Horror Movies: Overrated and Underrated


ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I am a huge horror movie fan that will watch just about any horror movie given the chance. There are many that I've seen that I feel are a bit overrated due to the hype and/or critical acclaim that they receive. Also, I have come across some that I never heard much about that seem to be often overlooked.

Keep in mind, this is all based on opinion and something that can be considered "overrated" doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. For example, I think Nightmare on Elm Street is overrated, but I recognize the impact it has had on the genre and I still enjoy the movie to an extent. However, I really don't think the movie holds up that well (at least for me) and personally I never found Freddy Krueger scary. I always found him a bit laughable, even as a kid watching the movie for the first time.

With that being said, here are some of my picks:

Overrated:
The entire Saw franchise (I enjoy the first one...that's it. I don't really see much of a point to the sequels.)

Nightmare on Elm Street (I explained this above.)

Friday the 13th (I enjoy this movie a lot, but it's not original and gets too much credit by genre fans.)

Paranormal Activity (There was way too much hype surrounding this movie and I left the theater so disappointed. I felt like it was an extended episode of Ghost Hunters, not to mention I found the characters very unlikable.)

Insidious (I think this movie takes a turn for the worse at the end, but I enjoyed the first half.)

The Cabin in the Woods (Again, I enjoyed this until the ending. Also, I feel like this movie wouldn't hold up well with repeated viewings.)

Underrated:
Carnival of Souls (I'm talking about the original movie. I actually never even heard of this movie until I bought a dvd set of classic horror films. I liked the title and watched the movie really late at night with no idea of what it was about and really enjoyed it. It's a bit unsettling, especially late at night alone.)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (This movie was pretty much made for fans of the Slasher genre. It's paying homage to the classics, but I honestly thought it did this in a more respectful way than Scream did. I felt Scream was poking fun at it as opposed to paying homage. Therefore, I enjoyed this one a lot more.)

Black Christmas (Again I'm talking about the original. This movie is a classic to genre fans, but to more casual audiences, not so much. John Carpenter's Halloween is well known by everyone, but this movie came first and even inspired Halloween a bit. Halloween is my favorite horror film, but this one is just as good, with a less memorable villain in my opinion.)

Tourist Trap (Has anyone seen the House of Wax remake with Paris Hilton? I think that remake had a lot more inspiration from this movie than the Vincent Price House of Wax film. However, this movie is a bit more interesting than the House of Wax remake and doesn't get the same amount of attention as that or the Vincent Price one.)

What are your choices? List them below and try and explain a bit, I want to know what others think. :)
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TheBoyIAm's avatar
!!! Dont watch Julia X :D rofl... I just expext nice triller or some kind of horror, but it was so boring and stupid at all movie they runned and hurt each others, all characters were CRAZY, one man who meets with girls on the internet, who captured them and at the end murdered them, and two sisters who are haters and killers who finds that kind of man to play and tortured him... so it was some kind of boring :D there's must be something good, not only mad people. I almost felt asleep at the last 30 minutes... usually I am scared to death on thrillers or horrors.
nightchildmoonchild's avatar
Underrated: Peeping Tom and Changeling (not the Jolie film)

Overrated: Paranormal Activity series
doodlemancy's avatar
Dolls gets no love! I suppose it's a little more fantasy than it is horror, and by horror standards it's not very scary... it's pretty damn upbeat for a movie where most of the characters die. :lol: People assume it's a Child's Play ripoff but it actually came along before Chucky.

I guess I like it so much because it's got an unexpected element of wonder/adventure that goes along surprisingly well with all the bloody doll murder. Plus the little girl protagonist is a boss.
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I think I have seen that movie and if I remember correctly, it was a pretty fun watch. It's definitely one people don't bring up often. :)
TheLamadude's avatar
I don't really think Cabin in the Woods was all that over-rated, I personally really loved the way it de-constructed the whole genre of horror, but still managed to be a great film. Although, I gotta admit that the ending was pretty dumb..
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I mainly think it's overrated due to all of the positive feedback it received. Many critics and horror fans loved it and seemed to think it was one of the best horror films in recent years. I thought it was enjoyable up until the ending, but I didn't think it was THAT great. There are plenty of other horror films in recent years that are better than Cabin, in my opinion, that don't get nearly the same amount of attention as this movie did. If it hadn't received so many positive reviews and given me high expectations, I may not feel that it's overrated. I don't think it's bad just way too over hyped.

That's just how I see it though. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion.
TheLamadude's avatar
I think the reason people love it so much is because its something fresh and it does something different with the genre that people haven't really seen before. Also, forgive me but you've kinda confused me a bit. You think it's overrated because it's gotten too many positive reviews? Isn't that just the definition of something thats overrated?
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
Yes, you're right, that is the definition of overrated. But, I was kind of referring to the fact that it got so many positive reviews that it received mainstream success. There are many independent and artsy films critics praise, but I wouldn't consider them "overrated" because they may not have had mainstream success.

So, not everything that gets positive reviews and/or critical acclaim is necessarily "overrated" in my opinion.

For example, I hated the movie Let the Right One In and it's critically acclaimed and fans love it too, but it's not mainstream (at least before the American remake it wasn't) enough that I'd consider it "overrated", despite all of the positive reviews. I hope that makes more sense now. :/
It was my own fault for not explaining myself better.
TheLamadude's avatar
So you don't like Cabin in the Woods because it got lots of positive reviews as well as mainstream success?
But if it wasn't mainstream you wouldn't hate it so much?

I'm sorry, but I don't really follow your train of thought :/
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I don't like it for the simple fact that the people who are praising the movie keep talking about it, and I've seen the movie brought up over and over again on "best of" videos and lists.

I'm not purposely looking for these comments or reviews either, they happen to pop up in the comment section of certain movie reviewers I watch or websites I go to. There are other movies that get positive reviews or praise that are later forgotten about and not brought up very often. This movie is not one of those.

You can't tell me that when you don't like something and it's almost being thrown in your face at how good it is, that it doesn't get annoying?
TheLamadude's avatar
So, simply put...

You don't like Cabin in the Woods because it was critically and commercially successful, and that kinda bums you out because you didn't like it and want people to agree with your point of view?

Mmmmkay.
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AzamRaharjo's avatar
I think Paranormal Activity is NOT SCARY at all and I don't know why it's very overrated.
Speaking of similar genre, I'd like to recommend Noroi : The Curse (japanese). It's a horror documenter movie like PA and Blair Witch but it's much more scarier (to me). And it's underrated. But this movie might not appeal some people, especially people who like jump scares and cheesy shocking-violence because this movie is very slow and athmospheric. I really like the ending.
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I heard about Noroi: The Curse quite a while ago and I'm a pretty big fan of asian horror. I have been meaning to check it out but I just never got around to it. It definitely sounds like something I might enjoy though. :)
AzamRaharjo's avatar
You might want to check out Snowblood Apple's website. They have some informations on J-extreme cinema / horror movie shopping. Unless you wanna :ahoy:-ed copy, then it should be everywhere on the net.

By the way, any good recommendations on (really) scary horror movies--with great endings? (I'm actually starting a thread about this)
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
Thank you for the site recommendation! Sounds cool, I will definitely check it out. :)

For movies with great endings, the first one that popped in my head was [rec]. That movie is pretty tense throughout, but the ending to that movie was even better in my opinion. Also, I'd have to say The Orphanage, The Innocents, and Eyes Without a Face. I guess it depends on what people's definition of "scary" is though. The last 3 movies are more of the slow, atmospheric type of horror which generally creeps me out more.
monstermaster13's avatar
Overrated:
Saw franchise.

Underrated:
Sleepy Hollow, The Prophecy trilogy.
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I definitely agree with Sleepy Hollow; I love that movie! I haven't seen The Prophecy Trilogy though.
monstermaster13's avatar
You should definitely watch the Prophecy.
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I will definitely try and get a chance to see it sometime! :)
kawaiigurl342's avatar
I have to admit, out of EVERY horror movie I've watched, the one that I really loved was Plague Town! I think it was beautifully made, despite some obvious "I'll just go out in a dark forest in the middle of nowhere and put myself at risk of being murdered in order to find someone" moments. I honestly believe it deserves A LOT more credit than it gets, but sadly it seems very rare to come across someone who knows of the movie. I still remember the night I watched it, I was about 10 or so, and it was actually the very first real horror movie I watched, it was playing on the channel Chiller, it was around 3:00am or so and I was downstairs, alone in the dark, watching it by myself XD The sad thing is, since it was my first horror movie- I expected other movies of the horror genre to be just as good, since I had nothing to compare it to back then, but after years of watching other movies, and rewatching Plague Town, only now do I realize how great it really was. I liked the fact that it was obvious they didn't put way too much effort in the setting of the movie, but somehow that made it all the more unsettling. I've always hated the movies that made the "horror" too easy to find, like they just dumped a gallon of blood onto the floor and assumed that it would translate as "scary" to everyone who watches it, because it isn't genuine fear when things are obvious, but they also have to be careful not to make those scenes too spontaneous, otherwise it's just surprising, not really frightening, and you can't savor it either. I'd recommend Plague Town to everyone, it's actually really great ^_^
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I'm honestly surprised to see this one mentioned. As you stated, it's rare that people know of this movie. I have actually seen the movie and I'll definitely agree you on certain points. It's genuinely pretty creepy at parts! However, the thing about it that turned me off a bit was the acting. Some of the actors were fine, but a couple of them were really not that good in my opinion. With that being said, it is definitely worth a watch though and it's better than a lot of the theatrical horror films in recent years.
kawaiigurl342's avatar
Yeah, I agree that some of the acting was just plain bad, but I enjoyed it nonetheless ^_^
ResurrectionDreams's avatar
I thought it was still a pretty enjoyable movie. I have seen worse acting in horror films too. :XD: