Image credit: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., STX Entertainment, Relativity Media, Screen Gems, Lions Gate Films, Universal Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox
Some horrendous sequels nobody wanted, some cheap jump scares, and a whole lot of paranormal activity.
1. Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) This is a movie that basically became a meme for all the wrong reasons.
In "Paranormal Activity 4," we meet Alex, a teenager living in Nevada, who starts experiencing eerie happenings when a new family moves in across the street. She and her boyfriend Ben set up cameras around the house to capture any strange occurrences. They witness floating knives, weird symbols, and eventually discover that their little neighbor Robbie is...let's say, supernaturally inclined. The execution? So bad it's laughable.
The franchise made a fortune, though, with this installment alone raking in over $140 million globally.
2. The Devil Inside (2012) "The Devil Inside" follows Isabella, who travels to Italy to figure out why her mom killed three clergy members during her own exorcism 20 years prior. She gets involved with two priests who conduct exorcisms on the down-low, breaking all the Vatican rules. They try to help her mom but instead end up getting a first-class ticket to Possessionville.
Between shaky camera work and laughably bad dialogue, it's a hot mess, no two ways about it.
3. The Gallows (2015) Remember your high school drama productions? Now imagine someone died during one. "The Gallows" is set 20 years after a high school tragedy, where a student was accidentally hanged during a play.
The current students decide to honor him by performing the same play (bad idea, guys). Locked in the school at night, they face a mysterious entity that goes on a murderous rampage. Doors slamming, ropes tightening, you get the drift.
4. The Bye Bye Man (2017) The infamous "Bye Bye Man." This movie's villain is as comical as his name suggests. Three college friends – Elliot, Sasha, and John – move into an old house and find a nightstand with "The Bye Bye Man" etched into it. Soon after, they experience hallucinations and realize that saying or thinking the entity's name summons him.
The idea? Cool. The execution? So bad, it's basically like watching a comedy.
5. Slender Man (2018) Remember that viral internet meme that freaked everyone out? They made a movie about it. In "Slender Man," four friends in a small Massachusetts town summon the Slender Man after watching a video. Big mistake. The movie follows their increasingly horrifying experiences as they're haunted and tormented by the faceless entity. There are hallucinations, disappearances, and a whole lot of bad decisions.
The creepiness of the original internet legend gets lost in the clumsiness of the movie.
6. Ouija (2014) The classic tale of messing with an Ouija board and unleashing hell. A group of friends, including Laine and Debbie, play around with an Ouija board – despite all common sense – and accidentally summon a malevolent spirit named Doris. One by one, they're haunted by freaky visions and supernatural phenomena. Unsurprisingly, they decide that the way out is to dig deeper into the game. Classic mistake.
7. Truth or Dare (2018) Olivia and her college friends go on a trip to Mexico where they end up playing a cursed version of truth or dare. Soon after, they find themselves forced to keep playing or face deadly consequences. The movie amps up the ridiculousness with dares that lead to public humiliations, betrayals, and well, some serious self-mutilation.
8. Poltergeist (2015) The Bowen family moves into a suburban home, blissfully unaware that it's built on a burial ground. The youngest daughter, Madison, starts talking to imaginary friends, aka malevolent spirits. Soon enough, the electronic devices act up and Madison gets pulled into an alternate dimension. Her family goes all-in to rescue her, battling creepy clown dolls and even creepier trees along the way.
The CGI? So horrendous it's more funny than scary, making it worth the watch.
9. Winchester (2018) Helen Mirren stars as Sarah Winchester, the widow of the inventor of the famous rifle. She believes she's haunted by the ghosts killed by her husband's invention and decides to build a mansion to trap them. Staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that open into walls – this house is a maze. When a skeptical psychiatrist arrives to evaluate her, even he starts questioning his beliefs.
Despite the intriguing premise, the execution falls flat, which is why it's on this list. But then again, Helen Mirren in a somewhat-of-a-horror-movie? You just gotta check it out.
10. The Disappointments Room (2016) A name that's a review in itself. Dana and David move into a rural house with their son to start anew after a family tragedy. Dana finds a hidden room that's not on the house's plans and decides to open it, releasing malevolent spirits. She sees visions of the previous homeowner who killed his deformed daughter in that very room.
It's one bad decision after another, a sequence of predictable scares and clichés that culminate in a confusing mess.
