2019 was undoubtedly a good year for horror fans. In March, Jordan Peele’s newest hit film, Us, was released to critical and commercial acclaim. Blumhouse, a production company famous for producing thrilling horror movies, released an impressive collection that included such hits as Prey and Sweetheart.
Ari Aster followed up his 2018 psychological horror masterpiece,Hereditary, with his newest hit, Midsommar. Looking back, horror fans were certainly treated in 2019, but that’s not to say that there weren’t several duds for the genre. 2019 was the source of many hits and misses for horror, so let’s take a look at some notable ones.
Ma - 55%
Ma was easily one of the most highly anticipated horror movies of the year, and although Octavia Spencer’s performance of the titular lead cannot be oversold, the film itself did not manage to live up to the hype. Ma may have a powerhouse actress starring as its villain, but the supporting characters suffered from bland and rather stereotypical personalities.
Ma received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 55%, and most critics agreed that Spencer delivered an entertaining portrayal throughout an otherwise lackluster and predictable film.
Eli - 48%
Netflix’s Eli appeared to filled with promise, but when it dropped, viewers realized that it was riddled with tired cliches and plot twists. In this day and age, movies like Eli can be found everywhere. In 2019 alone, we had The Prodigy, The Hole In The Ground, and Brightburn - to name just a few of these Omen-inspired “creepy kids” horror flicks.
Eli was maybe one of the more unique of its kind, with a twist ending that was mildly refreshing, but it suffers from a plot so overdone that it’s more than ready to be put in the ground.
The Prodigy - 42%
In the vein of Eli, The Prodigy was another horror movie that revolved around a creepy-acting young boy. The film was released worldwide in February of 2019 and went on to gross around $21 million on a $6 million budget.
The Prodigy was not the worst movie of 2019, and a lot of its failure likely stemmed from its unoriginal plot and theme, because - as aforementioned above - this story has been told a few too many times.
In The Tall Grass - 37%
In The Tall Grass was one of the several Stephen King adaptations to come out of 2019, but it certainly was not the best. The Netflix film was directed by Vincenzo Natali (who previously directed 2009’s Splice) and was adapted from King and his son, Joe Hill’s novella of the same name.
As most King stories are, In The Tall Grass was packed with intricate details that would be difficult to translate to the screen, but were ultimately important to the story, so doing the novella justice was no easy task.
Critters Attack! - 44%
Given the title and cover of this movie, you could probably guess that it was not well-received by critics, but none of the movies in this ’80s franchise were ever meant to be taken seriously. The first Critters movie was released in 1986, and would later be followed up by three sequels. The franchise virtually bit the dust in the early ’90s, after the release of the fourth movie, but leave it to 2019 - the year the Leprauchaun franchise got revived - to bring these furry outer-space critters back to life.
Critters Attack! knows exactly what it is from the beginning, and it’s this sarcastic self-awareness that does make it remotely watchable.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged - 42%
There has been no shortage of shark horror movies in the past few years, with 2016’s The Shallows, the first 47 Meters Down film being released in 2017, and the worldwide hit, The Meg, released in 2018. No one was really expecting much from a sequel to 47 Meters Down - an already mediocre and forgettable movie - but many viewers were still disappointed by Uncaged.
From cliche scares to nonsensical schlock, this 47 Meters Down sequel was easily one of the worst - and most forgettable - movies of 2019.
Countdown - 26%
Countdown received widely negative reviews from critics since its release in October. While it has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score out of all the movies on this list, it’s not exactly the most well-known horror movie of 2019, and it’s definitely not the very worst.
Countdown utilized countless different horror movie cliches without adding any kind of surprising twist or refresher to them. It was easily predictable from beginning to end, which was most likely its biggest offense.
Brightburn - 57%
Brightburn was one of the most anticipated horror movies of 2019, and the fact that it was panned by critics came as a surprise to many, but this movie definitely earned its negative reviews. Elizabeth Banks starred as the lead actress and Guardians of The Galaxy director, David Yarovesky, helmed Brightburn, but even that couldn’t save it.
Brightburn had a unique concept and put an original spin on the typical creepy kid genre of horror movies, but still fell short of many fans’ expectations for a superhero horror movie.
Pet Sematary - 58%
As is said in Stephen King’s original novel, sometimes death is better. This phrase could also apply to many older films that are currently being given the remake treatment, as it is sometimes better to just leave well enough alone. Filmmaker duo, Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, learned this the hard way with their 2019 adaptation of King’s Pet Sematary.
The 1983 novel was already adapted into a film in ‘89. That version, with a screenplay written by Stephen King himself and directed by Mary Lambert, may not have aged exceptionally, but it holds a special place in several horror fans’ hearts. The remake was rejected by fans for several reasons, and one of the main ones was that it did not hold a candle to the novel or Mary Lambert’s adaptation.
The Curse Of La Llorona - 29%
Many horror fans consider The Curse Of La Llorona (along with 2018’s abysmal The Nun) to be a final nail in The Conjuring franchise’s coffin. The movies in that series often have hefty budgets and a crew and cast that should be able to produce a decent film, so the fact that La Llorona was basically low-quality horror schlock is pretty inexcusable.
The Curse Of La Llorona may not have been quite as laughable as The Nun, but it was riddled with cheap jump scares and horror cliches, and many expected much more from a Conjuring franchise film.
