Horror movies as a whole were highly experimental and thriving in the 2000s, between the constant reboots and sequels to long-time favorite franchises, as well as soon-to-be classic franchises appearing on the scene. The beginning of the digital era allowed for more low-budget and inventive horror movies to be created than ever before, and while a number of great movies came as a result of this, there were also a number of films with botched executions.
While being of the utmost quality isn’t always the biggest priority of horror films, there were a number of horror films in the 2000s that went above and beyond in terms of completely lacking in quality. As the premiere modern-day hub for film enthusiasts, Letterboxd acts as the perfect platform to see exactly which horror films of the 2000s that modern film fans consider to be at the bottom of the barrel.
10 ‘Aliens vs Predator: Requiem’ (2007)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.61/5
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem is a follow-up sequel to 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, and continues the brutal battle between two of the most iconic sci-fi horror movie monsters, the Xenomorph from Alien and the Predator from Predator. The sequel takes place in the small town of Gunnison, Colorado, which soon becomes a destructive war zone battleground between the two deadly life forms, including a newly released Alien/Predator hybrid.
While the original 2004 film for the most part delivered on a satisfying collaborative premise, the sequel failed to do much to add to what the first film already accomplished, only creating a worse experience overall. The biggest complaint that many users had was the lighting and visuals of the film, which were so incredibly dark that it was nearly impossible to actually see what was happening for the majority of the film. The film also rarely delved into the horror aspects that made both original characters excel in the first place, feeling more like a generic sci-fi action flick.
9 ‘BloodRayne’ (2005)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.60/5
Based on the cult classic video game franchise, BloodRayne follows the story of Rayne, a human-vampire hybrid living in 18th-century Romania. After living nearly her entire life in a traveling circus, she soon escapes her prison and embarks on a plot to take down her father, the evil vampire king Kagan. She soon finds herself teaming up with a trio of vampire hunters in order to take down Kagan once and for all.
Infamous German director Uwe Boll has an outstanding legacy for just how low quality his videogame film adaptation films are, and BloodRayne is no exception. BloodRayne has very little actual respect or care for the vampire-hunting video game that it was adapted from and instead uses it as a jumping-off point to tell its own, generic and low-effort story. Even some key performances from great actors and actresses such as Ben Kingsley and Michelle Rodriguez couldn’t save BloodRayne from its deadly fate.
8 ‘American Psycho II: All American Girl’ (2002)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.60/5
A sequel to the all-time classic crime thriller, American Psycho II: All American Girl follows the story of Rachel, played by Mila Kunis, a criminology student hoping to land a position as a teacher’s assistant. In her quest to achieve this position that will surely pave the way to a career working for the FBI, Rachel sets out to take out any and all competition by any means necessary, including murder. While the school psychiatrist becomes aware of Rachel’s on-campus murder spree, Rachel’s skills in murder and identity theft transform the struggle into a game of cat and mouse.
American Psycho II infamously has nothing to do with the original masterpiece film and was quite literally an entirely different movie that had the American Psycho label attached to it at the last second. Especially for a horror slasher film that already wasn’t that great, attempting to save face and associate it with a bonafide perfect film only made the quality that much lower in retrospect. The film was so poorly made that leading star Mila Kunis has since denounced the film after it was released.
7 ‘Halloween: Resurrection’ (2002)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.59/5
The eighth installment in the iconic Halloween franchise, Halloween: Resurrection sees the infamous Michael Myers getting his final revenge on long-time nemesis Laurie Strode. After finishing off his greatest enemy, Michael soon sees himself as the main attraction to a reality game show, in which 6 teenagers are placed inside Michael’s childhood home, now filled with cameras. When Michael returns home, the contestants soon find that the reality game is one of life and death.
While the Halloween franchise has had its ups and downs over the years, Resurrection is near-unanimously considered the worst that the franchise has to offer. The film is filled with strange decisions, from the death of Laurie Strode in the first act to the strange and extremely 2000s reality show premise that makes up the majority of the film. While the film does have its positive aspects, it was a massive failure upon release, putting an end to the classic Halloween run, as the franchise wouldn’t return until 5 years later with the reboot from Rob Zombie.
6 ‘Anacondas: Trail of Blood’ (2009)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.58/5
The fourth film in the Anaconda franchise, Anacondas: Trail of Blood follows a deadly genetically created Anaconda, who after being cut in half, regenerates into two aggressive giant snakes. A group of survivors soon find themselves at the mercy of the giant snakes, as they attempt to fight them off in an effort to survive a painful demise.
The Anaconda films are already infamous for their below-average visual effects and their over-the-top action and character moments, yet Trail of Blood goes above and beyond in all aspects. The massively lowered budget of Trail of Blood results in the CGI being easily the worst of the franchise, arguably looking worse than even the first film released in 1997. Especially for a film released in 2009, the same year as James Cameron‘s Avatar, the hilariously poor CGI makes it difficult to take anything in Trail of Blood seriously.
5 ‘Dracula 3000’ (2004)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.55/5
Dracula 3000 takes place in the futuristic year 3000, following the deep space salvage ship of Mother III who miraculously locates the vanished Demeter starship while on their galactic voyage. Space Captain Van Helsing and his crew soon find themselves exploring the wreckage of the Demeter, unintentionally releasing the deadly vampire Count Dracula, placing the entire crew’s lives at risk.
Especially after the recently released Last Voyage of the Demeter, the concept of this initial Dracula chapter transformed into a sci-fi setting seems like it wouldn’t be all too terrible. However, this premise was far too outlandish and high concept to be effectively accomplished in the early 2000s, resulting in a ridiculously cheap sci-fi horror romp that has more in common with Jason X than Dracula. While the film may just be worth a watch because of how absurd the premise and concept are, it’s absolutely a far cry from anything that could be considered quality filmmaking.
4 ‘I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer’ (2006)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.45/5
The straight-to-DVD third film in the I Know What You Did Last Summer trilogy, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer follows a group of teens who accidentally murder their friend during a July 4th prank gone wrong. However, after agreeing to keep the death a secret from the authorities, the teens realize that a mysterious figure knows of their secret a full year after the incident, and is slowly getting his revenge upon the teens one at a time.
Coming out 8 years after the previous film, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, despite having a similar plot, completely misunderstands what made the original film effective in the first place. The film fails to accomplish anything close to an effective mystery or genuine scares, resulting in a sad, cheap cash grab that only insulted fans of the iconic original film. One can only hope that the upcoming legacy sequel will manage to more effectively tell a story in the franchise in the 21st century.
3 ‘House of the Dead’ (2003)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.44/5
Adapted from the classic video game franchise, House of the Dead follows the story of a techno rave party on a secluded island that goes completely wrong following an outbreak of zombies and monsters. The college coed partygoers, joined by a Coast Guard officer, soon find themselves fighting off the undead hoard from all corners, ruled by a mysterious evil entity that can be found in the House of the Dead.
House of the Dead is another notoriously terrible videogame adaptation from Uwe Boll, who once again adapts a classic horror franchise while completely abandoning what made the series great to begin with. Boll transformed what was originally a cheesy, camp-filled romp into a horror action film that takes itself way too seriously for its own liking. The editing choices especially are mind-numbingly confusing, as the film will often splice in sequences of the actual House of the Dead video game into the action in an attempt to create parallels, a decision that may go down as one of the worst editing decisions of all time.
2 ‘Puppet Master: The Legacy’ (2003)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.43/5
The eighth film in the Puppet Master franchise, Puppet Master: The Legacy sees a now elderly Peter Hertz as he relays the stories of killer puppets to an inquisitive young woman. However, Hertz doesn’t realize that the woman in fact has an anterior motive, and has plans to kill the deadly puppets once and for all.
As far as sequels in long-standing horror franchises go, it’s hard to be lazier and cheaper than Puppet Master: The Legacy. While many other low-budget horror sequels would simply lower production costs, yet not at the cost of the writing or story, Puppet Master: The Legacy takes the cheapest and easiest route to becoming a full movie. The film is nothing more than a collection of flashbacks from the previous seven installments in the franchise, with very little original material to call its own, it’s difficult to even call the film a movie, as it accomplishes nothing for those who have seen the original films.
1 ‘Alone in the Dark’ (2005)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.37/5
Based on the legendary horror game franchise, Alone in the Dark follows the story of private investigator Edward Carnby, who specializes in the investigations of supernatural phenomena. As he travels across the globe to the darkest corners of the world, Carnby faces off against deadly creatures and occult remnants as he fights to search for the truth in the world’s greatest mysteries. He soon finds himself on his deadliest case yet, as it deals with his own mysterious past.
Videogame movies have always faced an uphill battle for quality with their film adaptations, even more so for the directorial efforts of Uwe Boll, yet Alone in the Dark stands at the top as arguably the worst videogame movie of all time. The film completely abandons everything that made the original games so great, transforming a quiet and subtle puzzle-solving horror franchise into a cheap action horror film that rarely resembles the games at all. While a number of Boll’s other adaptations could be considered “so bad, it’s good” Alone in the Dark is so generic and formulaic that the only emotion it conjures is boredom.