Everyone has their own opinions and tastes. As the saying goes, “you can’t be liked by everyone”, whether you’re a person, product, or form of entertainment. Not everyone likes clog dancing, but no one really gets upset about it. However, not loving Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, or everything else with a massive fan base can be met with heavy criticism, or at least an eyeroll or two. The same can be said with horror fans. There are so many beloved classics that everyone seems to share as favourites, so it’s unfathomable that not everyone joins them in their collective feelings. In a community and genre that doesn’t get a lot of respect, you would think they’d be more accepting of a difference of opinion. Well, let’s find out. Here are the horror movies that I don’t like.
It could be for a variety of reasons, but most likely it’ll be because I just didn’t enjoy them. A big turn off for me is hype. If people keep talking about the same things over and over, I’m going to be put off by it (because I hate repetition). This has ruined many horror movies for me. Sometimes I feel that the hype doesn’t deliver when I finally get around to watching it. After many years I finally got to watching the much beloved classic, Suspiria (1977). Even though I enjoyed it and thought it was a stunning piece of art, I felt that the ending let it down as it just kind of… ended. Abruptly. I can understand why so many people love it, but I still feel that the level of hype among horror fans raised my expectations but couldn’t deliver as anticipated. If I’d have watched it a decade ago when horror wasn’t discussed so widespread via YouTube, I might have viewed it differently without any outside influence. There have also been movies that I loved, but was put off of after people started talking about them too much. The Descent (2005), and Alien (1979) are two examples of this.
Consider this my disclaimer, as I feel the need to explain myself from the get-go, which most of the time I struggle to do. I don’t want people to feel bad for talking or getting excited about their favourite movies. The hype is usually perpetuated by websites and YouTube channels that talk about the same popular movies in top 10 lists. I know why people love Alien, and I do personally like it myself. I first saw it as a teenager (around 2006), by myself, without having heard people praise it relentlessly. This was back when there were only 4 movies in the franchise, and I watched them all in one day. I just don’t understand why they always have to appear on so many WhatCulture Horror lists, particularly when they can be so unrelated. That’s all I’m saying. Anyway, enough with the waffling. Onto the list. Please, don’t get upset with me. It’s only one person’s opinion.
I will include the links for each movie on justwatch, on which you can change the country to suit your location, so you can find out where to watch it.
Yup, I went there. And right off the bat. I watched it years ago with my Mum, who loved this movie by the way and was a huge Stephen King fan. She had all of his books and had read them all at least once. So how come I didn’t like it? It could be that I have a short attention span and found the movie incredibly boring. Yes, it has an eerie atmosphere and isolated location, but that wasn’t enough to keep me interested. It could be a Stanley Kubrick thing, as I didn’t like 2001: A Space Odyssey either, but I do love A Clockwork Orange, so it’s up for debate. I would also like to point out that Stephen King himself didn’t like the movie, so I don’t feel alone when it comes to not liking it. If you love the movie, that’s okay. I just don’t.
Where to watch: Justwatch
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Now, hear me out. I was never a big zombie fan to begin with, although I have recently been slowly making my way into the subgenre and have found some that I genuinely enjoyed. I, without a doubt, respect the hell out of George A. Romero and what he has done for horror and the zombie subgenre. He was a pioneer and is considered one of the greats in horror filmmaking. I do not dispute this. I just don’t like this original movie. I get that this, and the series as a whole, has various social commentary, which is great. I don’t like the way the female lead was written. It perpetuated the stereotype of a woman being incompetent dead weight in a horror movie. I do, however, love the Tom Savini 1990 remake, which Romero not only supported, but he even rewrote the script. We got a much more well written female protagonist in Barbara, and an awesome performance from horror legend, Tony Todd.
Where to watch: Justwatch
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Tobe Hooper is another horror filmmaking legend. But I just didn’t like the movie. Now, I’m a huge fan of 70s horror, but there are some that I just didn’t enjoy. This is one of them. There isn’t really a definitive answer as to why. I do prefer the 2003 remake. I told you in the title that this was going to be controversial…
Where to watch: Justwatch
If there’s something to be learned from this list, it’s that you don’t have to like every movie made by a director that you have genuine love and admiration for. For instance, Wes Craven is one of my favourite horror directors of all time. He gave us A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996), along with many other horror classics. He only ever made one non-horror movie – 1999’s Music of the Heart – which I actually really like. I even really enjoyed his 1972 collaboration with Sean S. Cunningham, The Last House on the Left. However, I just didn’t seem to like The Hills Have Eyes. Again, the remake was very good, and definitely disturbing, but the original is just another 70s classic that I didn’t like for some reason.
Where to watch: Justwatch
Call me a Halloween purist if you want, but the original movie is my favourite horror movie of all time, so of course I’m going to be overly critical of a new instalment that tries to erase all of the lore that followed said first movie. I went into it with very low expectations to avoid disappointment. This was definitely the best approach for me as I really didn’t like it for so many reasons. I’m not usually one to nitpick, in fact I rarely do. But I just couldn’t switch my brain off or keep my eyes from rolling during the entirety of its runtime. It felt that they over exaggerated Michael’s notoriety in a world where all he did was kill 4 people 40 years ago, even if he had killed his own sister at 6 years old. He hadn’t racked up a massive enough body count or a reputation for being indestructible to warrant such panic, so ignoring the sequels, no matter how messy they are, doesn’t make as much sense as they obviously thought it did. Yeah, people made up a rumour about Laurie being Michael’s sister to make themselves feel better. So much sense.
Where to watch: Justwatch
I have made my feelings for this movie clear before, but I’ll just re-share them here. Again, Sam Raimi is a great filmmaker. The Evil Dead franchise is awesome and much beloved. Drag Me to Hell, on the other hand, was too much for me. Over the top slapstick gore with an unlikable protagonist does not make for a great watch for me.
Where to watch: Justwatch
My reason for not liking this movie isn’t because it’s a zombie movie (like I previously said I’m getting more into the subgenre), or that it’s a zombie comedy (Anna and the Apocalypse was hella entertaining, and I cried more times that I care to admit). It’s because I don’t like Simon Pegg. So we all have an actor (or two) that we don’t really like. It’s nothing personal, they’re just not for us. I know someone who doesn’t like Martin Freeman, which is fine. I’ve never enjoyed Pegg in anything I’ve seen him in, I don’t find him funny, and I actually liked this movie the first few times I watched it. I just went off it. It’s a shame because I love Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), so seeing this is jarring as it feels like it was made by a completely different director, even though it wasn’t.
Where to watch: Justwatch
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
I have tried to sit through this movie, twice. I just can’t get into it. It gets so much praise, so I really want to like it. It’s just so slow, and I’m usually okay with slow. I love a slow burn, but his movie barely delivers anything even when it’s not being slow. I saw it on Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Scary Moments, and after a couple of watches I decided to give the film a go. I was surprised to see that the scene where he’s chasing the children and they escape onto the river, which looked like the big climax of the movie, was in fact only the half way point. It just kind of dragged after that. I’ll keep trying though, out of respect for Charles Laughton. I don’t know why.
Where to watch: Justwatch
And there you have it. Relatively painless. Only 8 horror movies that I don’t like and I wasn’t a dick about it. I’m very rarely negative about movies as I can find entertainment easier than most and seem to love garbage. I just wanted to get this out of the way, in case anyone wonders why I don’t feature any of these movies on lists.
Linsey Loves Horror 