1. The Scream Franchise-These movies are FINE. They’re OKAY. That’s IT. I never used to hate them but I’ve come to realize when white f*gs say they love horror movies, what they really mean is that they’ve seen the Scream franchise 10 times. The hype is just never ending. The first one was clever and good for its time but it’s not some cinematic masterpiece (it’s not even Wes Craven’s best film.) Point is I don’t hate Scream but they tired pooh. They tired.
2. Hellraiser-Hellraiser, on the other hand, is absolute trash. I was a fan of Clive Barker before I saw this (I read Abarat as a kid) so when I finally got around to watching this I was shocked by how...just plain SHODDY it is. Terrible direction, terrible script, and extremely uneven performances. The girl who plays Kirsty is actually pretty good (especially during her first encounter with the Cenobites) but pretty much everyone else is either wooden or way too hammy. Oh, and speaking of the Cenobites themselves, they’re the best part of the movie but have maybe 7 minutes of screen time total. Terrible movie that I can barely understand why it has the cult following it does.
3. Friday the 13th (1980)-This movie is also objectively pretty terrible. Like if Betsy Palmer didn’t come through in the last 20 minutes to spice things up this movie would be irredeemable. Its biggest crime is that it’s just plain BORING until Pamela shows up. Boring script, lifeless characters, and non-existent direction. That said, I can’t deny it’s influence. And without it we wouldn’t have the entire stupid ass franchise, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t know where I’d be without The New Blood. So I can’t hate it and I’m glad it exists even if it sucks.
4. Nosferatu (both versions)-Objectively great movies that I find boring and boring AND pretentious, respectively. I admittedly struggle to get into silents so the original was never going to light my world on fire, even though I respect its influence. The Herzog version is just Too Much for me. Too overwrought, too European arthouse, too strained. It’s well made but I’m not into it. Sorry poohs.
5. Re-Animator-This one isn’t as well known but it has a cult following. I saw it once and barely remember it, but from what I do remember it was terrible and ugly. Maybe it deserves a rewatch but I doubt I ever will.
6. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)-I haven’t seen the remake, but it’s one remake I could see being better than the og, because I’m sorry this movie is just Not That Good. I don’t really think Wes Craven knew what he was doing yet. I rewatched it recently and was shocked to find how mild it is. It’s really not at all as intense as you remember, especially compared with other films of the era. Meh.
7. The Witch-The only 2010s movie on this love, since the only other contender I didn’t super care for (Midsommar) is too recent for me to call overrated (yet.) Black Phillip id a star obviously, and I think Kate Dickie is fantastic as the mom. Otherwise...? I’m not really into it. I don’t think the whole indie A24 aesthetic mixes super well with the horror genre imho. Not particularly scary or engrossing for me.
8. Don’t Look Now-Donald Sutherland humps Julie Christie and a little person in a red raincoat goes around killing random Venetians. This SOUNDS hilarious on paper but is a little dry in the execution. I suspect I might like this one more if I watched it again though.
9. Jaws-I was torn on whether I considered this a true horror or just a thriller but I think it qualifies. It’s good but that’s it. The shark is cool I guess? The score is iconic. Quint’s monologue is immortal. But I have no personal passion for it, since 3 men in a boat vs. a big fish just isn’t my flavor.
10. The Silence of the Lambs-This is a legitimately great movie that I love, but it’s marred by 2020 standards due to a) the blatant transphobia and b) Hannibal Lecter kind of doesn’t make that much sense if you think about it too hard. You’re expecting me to believe someone, even a genius psychotherapist, could cut off someone’s face and plaster it onto their own to make it convincingly look like their face in five minutes using only a paperclip? “Now come on now”-Wendy Williams-me. That said, it’s still a fascinating movie and I love it, which is why it’s only #10, but it’s hard to ignore its flaws.
Honorable mentions: Midsommar (too recent), The Shining (fantastic but Nicholson’s performance hasn’t aged well for me), The Omen (well-made but a little dry), The Blair Witch Project (hugely influential but a little silly), and Pan’s Labyrinth (I decided this was ultimately more fantasy than horror, but it’s really fucking overrated)
1 - agree, everyone knows it’s a satirical take on horror, you don’t need to say it everytime
2 - agree it’s really shit and I’ve never got the hyp
3 -ehhh I suppose I can’t comment cause at the time it was probably insane
4 - I like it but it’s not like amazing just a decent movie
5 - never seen it :(
6 - the remake is ok but it’s pretty much just gore, but again I’d imagine at the time the original was insane so cant comment
7 - black Phillip amazing
8 - SHIT
9 - I love it smh
10 - again I love it smh
While some of them arent the best for sure, overrated? I think is a different category.
For example, The Hills Have Eyes. I agree that its pretty awkward and clumsy filmmaking by todays standards but at the time it definitely did do its job. Many people however find the remake far more superior to the original so I do think it doesnt really have an overrated status imo
In regards of Friday the 13th, I think people hype it up as a franchise more than they do the original individual film because I have never actually seen anyone rank the original number 1. Most people say its rather average anyway but love some of its sequels (which is definitely a rarity in horror franchises).
Cuntroversial opinions from here on out: