing game of hide and seek between the pair upends the conventions of the slasher movie in quite an original way, even if it is ultimately mostly about the gore.
This variation of the classic Lady in White ghost story follows a family as they drive long-distance to see relatives on Christmas Eve. A detour through the woods, however, spells disaster after they find an injured woman by the side of the road with their seemingly-endless night becoming only stranger and stranger from that point on.
RELATED:10 Horror Movies With Low Rotten Tomatoes Scores That Are Actually Great
Filmed along a relatively small stretch of road,Dead Endextracts lots of atmosphere and character development out of a limited toolbox with stand out performances from Ray Wise and Lin Shaye as the bickering parents.
This fantastically tacky ghost ship movie sees a lifeboat full of survivors from a sunken cruise ship climb aboard a derelict tanker thinking it's their salvation, little do they know that the eerie rusted vessel was once a floating house of horrors for Nazi scientists to conduct experiments on.
Death Shipis one of those movies where its solid cast of actors and its creepy location domost of the heavy lifting with a little bit of stock footage filling in the gaps and it's a must for fans of cheap and cheesy horror.
A found-footage movie chronicling a secret Apollo mission,Apollo 18takesThe Blair Witch Projectto the moon and, bizarrely enough, the set up really kind of works.
The distinct mixture of claustrophobia and isolation that comes from having only two main characters that arestuck in a tiny box surrounded by an atmosphere of cold, crushing, death can actually get to you. There are no moments where you can question why the protagonists simply don't run away or call for help. They're truly alone with a menacing force that they can't see but sense all around them.
A group of the usual yuppie-ish horror movie friends decides to partake in some "Extreme Tourism" while visiting Kyiv and venture out to Pripyat, the worker's village on the outskirts of Chernobyl, only to be stalked by shadowy mutated figures and slowly picked off.
IfChernobyl Diariessounds absolutely tasteless that's only because it is. Nothing being sacred is a staple of the tacky horror movie and few modern entries have followed that credo more brazenly. Yet there is something genuinely and uniquely haunting about its chosen environment, even if it utilizes it in the hackiest way possible, and the informal style to shooting means that it often comes off as improvisational, adding a surprising level of realism.
Back when reality TV and internet streaming were still burgeoning phenomena,My Little Eye had the foresight to capitalize on the trend and it produced a cheap but effective slice of found footage fun.
RELATED:10 Slasher Movies With Low Rotten Tomatoes Scores That Are Actually Classics
The premise is simple enough, a group of slasher movie characters is cooped up in a secluded house covered with cameras with the promise of cash prize at the end of it. But, when their limited correspondence with the outside world becomes increasingly unsettling in nature, they begin to suspect foul play.
This is another unusual take on the found footage format that's somewhat hampered by the usual flaw of being populated with conspicuously horror movie-ish actors instead of actors who feel like real people, butit does produce some notably interestingfamilial drama throughout.
Home Moviealso documents the events at a secluded house in the woods with sinister goings-on. This time, however, the terror comes from two creepy kids terrorizing their own parents in a series of increasingly unnerving incidents captured with the home movie camera.
Michele Soavi's underrated slasher movie isn't quite Giallo but still has far more stylistic flair than most entries into the subgenre and all of the gratuitousness.
InStage Fright, a theater group becomes locked inside their workspace with an escaped lunatic who dons the giant owl costume of their avant-garde dance piece and proceeds to dice them up with all manner of horror movie instruments in this ultimately dreamlike splatterfest.
Jim Mickle's unique take on the zombie movie is bursting at the seams with ideas and tricks to make its tiny budget produce agigantic-feeling horror movie set in New York City.
Its ridiculous story, about infected rats turning New Yorkers into mutated rodent-like monsters, actually spends most of its time on developing both its characters and a strong uncurrent of critique against gentrification slowly but surely eradicating the working class of the city.
NEXT:10 Great Modern Horror Movies That You've Probably Never Heard Of
NextThe Big Bang Theory: 10 Reasons Why Howard Got Worse & Worse
Mark is a freelance copywriter and copyeditor. When not writing or editing, he can most likely be found complaining about movies on Twitter.
Read this article:
10 Tacky Horror Movies That Are Actually Kind Of Brilliant - Screen Rant
- 'Immaculate' ending explained: Was the baby a demon? - Business Insider - April 2nd, 2024
- 10 Horror Movies That Would Have Ended Earlier If Their Heroes Were Smarter - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 2nd, 2024
- Terrifier 3 director reveals they filmed 'most insanely horrific scenes' that nearly made lead actor vomit on set - UNILAD - April 2nd, 2024
- The Latest Stephen King Horror Movie Has A Killer Cast And Director - SlashFilm - April 2nd, 2024
- THE FIRST OMEN 2024: Release Date, Cast, Plot, And Everything You Need to Know - FANGORIA - April 2nd, 2024
- Sting Review | Excellent Creature Feature with an Emotional Backdrop - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- IMMACULATE Interview with Director Michael Mohan, Discussing the Making of the Film, Reactions to the Ending, and ... - Daily Dead - April 2nd, 2024
- Mood 'Windigo' - Book and Film Globe - April 2nd, 2024
- A 2016 Thriller Is The Top Movie On Netflix Right Now - HuffPost - April 2nd, 2024
- 10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Beetlejuice, 36 Years Later - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- All the Horror Movies We Can't Wait To See in 2024 - The Mary Sue - April 2nd, 2024
- A Buzzy Korean Horror Movie Is Sneakily One Of The Biggest Box Office Hits Of 2024 - SlashFilm - April 2nd, 2024
- Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3 horror movie confirmed, after second film debuted to a surprise perfect Rotten ... - Gamesradar - April 2nd, 2024
- Fear Street 4 Is Reviving An Old Horror Trend That Was Perfected 48 Years Ago - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- Lisa Frankenstein Hides The Fact That It Cast The Real Star Of 2023's Viral $181 Million Horror Movie - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- Finally, Someone Confirms That A Sequel To HELLRAISER Is In The Works - FANGORIA - April 2nd, 2024
- We're definitely hard at work on: Hellraiser Sequel Promises to Be Even More Terrifying as Producer Vows to Take ... - FandomWire - April 2nd, 2024
- Future Chucky Movie Will Connect To The Series, Says Don Mancini - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- After Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, Freddy and Jason Need to Cameo in the Poohniverse - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- Chucky Creator Reveals He is Working on a New Child's Play Movie: 'Whatever Keeps Me Working' - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- AI In Late Night With The Devil Sparks Controversy - Forbes - March 24th, 2024
- A horror movie based on a Stephen King novel with a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score is climbing Netflix's top 10 - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- This is why we're so obsessed with nuns in horror movies - according to the official source, a nun - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- Stephen King reveals the one horror movie he couldn't sit through as he was too scared - UNILAD - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night With the Devil directors address the use of AI art in the film - JoBlo.com - March 24th, 2024
- David Dastmalchian on Late Night with the Devil, The Life of Chuck and Good Fiend Films - Kansas City Pitch - March 24th, 2024
- Welcome to the Poohniverse: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Team to Unite Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell and More in Low-Budget Horror Crossover (EXCLUSIVE)... - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night with the Devil is the best horror movie of the year so far - Yahoo Movies Canada - March 24th, 2024
- Sydney Sweeney 'wanted to be drenched in blood' in 'Immaculate' - Entertainment Weekly News - March 24th, 2024
- Film of the Week: 'Stopmotion' - The best horror film of 2024 so far - Euronews - March 24th, 2024
- How to Watch Immaculate: Is the Sydney Sweeney Movie Streaming? - TheWrap - March 24th, 2024
- THE FIRST OMEN: A Battle With The Devil And An NC-17 Rating FANGORIA - FANGORIA - March 24th, 2024
- Elevated Horror: The New Wave of Artful Scares Taking Over Hollywood - LRM Online - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night With the Devil Plot Explained: The True Meaning of the Movie - The Direct - March 24th, 2024
- David Chase is directing his first film in 12 years. Its a horror movie. - NJ.com - March 24th, 2024
- Us Was The Box Office Hit That Gave Jordan Peele True Power In Hollywood - SlashFilm - March 24th, 2024
- Cast of 'Gremlins': Catch Up With the Stars of the '80s Hit - First For Women - March 24th, 2024
- 'Immaculate' Review: Sydney Sweeney Is Wide-Eyed but Sly - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024
- Sydney Sweeney explains that bloody 'Immaculate' ending - Entertainment Weekly News - March 24th, 2024
- When Will Sydney Sweeney's Horror Film, 'Immaculate,' Be Available to Stream? - AOL - March 24th, 2024
- Blumhouse to Return Insidious and Other Titles to Theaters for Halfway to Halloween Fest - Hollywood Reporter - March 16th, 2024
- Every Movie In The Wrong Turn Franchise Ranked - SlashFilm - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating 'Halfway to Halloween' With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- DeWanda Wise Sings Creepy Theme Of New Horror Film: 'Imaginary' - The Root - March 16th, 2024
- Hostel: Part II (2007) WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? - JoBlo.com - March 16th, 2024
- New LEPRECHAUN Movie Will Be Funny, Scary And Full Of Practical Effects - FANGORIA - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating Halfway to Halloween With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - IMDb - March 16th, 2024
- The Horror Nail-Biter On Max With A Controversial Ending - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- "Says the person who was in Madame Web": Sydney Sweeney is Getting Skewered for Saying Modern Horror Movies ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- First trailer for horror movie reboot The Crow features an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgrd on a bloody mission of revenge - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- You'll Never Find Me Is Unforgettable Horror, See The Terror In Action - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen star has seen all of your internet theories about the horror movie prequel and, well, they're all wrong - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- Sltface take on horror movies with their new single, 'Final Grl' - Dork Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- From 'Five Nights at Freddy's' to 'Imaginary': Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - theday.com - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen's Big Death Reveal Really Doesn't Bode Well For The Prequel - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- 20 Scariest Horror Movies to Come Out in the Last 5 Years - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- 'The Animal Kingdom' Exclusive Clip Previews the Gnarly Body Horror of Magnet's New Movie - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- 'Oddity' Review: This Supernatural Horror Film Will Tear You To Pieces | SXSW 2024 - Collider - March 16th, 2024
- "Marketing is failing this movie tremendously": David Dastmalchian's Late Night With the Devil Dubbed as One of the ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- STOPMOTION is a handcrafted tale of beauty and horror - Moviejawn - March 16th, 2024
- Horror Lovers Will Love this Dining Spot in Texas - klaq.com - March 8th, 2024
- Is Late Night With The Devil Based On A True Story? - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- Kooky King: 6 of the Weirdest Stephen King Film Adaptations - Nightmare on Film Street - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown, the Viral Willy Wonka Experience Villain, Is Already Getting Their Own Horror Movie - IGN - March 8th, 2024
- 13 Original Horror Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2024 - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- From 'Imaginary' to 'Five Nights at Freddy's.' Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - Los Angeles Times - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Movie Review: M3gan Meets The Boogeyman - Mama's Geeky - March 8th, 2024
- Christopher Nolan Originally Conceived Inception As A Horror Movie - SlashFilm - March 8th, 2024
- 'Whalefall' Movie in the Works From 'No One Will Save You' Director Brian Duffield - The Mary Sue - March 8th, 2024
- Horror Movie Based On THE UNKNOWN From Glasgow's WILLY WONKA Experience In The Works Horror Movie ... - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 8th, 2024
- Horrifying 'Late Night With The Devil' Trailer Released - Outkick - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary review: M3GAN, take the wheel - Dexerto - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown: Horror Movie Based on Unofficial Willy Wonka Experience Is in the Works - ComingSoon.net - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Film Review: Light on Frights - Loud And Clear Reviews - March 8th, 2024
- Dead Mail Directors on Their '80s Horror Influences - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- HORROR BEAT: Blumhouse offers a non-update on the future of THE EXORCIST - Comics Beat - March 8th, 2024
- And the Oscar for best picture doesn't go to ... horror! - NPR - March 8th, 2024
- Shaitaan OTT Release: When And Where To Watch R Madhavan And Ajay Devgn Starrer Horror Thriller Film - Indiatimes.com - March 8th, 2024
- The 'Wonka Experience' Is Being Turned Into A Horror Movie - UPROXX - March 8th, 2024
- 8 new horror movies on Netflix, Max, Shudder and more in March 2024 - TechRadar - March 8th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero