In the spirit of Halloween, I want to highlight three of the worst horror movies I’ve ever seen. These poorly-rated movies are Slenderman (2018), Unfriended (2014), and Ax’ Em (1992).
Most kids born in this generation probably remember the similarly-titled game Slender: The Eight Pages, one of the most popular horror games of its time. The extreme popularity of this 2012 game inspired the production of the 2018 movie Slenderman.
For those who don’t know Slenderman, he is a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless head and face, wearing a black suit. Sounds scary, but if there is one thing this movie did poorly, it was the horror aspect. The movie relies heavily on really bad jump scares, and while I am not opposed to their use in general, it was done incredibly poorly in this movie and makes Slenderman not particularly scary.
Despite the high potential of the movie with a genuinely scary character, it misses the mark in establishing a good game-turned-movie and fails in inducing fear. Not only is this a bad film, but compared to the other movies on the list, it's not even funny enough to make fun of. Watching this move is dull; even with friends, it’s boring and a total waste.
If you're looking for an actual bad horror movie to make fun of, look no further than Unfriended, a movie with a decent, but terribly-executed, concept. This movie takes place fully online and features a friend group talking via video calls, text messaging and other social media platforms.
The biggest problem with this movie is that, despite having a one million dollar budget, it looks like it was shot in a day. The acting is bad (to say the least), the “horror” aspects don’t seem that creepy, and the overall production of the movie is disappointing. The idea of a horror movie in which friends interact only online is interesting, and if presented properly, could have been a good film.
However, this movie is awful in a really hilarious way. I recommend watching this movie with friends or family if you’re looking for a movie to laugh at. Some of the acting is so bad and the characters’ reactions are so absurd that it's actually hysterical. This is a must-watch horror movie to appreciate the greats in comparison.
Now, imagine being in a theater and watching the newest horror movie. You watch as the movie opens up with this text crawl: “On a cold winter night, in 1990, Mr. Mason, a mean and cruel towns man, left his job for home. After arriving home, he took a shotgun and killed his wife and kids. Then this mean man killed himself. Legend has it, he will return in 13 years to revenge his family deaths.”
If that seems grammatically incorrect and incoherent, then you now understand what makes Ax ‘Em one of the worst horror movies. This movie, which was made in 1992, has some of the worst audio and camera quality I have ever seen. I had to watch the movie twice in order to understand the plot, and I still don’t know any of the main characters' names. This movie is so atrociously bad that it is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.
From what I understand, the movie has an average horror plot where some friends go out to a cabin in the woods to have a nice weekend. That's all you need to know, because the rest of the movie makes such little sense and is such a trainwreck that it's hilarious. I highly recommend this movie to watch either by yourself or with friends to have a laugh at one of the world’s worst movies ever made.