Top 5 Most Overrated Horror Movies

Mainstream media reviewers usually trash horror movies, but there are some movies that get praised by bigwig reviewers and I have to disagree with them. While compiling this list I ran into a lot of horror blogs that praise the following movies or have loathed others that just don’t make sense at all. It’s in that spirit that I write this post for your enjoyment, the top 5 most overrated horror movies that you can purchase in case you want to have the ultimate movie collection at your disposal, or want to give a gag gift for the horror aficionado in your life.



IT – The killer clown aspect of things really creeped out a lot of people, but when the climax of this mini-series/movie came to a head, you realized that there was just nothing to the master of horror but a giant spider. Oh wait; did I really spoil that for you? Yes, IT IS A GIANT SPIDER! Come on! My senses nearly exploded the first time I saw this movie, and even though the plot seemed to continually thicken until the climax, this one made me seriously mad. Why do so many people swear by this? Maybe “IT” by Stephen King the novel, is better, but this is NOT a quality film. In fact, it’s probably one of Stephen King’s more overrated work.



The Wicker Man – I’m not talking about the remake with Nicolas Cage, I’m talking about the original British Film. For whatever reasons this thing is included in the top ten or 50 lists of horror movies, and many reviewers swear by the creep factor of this film. I once argued with someone on Spill.com (the chick horror writer they have on staff) and she totally tried to play the black magic card on me, when in reality I was totally pwning her article. Too bad I didn’t have the Spill universe on my side, but whatever. The Wicker Man is a slow moving, terribly confusing, awful example of British Film Making. It is the most overrated thing to come out of Britain since David Beckham.



The Amityville Horror – This film came out during a time when exploitation films were coming straight to the jugular. This movie was based on a novel, which was based on a true story. The house that a suburban family purchases is haunted and causes one member to go insane. Sounds familiar huh? The movie did well financially to the point where they made 4 of them, and a remake, and so much more. Sure, it’s creepy on paper, but in film making history? This is another example of overrated horror seeping into the masses. You can’t possibly like this slow moving terrible movie. You have to wait 70 some odd minutes to get 5 minutes of action, and that’s it? Come on!



The Blair Witch Project – Touted as the scariest movie ever made, and millions of dollars later, people said it was. I saw it as a teenager and it failed to scare me at all. Go back and watch it, and you’ll find that this one is the worst piece of junk you’ll ever see. It’s filmed documentary style, it has a sense of urgency and despair, but it is not the scariest film ever. In fact, the sequel is a tidbit scarier than this one if you’re pulling hairs. If you thought this movie was scary, then I don’t know what to tell you? Movies like this are the reason why studios keep pumping out scare flicks that lackluster like say Paranormal Activity…sigh. Way overrated for its time, and not worth your time, unless you’re having a viewing party, in which case, why not?



The Ring – There’s this tape, if you watch it, you’ll pull your eyes out with boredom. I didn’t like this film nor did I like most of the Asian horror movies that were coming out back to back in the United States. Why? Because they were all based on similar premises, and they all had jump scares and stupid moments to make you scared of what’s going on. I for one thought it was boring, and the sequels were worst. The Ring made millions upon millions, and maybe it deserved it, but it really struck me as difficult to watch and boring.

The above 5 overrated movies aren’t going to ruin your life, but you will want your 2 hours back. There are far worst in the world, especially in regards to this genre, but when you get so many people praising trash, you have to gut check again and again. I’m sure you think something is overrated too, drop me a line, and let me know what you think. I for one think these are the top offenders, but I could always come up with more, such as “Drag me To hell” which was the most overrated horror film to come out in the last few years…I guess that should’ve been my number one, huh? Whatever.

Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win Total Recall on Blu Ray. Winners will be announced at the end of the month.

Night of the Demons 2009 Review

The 1988 horror classic Night of The Demons broke some of the stereotypes in horror. The most notable being that the "black guy" dies first. In that horror film, the black guy lives and saves the white girl from disaster. I love the ending of that film, with what looks like Michael Jackson and Alice in Wonderland, making it out of one crazy night. This is NOT like the 1988 film, and boy do they beat you over the head with the fact. It's probably one of the worst remakes I've seen in a long time, and believe me I've seen some bad movies. Night of the Demons was supposed to get a theatrical release, but instead got a straight to dvd treatment, because it sucked so bad. Shannon Elizabeth and Edward Furlong round out a cast of lazy actors and really make for one of the worst performances I've seen in while.

The plot of this movie is similar to the first, with a new twist. A group of idiots front he 1920's were possessed by demons and now they need new bodies, so a party is thrown and well...they all become possessed and turned into what appears to be vampires and zombies.

The only cool thing about this film is the gratuitous nudity. That's right, lots of boobs, lots of sex, and even "zombie" sex at one point, make this film visually compelling for heterosexual males. Outside of the spank bank material, there are some great gore scenes, and sequences that will have you enjoying the film, albeit quickly edited.

When the film finally sets up the main premise, you're so tired, that you end up wanting to take a nap. There are some recycled scenes from the original, but you get NONE of the impact, and it just becomes a parody of the original, instead of a true reboot. I hated, for instance, the scene where a lipstick is pushed through the nipple of a breast. The original made that sequence creepy and great, but here, it's just a "comedy" which makes me hate this film that much more.

What happened to Shannon Elizabeth? She went from a hot chick in American Pie to a wannabe goth in this film. Oh and for those hoping to get a peak of her naked again, too bad, it's not happening here. Edward Furlong looks like a bloated, fat, shell of his former self. He phones it in, yet again.

The final sequence is horrendous. This movie sucks. It's not scary, it wasn't even watchable, and really made me want to watch the original. The "demonized" idiots are more vampire like than anything else, and yet they eat people like zombies, which forces me to once again question why anyone would remake 80's slasher films. If you want to see Night of the Demons from 2009, go for it, but it's not a good one, it's NOT recommended at all. I'd rather see the original.

REWIND: Population 436 Revew

Well, this is an older review, but it should be interesting to the new reader...all 1 of you. This film came out and it featured Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame. It's interesting to note that he doesn't do half bad.

This movie is scarier to me now, then it was before, simply because I live in a city with a population of less than 20,000 people. So much so that I can't even find a job...any job...and am broker than broke.

Anyways, I've had a hard day today, so check out this review, and I'll return with more random crap.


Population 436 is a movie that a lot of people just dismissed right away. So much in fact, that when I was working at a video store for a few years, no one would trust me on the recommendation, and only a select few watched this film. So it sat next to some other horror movies that we cycled through the new release wall, even though they weren't new releases by any stretch of the imagination. We were a weird video store like that, always cycling through what were obviously not new releases, and trying to squeeze an extra buck out of them.


But back to the topic at hand, Population 436; the story revolves around a man named Steve Kady (played by Jaremy Sisto of Six Feet Under fame), traveling through a remote part of the country to talk about the population of a small town, and along the way discovers some bad things.

But before I jump to the bad things, let us consider another story…and I’ll tie it in, don’t worry.

The Lottery was a story where the population control was being implemented by shooting someone via a lethal lottery system.

This movie basically copies the premise and then switches it out a little. The story takes another piece from the movie Dolls, which I reviewed on this blog earlier this year.

Every time someone breaks down outside of the city, they are welcomed into the flock as a replacement for someone that has just passed away. Keeping the population at 436, and becoming an oddity, and therefore forcing the main character to come to the town and fill the void.

The movie really takes a high road in the middle, where the guy from the Census Bureau gets caught up with a local woman, who attempts to help him escape, as revelations of the city are more pronounced to him. He manages to skirt leaving, but the sheriff’s won’t allow such a thing, and this is where you will want to set the brakes on this independent horror film.

Here’s a trailer for the film, Population 436:




Just when I thought this film couldn't get worse, or steal more from others, enter none other than the singer of the band Limp Bizkit. That’s right, Fred Durst is seen in this film as Johnny law, and we’re treated to his acting abilities. I must admit, I didn’t think this film was going to be that good, but he pulled off his role quite nicely, and the rest of the cast tried their best to work with this convoluted storyline of time and space. It really had its problems, and well, it just was lame towards the end.

Steve begins to try to get out of the place, and convinces a young girl to help him do it. Together they forge a plan which ties up law enforcement, and gets him out alive.

This movie could have ended with him just leaving, but the camera turns towards the entrance of the town, where a car has appeared and a flat tire has ensued. Forcing a pair to take Steve and his accomplices place, returning the population to the normal number, and completing the beginning, middle, beginning, end cycle.
Wow, that was a lot of text, I’m sorry.

The movie isn’t that great, but it is palpable enough to be better than most of the films that you find on the Sci-Fi channel. This film, might at one point have been produced with that in mind, and it works well. The camera work is steady, the production values are somewhat good, and the actor that plays Steve, really tries hard not to mess up what could be one of the worst roles ever taken.

I’m not even that upset that Fred Durst shows up in this film.

There is a creepy nature to this town, but the resemblance to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is just too much for me, and I begin to wonder if that’s why this movie was intentionally buried at time of release.

Overall, Population 436 is not something that you’re going to be clawing your way to get, but if you’re a collector of all things Tales From The Crypt, maybe it’s something you want to invest your money into. I’m sure you can find it online and in our store for cheaper than most dvd’s, and for you horror freaks, you’ll welcome Population 436 to your dvd collection.

This film has its problems, but so do a lot of other films. I didn’t find it too bad, so rent before you buy.

If you enjoyed that film, or just are interested in more of these sub-standard films, check out the following for a great time, especially with Friday June 13th 2008 coming up!

Demon Knight via Amazon.com
Bordello of Blood via Amazon.com
The Plague via Amazon.com
Ritual via Amazon.com
Tales From The Crypt Series via Amazon.com
The Faculty via Amazon.com

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

REWIND: The Changeling Review

Instead of watching horror film last night, I ended up going to see Hot Tub Time Machine. So once again, I break my promise to review more horror movies and I post another rewind post.

Sorry kids.

The Changeling is one of those creepy movies that takes forever to set up, but once things start being revealed, there are some creepy moments. While this film didn't offer buckets of gore, it did offer superb acting.

Oh and this film should NOT be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie of the same name.



The Changeling is a slow moving nightmare, and if you stick with it, you're going to like the tour de force acting job done by the cast. The movie itself is not one that is filled with a lot of gore, but it offers some rare scary moments, and deals with the human condition a lot more than straight forward scary notions.

Dr. Russell is our main character and after the tragic loss of his family he moves into an old house. The house starts to act out and the doctor is scared for his life, as we start to believe that the this is just another haunting movie. The movie goes into straight forward haunting mode until it is discovered that the ghost that haunts the place was killed in there, and the true horror begins. The movie transitions from a haunting to a real drama as the story unfolds and we discover that a powerful U.S Senator is linked to the slaying of a young child.

Not scary huh? Yeah, I know, it is a bit of a stretch to try and give you a synopsis of this film as it has a real winding road to understand what's going on. The movie is slow moving and the horror elements are really more of a "scary" haunting variety, rather than gore or random slashings.

Here is a trailer for the 1980 Rated R film The Changeling:



Yes, this film is quietly haunting and brooding at times, but it is slow. It's hard to sit through if you're not accustomed to the pacing of the early 80's as this film epitomizes the storytelling of the time period. While the actor's do a great job with every single piece of dialogue spoken, the scenes can take some time to develop into full blown story mode and the haunting sequences rely heavily on sound effects rather than true visual stages. The most haunting of the pictures is definitely that of the wheelchair and the closing moments of the final act. You'll have to see it to find out, but it definitely causes a stir in your mind as you see the closing arguments of the secret revelations that this house has.

I don't recommend The Changeling for everyone. Most people will not enjoy how this one unfolds and at times you really want to just sleep through it. However, if you're brave and you can sit through this one, it does have a twist of horror that is unique to the year that this was made, and who can say that George C. Scott's performance wasn't award worthy? He did a great job with the material, and it might even be rivaled by Christopher Walken's performance in a very loosely similar film The Dead Zone. Check out The Changeling if you want a somewhat serious horror film, not really for the new fans of horror, but definitely a close crossover hit for the genre.

Silent Night Bloody Night Review

About ten years prior to the film Silent Night Deadly Night, a low budget Christmas themed film came out entitled Silent Night Bloody Night. The film was rated R, and starred a lot of friends of one reclusive and weird artist Andy Warhol. I’m going to try and do my best here, to review this lesser known movie.

The movie is about an escaped mad man who is now killing people at a mansion. There is also a subplot of who will take ownership of an abandoned insane asylum, and as things start to heat up within the main characters, a mad man kills without warning.

This movie is very difficult to watch. This movie sucks, I had such a hard time with this movie that I almost turned it off. I give a lot of movie a fair chance, and though I sat through this steamy pile of horror film, I couldn’t find a lot of saving graces.

The sound sucks on this film. The foley is terrible, the voices are sometimes muted and overdubbed, and the kill scenes are done with such a stupid lazy effort, it makes me hate horror. The only backdrop to Christmas found in this film is through the films score which features Christmas carol’s. We also see Christmas lights hung on the exterior of the mansion that we are at.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the film really solves nothing, and then gives the audience a sepia toned flash back to finish off the plot and then tie up loose ends, it doesn’t do anything and really frustrates me as a horror movie fan. This film is terrible.

The saving grace to Silent Night Bloody Night has to be the make up effects. The make up is well done and you see a lot of good overall “zombie” and “death” effects. I liked that a lot, and thought it really carried the film a little, when the acting and overall story was convoluted.

Here is a trailer for Silent Night Bloody Night:



1974 is not a good excuse for such a bad movie both in style and delivery. The films of 1974 were not terrible and showed a lot of promise. Consider the year in film that year, we had: Young Frankenstein, The Longest Yard, Blazing Saddles, The Godfather Part 2, Gone in 60 Seconds, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, The Street Fighter, Vampyres, Way of the Dragon, and of course The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The year did not reflect such poorly done film making, and while this is a low budget film, there’s no excuse for such terrible plotting and pacing, and terrible lighting. Maybe this film was meant for the art house, as Warhol might have had influence on its style. However, this film is horrible and I do not recommend it at all.

While consider the scary parts of this film, I decided not to go too much into a psychological analysis. This film is so hard to watch that the notions set forth by the film, and its intentions are lost on me. I don’t want to do it too much justice, because it really was not a good movie and while I have seen some terrible films, this one takes a whole new standard. Silent Night Deadly Night is a terrible, terrible, Christmas horror movie. As far as holiday films are concerned, I would much rather recommend Silent Night Deadly Night as the go to Christmas horror movie.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

The Changeling Review

The Changeling is a slow moving nightmare, and if you stick with it, you're going to like the tour de force acting job done by the cast. The movie itself is not one that is filled with a lot of gore, but it offers some rare scary moments, and deals with the human condition a lot more than straight forward scary notions.

Dr. Russell is our main character and after the tragic loss of his family he moves into an old house. The house starts to act out and the doctor is scared for his life, as we start to believe that the this is just another haunting movie. The movie goes into straight forward haunting mode until it is discovered that the ghost that haunts the place was killed in there, and the true horror begins. The movie transitions from a haunting to a real drama as the story unfolds and we discover that a powerful U.S Senator is linked to the slaying of a young child.

Not scary huh? Yeah, I know, it is a bit of a stretch to try and give you a synopsis of this film as it has a real winding road to understand what's going on. The movie is slow moving and the horror elements are really more of a "scary" haunting variety, rather than gore or random slashings.

Here is a trailer for the 1980 Rated R film The Changeling:


Yes, this film is quietly haunting and brooding at times, but it is slow. It's hard to sit through if you're not accustomed to the pacing of the early 80's as this film epitomizes the storytelling of the time period. While the actor's do a great job with every single piece of dialogue spoken, the scenes can take some time to develop into full blown story mode and the haunting sequences rely heavily on sound effects rather than true visual stages. The most haunting of the pictures is definitely that of the wheelchair and the closing moments of the final act. You'll have to see it to find out, but it definitely causes a stir in your mind as you see the closing arguments of the secret revelations that this house has.

I don't recommend The Changeling for everyone. Most people will not enjoy how this one unfolds and at times you really want to just sleep through it. However, if you're brave and you can sit through this one, it does have a twist of horror that is unique to the year that this was made, and who can say that George C. Scott's performance wasn't award worthy? He did a great job with the material, and it might even be rivaled by Christopher Walken's performance in a very loosely similar film The Dead Zone. Check out The Changeling if you want a somewhat serious horror film, not really for the new fans of horror, but definitely a close crossover hit for the genre.

House of 1,000 Corpses Review

Rob Zombie’s directorial debut is like a journey into hell on dvd. I recall when this movie made it’s theatrical run, and Sid Haig was outside of my local theater passing out tickets to a horror convention that he was signing autographs at. It was hilarious, and I didn’t know who he was until I sat down and watched the movie.

The movie has a simple premise, a group of young adults are traveling the nation looking for weird and spooky tourist traps. They stumble upon Captain Spaulding’s museum of weird stuff and chicken, alongside The Murder Ride. In this ride they learn about Doctor Satan, and after some questions find out that the Doctor Satan house is just down the road, so of course, they must explore it.

Meanwhile, there are a group of cheerleaders missing, and locked up in a dingy garage somewhere. We don’t hear more about this until later, but it plays as a key turning point later on in the movie. The beginning of the film sets up for what kind of language and violence is to come, when a failed robbery turns into a hilarious introduction to Captain Spaulding. (My Favorite of All Clowns)



The movie starts to feel a little recycled, and then the horror starts. If you’re a fan of Gore, you’re going to be in love with how its presented here. Skin peeling, guts exploding, head shots, ax cuts, surgical procedures, zombies, and even occult rituals pour out of the crevices of this film to make quite a cesspool of interactive fun.

The ending is also a great tribute to the 1980’s scare secenes, but I won’t deliberate more information than that. You’ll love it, that’s all I will tell you about that.

Here is a trailer for House of 1,000 Corpses:



Alright, so you either hate this movie and hate Rob Zombie, or you love this movie and get all the references that long time horror movie fan Rob Zombie threw in there. If you’re a fan of horror you’ll catch all the references to movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, Friday the 13th, and dare I say…A Nightmare on Elm Street, oh and I’m reaching for this one, but Toxic Avenger is also summoned in spirit, if you really pay attention. The overall tone of this film is dark, and it’s rainy. There are a lot of cut scenes that you don’t really know how to explain, but you don’t have to, you just strap in and get ready for a journey into what the radio spots call “Hell”.



Rob Zombie may have got a lot of heat for Halloween, and when I reviewed the movie Halloween, I didn’t think it was as bad as people said it was. House of 1,000 Corpses is a great entry into the horror genre for both nostalgia’s sake and horror on its own. If you’re a long time horror fan, rejoice that this is not a Japanese remake of some kind, it is definitely NOT pg-13 and is definitely worth its weight. I admit, the first time I saw this movie I didn’t really like it, but it grows on you, like the fungus or disease in Cabin Fever (a favorite of mine). House of 1,000 Corpses is not the greatest, but it is heavy and hardcore enough to win this horror movie buff over, with enough blood, guts, and glory. Try it on for size, and enjoy the ride!

Population 436 Revew

Population 436 is a movie that a lot of people just dismissed right away. So much in fact, that when I was working at a video store for a few years, no one would trust me on the recommendation, and only a select few watched this film. So it sat next to some other horror movies that we cycled through the new release wall, even though they weren't new releases by any stretch of the imagination. We were a weird video store like that, always cycling through what were obviously not new releases, and trying to squeeze an extra buck out of them.


But back to the topic at hand, Population 436; the story revolves around a man named Steve Kady (played by Jaremy Sisto of Six Feet Under fame), traveling through a remote part of the country to talk about the population of a small town, and along the way discovers some bad things.

But before I jump to the bad things, let us consider another story…and I’ll tie it in, don’t worry.

The Lottery was a story where the population control was being implemented by shooting someone via a lethal lottery system.

This movie basically copies the premise and then switches it out a little. The story takes another piece from the movie Dolls, which I reviewed on this blog earlier this year.

Every time someone breaks down outside of the city, they are welcomed into the flock as a replacement for someone that has just passed away. Keeping the population at 436, and becoming an oddity, and therefore forcing the main character to come to the town and fill the void.

The movie really takes a high road in the middle, where the guy from the Census Bureau gets caught up with a local woman, who attempts to help him escape, as revelations of the city are more pronounced to him. He manages to skirt leaving, but the sheriff’s won’t allow such a thing, and this is where you will want to set the brakes on this independent horror film.

Here’s a trailer for the film, Population 436:



Just when I thought this film couldn't get worse, or steal more from others, enter none other than the singer of the band Limp Bizkit. That’s right, Fred Durst is seen in this film as Johnny law, and we’re treated to his acting abilities. I must admit, I didn’t think this film was going to be that good, but he pulled off his role quite nicely, and the rest of the cast tried their best to work with this convoluted storyline of time and space. It really had its problems, and well, it just was lame towards the end.

Steve begins to try to get out of the place, and convinces a young girl to help him do it. Together they forge a plan which ties up law enforcement, and gets him out alive.

This movie could have ended with him just leaving, but the camera turns towards the entrance of the town, where a car has appeared and a flat tire has ensued. Forcing a pair to take Steve and his accomplices place, returning the population to the normal number, and completing the beginning, middle, beginning, end cycle.
Wow, that was a lot of text, I’m sorry.

The movie isn’t that great, but it is palpable enough to be better than most of the films that you find on the Sci-Fi channel. This film, might at one point have been produced with that in mind, and it works well. The camera work is steady, the production values are somewhat good, and the actor that plays Steve, really tries hard not to mess up what could be one of the worst roles ever taken.

I’m not even that upset that Fred Durst shows up in this film.

There is a creepy nature to this town, but the resemblance to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is just too much for me, and I begin to wonder if that’s why this movie was intentionally buried at time of release.

Overall, Population 436 is not something that you’re going to be clawing your way to get, but if you’re a collector of all things Tales From The Crypt, maybe it’s something you want to invest your money into. I’m sure you can find it online and in our store for cheaper than most dvd’s, and for you horror freaks, you’ll welcome Population 436 to your dvd collection.

This film has its problems, but so do a lot of other films. I didn’t find it too bad, so rent before you buy.

If you enjoyed that film, or just are interested in more of these sub-standard films, check out the following for a great time, especially with Friday June 13th 2008 coming up!

Demon Knight via Amazon.com
Bordello of Blood via Amazon.com
The Plague via Amazon.com
Ritual via Amazon.com
Tales From The Crypt Series via Amazon.com
The Faculty via Amazon.com

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.