We can all agree that the majority IMDb user ratings are a joke, right? Right??? Okay, good. That being said, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Sometimes, people give not-so-terrible movies terrible ratings. Sometimes, people’s opinions are just wrong (that’s a joke, sort of). Either way, imagine my disappointment when some movies that I love actually had terrible or mediocre IMDb user ratings! I must believe that some people just give movies terrible scores without having seen it. Looking at the lowest-rated horror movies with at least 1,000 scores, there are plenty of movies within the 4-6 star range that deserve higher averages (pretty much all of them with three or less stars deserve it, so there’s that at least). Given my high influence in the internet world (That’s a lie. I have no influence whatsoever.), I thought I would stand up for some of these films that have been so cruelly rated! Let’s begin.
Pod (4.3 Stars)
Pod made my Top 5 list last year, and apparently I’m in the huge minority with that one. I will never understand why, because Pod is one creepy monster movie. It take a little while to get going, but the payoff is more than worth it.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (4.5 Stars)
Halloween III is a good movie, it’s just not a good Halloween movie. People have undoubtedly rated this one so low because Michael Myers doesn’t make an appearance, but to score it lower than Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers? I call shenanigans!
Anaconda (4.6 Stars)
People seem to have it in their mind that Anaconda is a bad movie. It’s not. I’ll get around to writing a full defense of this incredibly fun creature feature one day, but for now I’ll just settle for saying that it does not deserve its 4.6 star rating. Do people just not enjoy fun creature features anymore? People like to complain about Jennifer Lopez, but she’s actually fine in the film. The CGI may be a little iffy, but the puppetry is on point. There are some truly fantastic kills in it for a PG-13 movie as well. Score it higher people!
Cherry Falls (5.0 Stars)
Cherry Falls really got the shaft when it was released in 2000. It was submitted to (and rejected by) the MPAA five times. They had an issue with the student orgy sequence that lasts throughout the entire climax (sorry) of the film. Because of this it was never picked up for distribution and was shown on the USA network as a TV movie. This is a shame, because out of all the Scream copycats that came around the same time period, Cherry Falls stands as one of the more intelligent ones (in a clever subversion of genre tropes, the killer stalks virgins, rather than promiscuous teens). The twist ending may be a little goofy and unoriginal (think Psycho or Dressed to Kill), but everything before it is pretty great. It also features a great turn by the late Brittany Murphy. If you’ve never seen it, it’s getting the Blu-Ray treatment by Scream! Factory in a few months. Buy it, watch it and give it a good score.
Willow Creek (5.1 Stars)
Another one that made one of my end-of-year lists was Bobcat Goldthwait’s Willow Creek a freaky Bigfoot film that really gets under your skin. It is a slow burn, which probably explains the low user rating, but the final 20 minutes are incredibly tense and feature one of the best (and longest) single takes seen in a horror film in recent memory.
Husk (5.1 Stars)
Husk will never win any awards, but compared to other killer scarecrow movies, it’s actually pretty good. It’s a supernatural take on the killer scarecrow film that actually has likable characters (okay, maybe one or two are insufferable). It’s not a very gory film, but the atmosphere the movie creates is one of pure dread. Again, it’s not an amazing film, but it deserves more than a 5.1.
The Lords of Salem (5.1 Stars)
Can you believe that The Lords of Salem ranks lower than Rob Zombie’s Halloween (which had 6.1 stars) and The Devil’s Rejects (6 stars)? The Lords of Salem shows Zombie at his most restrained, at least until the final 15 minutes when shit really hits the fan. It is a film reminiscent of Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, oozing atmosphere and filled with unbearable dread. It also features Sheri Moon Zombie’s best performance to date (though I have yet to see 31). Maybe the ending is where it loses viewers, but it’s still a great film.
Sorority Row (5.1 Stars)
I’ve said my piece on Sorority Row already, but I’d never pass up a chance to recommend it to anyone. It’s a hilarious mashup of Scream and Mean Girls that, if viewed as a horror comedy, is one helluva good time. Maybe I just have an affinity for a sassy script, because Sorority Row has it in spades, but it is one of the most consistently entertaining horror films released in the last 10 years. Also, Leah Pipes is a goddess. That is all.
Grace (5.2 Stars)
Whatever happened to Jordan Ladd? The actress who was one the budding scream queen in films like Cabin Fever, Hostel: Part II and Grindhouse sort of fell off the radar after 2010. This is quite depressing, because she delivered her best performance in Grace. In the film, Grace’s husband and unborn child die in a car accident. She decides to carry the fetus to term and give birth to it, but when she does the baby is born “alive.” To say any more would spoil the experience of watching this truly haunting film.
Bride of Chucky (5.3 Stars)
Look, I’m not saying that Bride of Chucky is high art, but it’s a very smart movie. No doubt inspired by the meta-ness of Scream, series creator Don Mancini took a franchise that had become a joke by its third entry and flipped it on its head. It al works very well and the humor doesn’t ruin the film like it did with Seed of Chucky. It certainly doesn’t deserve to rate lower than Child’s Play 2, which is an enjoyable sequel but definitely a rehash. At least Bride tried something different!
Hostel: Part II (5.4 Stars)
I’ve discussed my love for Hostel: Part II ad nauseam, so I won’t say much more here. Suffice it to say that Hostel: Part II improves upon the original in every way. Screw your 5.4 stars, IMDb users!
Teeth (5.4 Stars)
You may assume that a film that centers around a girl with teeth in her vagina would be terrible, and you’d be wrong! Hell, the film sits at a comfortable 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Mitchell Lichtenstein’s horror comedy is actually smart, witty and subversive. Let’s not forget the fact that it’s also quite shocking in its imagery of penile dismemberment. Add to that a top-notch performance by Jess Weixler (why isn’t she famous yet?) and you’ve got a movie that deserves way more than a measly 5.4 stars.
Piranha 3D (5.5 Stars)
The trend here seems to be that people just don’t understand horror comedy, because all of them either get rated horribly or flop when they are released. I completely understand Piranha 3DD’s 3.8 rating. That movie is atrocious. Alexandre Aja’s remake, on the other hand, is a smart dumb movie that knows exactly what it is and takes a kitchen sink approach with its plot. The famous massacre scene is worth the price of admission alone. Does no one have a sense of humor anymore? Oh, and did I mention there was an underwater lesbian naked ballet scene?
Not all of these films are perfect, but they certainly don’t deserve the online beating they have received. What are some of your favorite movies that you feel are rated too low? Let us know in the comments below!
