8 Horror Movies Critics Hated. The Crowd Was Right, and It Isn't Close.

Critics write reviews. Audiences write history, one rewatch at a time. These eight got dunked on by the pros and rescued by people who bought tickets.

Number one is the video game movie everyone pretends they didn't love.

1. 8
   Pitch Black (2000)6.0

   Vin Diesel's best role is a guy who sees in the dark.

   Metacritic gave it 49. IMDb voters gave it 7.0 across 266,627 votes. A $23M creature feature that made a shaved-head convict cooler than most of what Vin did later.
2. 7
   Blade (1998)6.0

   Blade walked so every superhero blockbuster could run.

   Critics stopped at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences handed it an A minus CinemaScore and $131.2M worldwide. The nightclub opener alone outranks most of the reviews.
3. 6
   Final Destination (2000)4.8

   The scariest horror villain is a coincidence, and it rules.

   Metacritic: 39. IMDb: 6.7 from 342,428 voters. It turned a $23M budget into $112.9M worldwide and made a whole generation weirdly nervous about boarding flights.
4. 5
   The Thing (1982)8.5

   Kurt Russell's beard deserved its own Metacritic score.

   Metacritic sits at 57. IMDb sits at 8.2 with 539,535 votes. It made just $20.9M worldwide on $15M, and the paranoia still holds up better than most horror this decade.
5. 4
   Predator (1987)6.3

   Critics missed the best handshake in movie history.

   Metacritic: 47. IMDb: 7.8 across 508,190 votes. $98.3M worldwide on a reported $15 to 18M budget. Arnold and Carl Weathers turned a jungle mission into a rewatch ritual.
6. 3
   Constantine (2005)4.9

   Keanu as a tired exorcist is top-five Keanu, easily.

   Rotten Tomatoes said 46%. IMDb says 7.0 from 414,633 voters. It made $230.9M worldwide, and Tilda Swinton in this cast should've ended the debate on day one.
7. 2
   Saw (2004)5.5

   A $1M garage puzzle out-scared most blockbuster horror.

   Rotten Tomatoes: 50%. CinemaScore: C+. IMDb: 7.6 from 518,662 voters. A reported $1 to 1.2M budget became $104M worldwide. James Wan did more with one bathroom than studios do with whole sets.
8. 1
   Resident Evil (2002)3.9

   The best video game movie of its era. Fight me.

   Critics: 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, 35 on Metacritic. Crowd: 6.6 on IMDb from 319,836 voters, plus $103M worldwide on $33M. Milla Jovovich roundhouse-kicking the undead is peak Saturday night.

$318.62 says you defend Resident Evil in the comments, then quietly queue it up tonight.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it