Even though there are many horror films on this list, 2008 was a bad year for films all round, as your don’t have great films that stand out from the rest. You have a horror genre that has original films being shelved to DVD or given limited releases (ex.”Repo, Rouge, and “Midnight Meat Train”), while sub-par sequels and awful remakes are the ones hitting theaters. That’s not all, as there were many disappointing films that I had high hopes for, like “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Quantum of Solace”. All and all, this has been a very bad year for films, in general. With that said, the ten worst films of 2008...
10. Dead And Gone
“Dead and Gone” was painful to watch, as the film moves fast and doesn’t spend time on setting up the scary scenes. The direction wasn’t good, as it felt flat and uneventful. I really didn’t care for any of the characters. The film was also confusing to watch, as it felt weird and unsuspenseful. Thankfully, the film’s running time was 84 minutes. If it would have went longer, then it would have been much worse.
9. Secrets of the Clown
It’s a film that I’m not going to get into that much, as it will be the next edition of “Reviews From the Horror Chamber” which will come out later this week. This film definitely deserves to be on this list. This film felt like amateur hour, as it had horrible acting and a story that was very dull and uninteresting. I’ll spend more time on this in my next column on this awful film.
It’s a film that I’m not going to get into that much, as it will be the next edition of “Reviews From the Horror Chamber” which will come out later this week. This film definitely deserves to be on this list. This film felt like amateur hour, as it had horrible acting and a story that was very dull and uninteresting. I’ll spend more time on this in my next column on this awful film.
8. J-ok’el: The Curse of the Weeping Woman
“J-ok’el: The Curse of the Weeping Woman” gave new meaning to the term boring. This film was full of lifelessness. The actors seemed uninterested with the material and the director didn’t care that everyone looked lifeless. It made the action very dull. He also doesn’t provide any scares, as the film could easily play on the Lifetime channel than being a horror film.
7. The Haunting of Rebecca Valentine
“The Haunting Of Rebecca Valentine” has a director that was obsessed with making a gory horror film, than the film’s original purpose, a supernatural horror film. There was no development whatsoever, as the filmmakers never intended to tell a story. The whole purpose of this film was to kill characters to horrifying ways. It made the film very boring to watch. No wonder why it took so long to get a U.S. DVD release date, because this is one horrible supernatural film.
Films Six and Five contain villains that you could easily punch in face and survive their villainous ways, because they are not convincing enough.
6. Cruel World
“J-ok’el: The Curse of the Weeping Woman” gave new meaning to the term boring. This film was full of lifelessness. The actors seemed uninterested with the material and the director didn’t care that everyone looked lifeless. It made the action very dull. He also doesn’t provide any scares, as the film could easily play on the Lifetime channel than being a horror film.
7. The Haunting of Rebecca Valentine
“The Haunting Of Rebecca Valentine” has a director that was obsessed with making a gory horror film, than the film’s original purpose, a supernatural horror film. There was no development whatsoever, as the filmmakers never intended to tell a story. The whole purpose of this film was to kill characters to horrifying ways. It made the film very boring to watch. No wonder why it took so long to get a U.S. DVD release date, because this is one horrible supernatural film.
Films Six and Five contain villains that you could easily punch in face and survive their villainous ways, because they are not convincing enough.
6. Cruel World
“Cruel World” was like a reality TV show. It was painful to watch. The main reason for that was that the acting was so horrible. Edward Furlong was horrible, as his performance came off, as annoying. It also didn’t help that I want to kick his character’s ass so badly. The film also suffers from horrible acting and uninteresting characters, like those found on those stupid reality shows. Forget this film ever existed, like I have.
5. Funny Games
Another film that made me, want to go into the film and punch the living daylights out of the villains. The film should hae been a decent film, with talent like Naomi Watts, and Tim Roth, but this was awful to watch. I don’t know why they would ever think that this was a good project to work on. The script was awful, as it had villains that you could easily beat up. I really wanted to break the fourth wall and punch those preppies out myself, like they did to the stupid family in the film.
Here’s film’s four and three, in which, in any year that could easily be considered, as the worst film of the year. Please notice that the directors for these two films should never be considered.
4. Seed
Why is Uwe Boll still making films? I convinced of the hype that he has no directing talents at all. I’m not going spend a lot time on this, as I have other things to rant about, but here’s a couple of the highlights of why this film was bad. This film had a screenplay that was boring. The screenplay made no sense to it all. Boll, also add disturbing elements to the film’s story that doesn’t scare you, as it makes the film’s content plain disgusting, not horrifying. The direction was also awful, because the action was dull. Boll doesn’t care about keeping your interest. I had to shut this film off a couple of time because I was so outraged and disgusted with this film.
3. One Missed Call (One and a Half Missed Hours of my Life)
“One Missed Call” would have been the easy pick for worst film, but it really didn’t disappoint me that much, as the bottom two films did, because I had no expectation going into this film. If I declared this the worst film, then I would not make a major statement about the bottom two films and it’s highly profiled directors and stars, which I’m pissed off with. This film has all the ingredients for worst film of the year: a predictable story, no development of any of its characters, uninteresting characters, and no logic. Even though I still think that this is the Worst Film in the History of Modern Cinema, I want to make a major statement and show how this has been an awful year for films. Enough said.
The two worst films of the year are films that I didn’t review for the site and they both have Samuel L. Jackson. You know it’s a bad year if one of your favorite actors is in two of the worst films of the year.
2. Jumper
“Jumper” made me wanting to try to jump, from my seat to the theater exit doors. It really mazes me how far director Doug Liman has fallen ever since the last third of “Mr. And Ms. Smith”. He used to be a very talented director with film like “Swingers”, “Go”, and “The Bourne Identity”. It was like they were setting up the second film in the first one.
In this film, his direction was bad. I do not need to see characters jumping every five seconds. After the first couple of times, I get it. His use of special effects is repetitive throughout the whole film. It drove me crazy. He really needs to choose projects more wisely in the future. The screenplay written by David "Hit or Miss” Goyer, Jim Uhls, and Simon Kinberg was equally awful. You know that there’s a problem if Diane Lane is only in it for four minutes. Yes, it’s the same Diane Lane that was in Untraceable, in which she was the main star. Also, where’s the character development, as it make me dumbfounded that the writers, only cared about inserting 10 million jump sequences, while giving no background on his home life or character. I would have liked to know what his parents were like but no; the story needed a lot jumping sequences, instead. My other major complaint was the fact it didn’t answer any questions regarding the main character. The only thing that I got out of that screenplay was that if you are a kid from a broken home, then you can jump all over the world. The acting wasn’t that great neither. I thought Hayden Christen was very bad here. It’s one of those roles, where he’s just annoying all the time, especially every time he smiles. Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t that good, as I could not stand him in this film or “The Spirit” for that matter. It seemed, like he was playing the same character, in both of these film, by delivering one-liners, all the time, which made his performances suffer.
Jumper will make you jump for the exit doors, as it’s full of repetitive effect with way too many questions and no character development.
1. The Spirit
If you told me in the middle of June that “The Spirit” would be my pick for Worst film of 2008, I would have been laughing at your face. I have been looking forward to this film, since late last year. But it is true; “The Spirit” is a piece of over-hyped crap. Frank Miller should not be allowed to helm a film by himself again. That’s how bad this film is.
The direction and writing was awful. The whole film was dreadfully slow, as the direction was lifeless. Miller makes no attempt to move the action, instead that we are treated to endless monologues and horribly written dialogue. What made it very horrible was the fact that Miller tried to make this into a “Sin City” clone. Hello, it’s nearly impossible, when the film rating is PG-13 and the fact that there is no action to keep your interest. The acting also seemed lifeless, especially from Gabriel Macht, as his performance made you not care about this superhero. What is wrong with Samuel L. Jackson and his choices of projects? He stars, in my two worst films of the year. It feels like the same Samuel L. Jackson villainous performance that he gives in “Jumper”, which I’m not going to waste my time on, as I already talked about it.
What made “Sin City” great, was the fact that the film did a great job developing it’s characters. In this film, there is no development, whatsoever, like the relationship that The Spirit has with Ellen Dolan. There was room there, for some development, but instead, we are treated to endless boring monologues, which slow the film down. Also, I was also confused, in the way that some of the characters looked alike, as I had trouble telling a couple of them apart. But what made this awful, the fact that the dialogue was badly written. It made the characters annoying, like the clones and some of the female characters. “The Spirit” probably would have worked better, as a franchise or TV series, not a single movie. This was an utter and complete failure that should have never seen the light of day.
5. Funny Games
Another film that made me, want to go into the film and punch the living daylights out of the villains. The film should hae been a decent film, with talent like Naomi Watts, and Tim Roth, but this was awful to watch. I don’t know why they would ever think that this was a good project to work on. The script was awful, as it had villains that you could easily beat up. I really wanted to break the fourth wall and punch those preppies out myself, like they did to the stupid family in the film.
Here’s film’s four and three, in which, in any year that could easily be considered, as the worst film of the year. Please notice that the directors for these two films should never be considered.
4. Seed
Why is Uwe Boll still making films? I convinced of the hype that he has no directing talents at all. I’m not going spend a lot time on this, as I have other things to rant about, but here’s a couple of the highlights of why this film was bad. This film had a screenplay that was boring. The screenplay made no sense to it all. Boll, also add disturbing elements to the film’s story that doesn’t scare you, as it makes the film’s content plain disgusting, not horrifying. The direction was also awful, because the action was dull. Boll doesn’t care about keeping your interest. I had to shut this film off a couple of time because I was so outraged and disgusted with this film.
3. One Missed Call (One and a Half Missed Hours of my Life)
“One Missed Call” would have been the easy pick for worst film, but it really didn’t disappoint me that much, as the bottom two films did, because I had no expectation going into this film. If I declared this the worst film, then I would not make a major statement about the bottom two films and it’s highly profiled directors and stars, which I’m pissed off with. This film has all the ingredients for worst film of the year: a predictable story, no development of any of its characters, uninteresting characters, and no logic. Even though I still think that this is the Worst Film in the History of Modern Cinema, I want to make a major statement and show how this has been an awful year for films. Enough said.
The two worst films of the year are films that I didn’t review for the site and they both have Samuel L. Jackson. You know it’s a bad year if one of your favorite actors is in two of the worst films of the year.
2. Jumper
“Jumper” made me wanting to try to jump, from my seat to the theater exit doors. It really mazes me how far director Doug Liman has fallen ever since the last third of “Mr. And Ms. Smith”. He used to be a very talented director with film like “Swingers”, “Go”, and “The Bourne Identity”. It was like they were setting up the second film in the first one.
In this film, his direction was bad. I do not need to see characters jumping every five seconds. After the first couple of times, I get it. His use of special effects is repetitive throughout the whole film. It drove me crazy. He really needs to choose projects more wisely in the future. The screenplay written by David "Hit or Miss” Goyer, Jim Uhls, and Simon Kinberg was equally awful. You know that there’s a problem if Diane Lane is only in it for four minutes. Yes, it’s the same Diane Lane that was in Untraceable, in which she was the main star. Also, where’s the character development, as it make me dumbfounded that the writers, only cared about inserting 10 million jump sequences, while giving no background on his home life or character. I would have liked to know what his parents were like but no; the story needed a lot jumping sequences, instead. My other major complaint was the fact it didn’t answer any questions regarding the main character. The only thing that I got out of that screenplay was that if you are a kid from a broken home, then you can jump all over the world. The acting wasn’t that great neither. I thought Hayden Christen was very bad here. It’s one of those roles, where he’s just annoying all the time, especially every time he smiles. Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t that good, as I could not stand him in this film or “The Spirit” for that matter. It seemed, like he was playing the same character, in both of these film, by delivering one-liners, all the time, which made his performances suffer.
Jumper will make you jump for the exit doors, as it’s full of repetitive effect with way too many questions and no character development.
1. The Spirit
If you told me in the middle of June that “The Spirit” would be my pick for Worst film of 2008, I would have been laughing at your face. I have been looking forward to this film, since late last year. But it is true; “The Spirit” is a piece of over-hyped crap. Frank Miller should not be allowed to helm a film by himself again. That’s how bad this film is.
The direction and writing was awful. The whole film was dreadfully slow, as the direction was lifeless. Miller makes no attempt to move the action, instead that we are treated to endless monologues and horribly written dialogue. What made it very horrible was the fact that Miller tried to make this into a “Sin City” clone. Hello, it’s nearly impossible, when the film rating is PG-13 and the fact that there is no action to keep your interest. The acting also seemed lifeless, especially from Gabriel Macht, as his performance made you not care about this superhero. What is wrong with Samuel L. Jackson and his choices of projects? He stars, in my two worst films of the year. It feels like the same Samuel L. Jackson villainous performance that he gives in “Jumper”, which I’m not going to waste my time on, as I already talked about it.
What made “Sin City” great, was the fact that the film did a great job developing it’s characters. In this film, there is no development, whatsoever, like the relationship that The Spirit has with Ellen Dolan. There was room there, for some development, but instead, we are treated to endless boring monologues, which slow the film down. Also, I was also confused, in the way that some of the characters looked alike, as I had trouble telling a couple of them apart. But what made this awful, the fact that the dialogue was badly written. It made the characters annoying, like the clones and some of the female characters. “The Spirit” probably would have worked better, as a franchise or TV series, not a single movie. This was an utter and complete failure that should have never seen the light of day.
All and all, this has been an awful year, in films. Hopefully, next year will be better, unless the actor's strike takes place, then we could be in for another bad year.
I have heard nothing good about The Spirit. And it sounds really awful.
Jumper was pretty lame.
Great list-- I am glad I missed some of these.
Haven't seen many of these, and I have heard nothing but crap about "The Spirit." "Funny Games" was a movie I admired because the director made no bones about denying the audience the moments of cathartic energy. Very nice list.
I actually didn't mind Funny Games for what it was. But I can see why people would hate on it. It's not for everyone.
I do agree with One Missed Call. Ugh, I should have hung up on that one.
And is The Spirit really that bad? Wow. I figured it'd be a Sin City clone.
Great list.