'Bad' Horror Movies That Are Secretly Awesome

This 2001 remake of a 1960 film was critically panned but made back its budget - and then some - upon its release in October 2001. Thirteen Ghosts stars Tony Shalhoub as Arthur Kritikos, a widow who lost his wife in a house fire and is living in a tiny apartment with his two children - Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth) and Bobby (Alec Roberts) - and a nanny Maggie (Rah Digga). The story begins when a lawyer visits Arthur, announcing he is the sole heir of his great uncle Cyrus, a man of great wealth - and strange interests. They eventually learn Uncle Cyrus collected ghosts and kept them in a special glass house, the windows of which are etched with protection and entrapment spells for the spirits. Unfortunately for his nephew, the house requires one more ghost. Matthew Lillard plays psychic Dennis, but the movie's real star is the designs of the 13 ghosts themselves. Thirteen Ghosts is worth it just for the twisted zodiac of poor souls trapped in the house. From the First Born Son who met his end playing with guns and arrows to the pure chaotic evil that is the Juggernaut, each of the ghosts is detailed and grotesque enough to haunt anyone's dreams for months.

Event Horizon is definitely sci-fi and horror combined into one grotesque, mind-bending movie. The titular “Event Horizon” is actually a device created by Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill) that folds space and time to facilitate fast travel in outer space. Unfortunately, audiences and most critics panned this Paul W.S. Anderson film when it premiered in 1997 due to its imagery and pace. Once the film received a DVD release and began streaming to new audiences, however, this stunning journey into madness found its audience. Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) and his crew, alongside Dr. Weir, investigate a distress signal from a ship that was missing for seven years before reappearing in a decaying orbit around Neptune. Once Miller and his crew step onto the ship, the movie immediately begins the “infection” of the group and doesn't slow down until the final moments of insanity. One by one, the crew begins experiencing hallucinations that, for some, push them toward horrific attempts at suicide, and for others, send them into full-blown madness. The Event Horizon opened up a gateway to another dimension, and the sentient machine wants to pull them all inside. The movie ultimately becomes a fight for survival against the machine that fueled space exploration - and the people who harnessed its power lightly.

Even though the franchise spawned five more films, 2002's Resident Evil has never received critical respect. Based on a video game, writer and director Paul W.S. Anderson created a brand-new character, Alice (Milla Jovovich), to bring viewers into the zombie-filled world of Raccoon City. Super soldier Alice awakes in a mansion that looks very familiar to anyone who's ever played any of the Resident Evil games. At some point, the dreaded T-virus was released, resulting in mass infection that requires a SWAT team to quell. Anderson captures the essence of the video games with puzzles, chess imagery, and deadly traps around every corner. Anderson's clear explanation of his universe's rules - not to mention the non-stop action sequences - are tons of fun to watch. Players of the Resident Evil games can appreciate the fan service, while newcomers don't have to worry about understanding the universe and can simply enjoy the carnage.

Movies based on video games are difficult for myriad reasons, usually due to the complete butchering and misunderstanding of the source material. While 2006's Silent Hill doesn't follow the hit video game series to the letter, director Christophe Gans and writer Roger Avary seemingly grasped the heart of the franchise. Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), the adopted daughter of Rose (Radha Mitchell) and her husband Christopher (Sean Bean), keeps having nightmares about the town Silent Hill, which was abandoned after a coal fire in the 1970s. Rose runs off to find Silent Hill - and some answers - with Sharon, while Christopher attempts to track down his wife and child. Critics disliked the film, but fans enjoyed seeing characters like Pyramid Head brought to disgusting life on the big screen. The entire movie is filled with horrible creatures who appeared in the video game series, made real with a mix of disturbing practical and CGI effects. The deaths are nasty, the plot is bonkers, and the movie never stops alternating between world-building and abject terror for those unfamiliar with the game.

The Butterfly Effect is a lot, both emotionally and plot-wise, which may explain why many remember it as a bad movie. Ashton Kutcher, mainly known at the time for playing the goofy Kelso on That '70s Show and stoner Jesse in the 2000 movie Dude, Where's My Car?, stars in the film, perhaps explaining its box-office success. Evan (Kutcher) endures a terribly traumatic and scarring childhood, along with his friends Kayleigh (Amy Smart), Lenny (Elden Henson), and Tommy (William Lee Scott). While in college, Evan learns he can time travel to moments in his childhood if he watches a recording of or reads about that memory. He uses this power to go back and change the horrific parts of his childhood; however, every change Evan attempts just creates a bleaker future for him and his friends. If a viewer can get past the characters' vile childhood experiences, the movie is an exercise in how far someone is willing to go to save the people they love from a grim fate.

After the fourth movie in the Final Destination franchise was called The Final Destination, critics had a field day when a fifth movie was announced. Final Destination 5 once again takes the formula that works so well in this franchise and adds in 3D effects for a bit of a twist. Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) has a premonition of his death and those of his co-workers and friends on a bridge during a team outing. He successfully saves his ex-girlfriend, Molly (Emma Bell), and several other people from the accident - but Death soon starts following them. The rest of the movie is just as any fan of the previous films would expect, with fantastical death sequences and gore. The best part of this movie, however, is not knowing how it ends. There's nothing more satisfying than sitting through the fun of this movie and then getting one last surprise before those credits roll.

House of Wax's bad rap likely all comes down to Paris Hilton. When the hotel heiress was cast in a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, horror fans were exceedingly upset and turned off at what they viewed as stunt casting. Warner Brothers cleverly used this vitriol to their advantage in the marketing campaign, highlighting the fact that film fans could watch Paris die in the movie. House of Wax went on to make $70 million worldwide. Critics weren't impressed with the plot, but no one ever said a horror movie's plot needs to sparkle for the movie to be good. Carly (Elisha Cuthbert), her boyfriend Wade (Jared Padalecki), her brother Nick (Chad Michael Murray), and friends Paige (Hilton), Blake (Robert Ri'chard), and Dalton (Jon Abrahams) are driving home from a football game when their car breaks down. A creepy local offers to drive Carly and Wade to the nearest town for help, but it's really a town of wax figures created by two insane brothers. House of Wax features plenty of decent, light gore that comes with coating living people in wax and setting them up as displays in a house of horrors. There's no mystery to solve, and the climactic scene in the titular house of wax is so much fun to watch, no one cares whether or not it actually makes any sense. It's a fun ride with familiar faces that have real acting skills, and viewers do, in fact, get to watch Paris Hilton die.

Diablo Cody was fresh off of winning her Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for 2007's Juno when she decided her follow-up would be the 2009 horror flick Jennifer's Body. Amanda Seyfried plays Anita “Needy” Lesnicki, and Megan Fox plays her best friend, the titular Jennifer Check. Unfortunately for Diablo and her feminist horror film, the powers that be decidedd a kiss between the two leading ladies should be featured heavily in the trailer instead of the actual plot. The ploy to pull in Megan Fox fans from the Transformers franchise wasn't wise since Diablo's movie is about female friendships, the male gaze, and female empowerment. The movie was a box-office failure upon release, but the appropriate audiences found the movie once it was available for at-home viewing. Horror fans who gave Jennifer's Body a chance were rewarded with a much deeper film than advertised. Jennifer and Needy attend a concert at their local small-town watering hole to see the band Low Shoulder. Jennifer leaves the event with the band, who, unfortunately, sacrifice her to Satan in exchange for widespread success. As Jennifer isn't a virgin, she instead becomes a bloodthirsty succubus who preys upon the boys at their school. Needy has to decide how to best help her friend who keeps disemboweling classmates. Diablo and director Karyn Kusama excel at not only the film's gore and the humor, but also the interactions between Jennifer and Needy. It's clear how much Needy both adores and is terrified of her best friend, and her hero's journey will be familiar to any horror fan.

The Halloween franchise is plagued by cash grabs and lazy continuity throughout the extensive collection of flicks. Halloween H20 was set to be a proper ending to the series, with Jamie Lee Curtis returning to play Laurie Strode and Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams as her son John and his girlfriend Molly. It's 1998, and Laurie Strode is living under the assumed name Keri Tate and working as the headmistress at the private school Hillcrest Academy. While most of the school is gone on a field trip, John, Molly, and their friends Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd) and Sarah (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) stay behind to roam the grounds and make out. Unfortunately, Uncle Mikey shows up to meet his nephew. Fans of the original Halloween will enjoy Curtis's return to his role and - if they skip the sequel - the final showdown between Laurie and Michael. What makes H20 worth watching is the simplicity of making this movie all about Laurie facing her fears and finally getting rid of the source of her trauma. Unlike the sequels that would come later, this Laurie didn't completely leave the world behind - or try to make her child into a soldier.

The Saw series has always been an exercise in trusting the vision of the creative minds behind the films. The original was unlike any movie anyone had seen before, horror or otherwise, and it seemed that all of the sequels would seek to keep pushing that creative envelope. By the time Saw VI was released in 2009, the original Jigsaw, John Kramer (Tobin Bell), had been dead for several entries. His apprentice is now the one in charge and is trying to stay off the FBI's radar while he runs a game involving employees of an insurance company. There is some grotesque, immoral joy in this installment watching the traps and players/victims attempt to escape them. Once again, the traps are fantastical contraptions of death that push William (Peter Outerbridge) to his mental and physical limits while attempting to save himself and his employees from evisceration. Saw VI is worthy of viewing for these reasons alone. Of course, this installment has its own explainer montage at the end that adds more to the Jigsaw legend while tying even more pieces of the franchise together.

Rings is the third film in the American Ring trilogy and doesn't feature Naomi Watts at all, which likely turned off some fans of the series. Instead, this entry introduced college professor Gabriel Brown (Johnny Galecki), who finds Samara's (Bonnie Morgan) infamous VHS tape in a second-hand VCR. After viewing the tape, Gabriel makes a copy and shows it to a student, who also makes a copy and shares it with someone else. One of those involved in the cycle is Holt (Alex Roe), the boyfriend of Julia (Matilda Lutz). When Julia receives a panicked call from someone named Skye (Aimee Teegarden), she drives to Holt's college and views the cursed tape. In order to save Holt from the fate that awaits him in seven days, Julia starts researching Samara Morgan and attempts to assist the little girl. Of course, this is the original movie's plot, and it's no surprise how that turns out for Julia. The real horror of the movie is people's willingness to put others in harm's way for a social experiment concerning a supernatural videotape. Of course, the Samara kills are pretty amazing, as well.

The Strangers was very well-received upon its 2008 release, but a sequel didn't come about until 2018. Critics felt a franchise would be a misstep, but fans seemed happy to have the masked trio terrorizing unsuspecting randos once more. While being weaker than the first movie may be unavoidable, Prey at Night isn't a terrible movie by any means. Parents Cindy (Christina Hendricks) and Mark (Martin Henderson) are fed up with their daughter Kinsey's (Bailee Madison) juvenile delinquent behaviors. The whole family, including son Luke (Lewis Pullman), set out to take Kinsey to boarding school, stopping for the night at their aunt and uncle's trailer park. Unfortunately, Dollface, Pinup Girl, and Man in the Mask have already visited the trailer park and are waiting for them that night when they arrive. While the sequel lacks the original's home-invasion feel since the characters quickly leave the trailers' interior, it seems much eerier to be in such a heavily populated area completely devoid of people. As such, every noise and every possible shelter are a huge risk for the characters, which is a clever way to overcome the larger hunting area covered by three people.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the fifth movie in the Paranormal Activity franchise over the course of seven years, possibly explaining its low critical reception but decent box-office take. It is, however, one of the strongest entries in the series and stands as a solid horror movie even without the Toby connection. Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) is a recent high school graduate taking the summer easy with his best friend, Hector (Jorge Diaz), when their suspected bruja neighbor is murdered. The two sneak into the empty crime scene and stumble upon black magic tomes and VHS tapes before leaving. The situation escalates quickly after an entity bites Jesse, causing him to develop incredible strength and athletic ability out of nowhere. He descends further into depression - and likely possession - as Hector and Jesse's cousin, Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh), attempt to save him from whatever has a hold on him. This entry in the series has the most likable leads in Jesse and Hector, clearly showing the audience their bond before picking it apart throughout the movie. Another fun element in The Marked Ones is that Jesse never really has to convince Hector and Marisol that something is wrong. They believe him immediately and even accompany Jesse's grandmother, Irma (Renée Victor), to a shop to buy items for a ritual to help him out. This is a breath of fresh air in a franchise full of men's disbelief and ignorance about what's happening to them. The film also ties together all the other pieces of the series's puzzle with the introduction of time travel.

On the eve of Zach (Zach Gilford) and Samantha's (Allison Miller) wedding, Zach decides to begin recording the life he's going to share with his bride-to-be. The audience watches the wedding recording and follows the newlyweds to Santo Domingo for their honeymoon. While there, a fortune teller declares Samantha - an orphan who grew up in foster care - as “born from death” and the one that “they have been waiting for.” Samantha and Zach trust a cab driver's suggestion to visit a local bar on their last night in town. After recording some men staring at Samantha, the camera clicks on to show the couple being dragged to a spot where unseen people perform a ritual. Samantha and Zach awake the next day with no memory of the night before. Eventually, Samantha learns she is unexpectedly pregnant, and that's when their situation takes another turn for the strange. Devil's Due isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is refreshing to see that Samantha isn't trapped in a house or feeling suspicious on her own. Zach is also noticing all of the strange things happening and tries to get to the bottom of it without upsetting his wife. Essentially, the film is 89 minutes of telekinesis and blackout rage attacks from a pregnant woman.