Connect with us

Editorials

‘F’ This! – The Most Hated Films in Horror

Published

on

Recently Darren Aronofsky’s mother! was slapped with an extremely rare “F” CinemaScore from audiences. Despite the film’s initial marketing, mother! is anything but a typical Satanic Panic/hysterical woman thriller. Granted, those familiar with Aronofsky’s work should have been fully aware of what they were getting themselves into as they entered the theater. Nonetheless, it appears “general audiences” were woefully unprepared and reacted as such when given the chance to grade the film. Paramount, the company standing firmly behind the film’s release, has leaned into the controversy, but it remains to be seen if mother! can manage to shirk off the stigma of the dreaded “F”.

To put things in perspective, there have only be 19 films released in the past 31 years to have garnered the bottom-barrel score. Unsurprisingly, a majority of these films fall within the horror genre. For some titles (much like mother!), the audience reaction could come down to “misleading advertising,” by creating a sense of more generic thrills than what the filmmaker truly had in mind. Take 2006’s William Friedkin directed Bug. This was a film whose trailer could leave you to easily believe it was about, ya know…killer bugs. I remember seeing the film on opening weekend to a packed house of people, many of whom got up and left halfway through. Many of those brave souls who stuck it out to the end, let out exhausted, audible groans once the credits began to roll. Personally, I love just how batshit Bug is. I mean, “I am the super mother bug!” is way up there on the list of greatest singular moments in horror history.

While some films with an “F” CinemaScore might just be misunderstood, some are arguably well deserving of their letter grade. Below are five horror films that left audiences understandably unimpressed.


The Devil Inside (2012)

The Devil Inside featured a now infamous ending where amidst the supposed intense climax, the screen cuts to black and refers the audience to a website to find out more. So, yeah, it simply DOES NOT have an ending. Thanks to a mega-successful marketing campaign, the film made it’s money back and then some on the opening weekend. Paramount only paid a million for the rights to release the film and in the first few days it grossed $35 million. That’s great, except it meant the irate film-goers who rushed to see the flick were many, and they were very vocal as well. The above isn’t actually a clip from the movie but, instead, live audience response to the cop-out ending.


I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

Writer/director Chris Siverston was hot off his adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s The Lost when he scored a big name star for his follow-up feature, I Know Who Killed Me. Lindsay Lohan was still considered a hot commodity but was quickly gaining a reputation as a wild child. Unfortunately, production began just as Lohan’s career began to crumble. Production was halted numerous times as Lohan was hospitalized for “dehydration”, an infection from surgery, and ultimately entered rehab. By the time the film was finished and released, there was hope this could be her “come back” flick. Starring as twins, one a stripper with one leg and the other a goody-goody, this was the dark turn Lohan needed to really flex her acting muscles. Apparently, though, they had atrophied.


Alone in the Dark (2005)

Uwe Boll directs a film “based on a video game” that takes very little from the source material, stars a slumming Christian Slater, and Tara Reid plays a scientist which is indicative by the fact that she wears glasses. ‘Nuff said.


The Wicker Man (2006)

Neil LaBute was an indie darling for quite some time. His first two films In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors were both bleakly comic looks at the lowest depths of the male psyche. From there he slowly built up a reputation as a director to watch. When he was announced as being attached to The Wicker Man remake, I knew that if anyone could do it, he could. Perhaps, the biggest error was in casting Nicholas Cage who reportedly took on a lot of control on set. This is one of the more, er…unhinged Cage performances. While his manic mannerisms can benefit certain roles – this was not one of them. Despite being one of the worst horror remakes ever, it will forever be remembered for “the bees!”


Fear Dot Com (2002)

William Malone is a director with a strikingly unique visual style. He conjures images that seem lifted directly from one’s’ nightmares. However, all of that style doesn’t always come together in the form of a cohesive narrative. After the success of his Dark Castle remake of The House on Haunted Hill, Malone brought us Feardotcom. The plot feels reminiscent of any number of J-Horror films (which the J-horror craze hadn’t yet caught on here in the states). If you view this crazy website, you die just a few days later. The word is that the studio stepped in and created a hack-job out of Malone’s film. We may never know if Feardotcom would have been a genre classic otherwise, but what we’re left with is one nonsensical hot mess.


Sure, the list of “F” grade CinemaScores is a short one, and while films like Wolf Creek or Darkness might not deserve the distinction, it’s hard to argue for the films on this list.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

Published

on

leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

Continue Reading