Horror moviesneed a great concept to succeed, but having an interesting premise is far from a guarantee for quality in the genre. Perhaps more so than any other film genre,horror movies experiment with high-concept ideas, allowing for unbridled room for creativity. As great as some loglines for horror movies might sound on paper, poor execution can still muddle them just like any other movie, leading to some painful missed opportunities for greatness in the world of scary entertainment.
Horror movies can be subject to the same bad filmmaking pitfalls as any other movie,including disappointing performances, poor cinematography, awkward editing, and stunted writing, just to name a few. Films in the genre admittedly get more leeway than other types of movies, especially with a great concept. But no matter how creative a premise, a bad execution can bring down what might have been alife-changing horror movieto a forgettable misfire.
The Nun
Cast
The Nun is a horror film set in 1952 Romania, where a priest with a troubled past and a novice nearing her final vows investigate the mysterious death of a young nun. As they unravel dark secrets, they encounter a sinister force in the guise of a demonic nun.
After her first appearance as the surprise twist villain pulling the strings ofThe Conjuring 2, Valak, also known as The Nun, became one of the most terrifyingdemons in the lore of theConjuringuniverse.Her unsettling visage and clever jumpscares meant that she was destined for a solo movie appearance, and that’s exactly what the franchise delivered withThe Nun.This prequel explores Valak’s origins as a malevolent entity with a history of scares dating all the way back to World War II.
The logic behind Valak’s methods of murder and how one might go about banishing her from the Earth left a lot to be desired.
Sadly,The Nundoesn’t have a strong story to go with its intriguingly spooky antagonist.The logic behind Valak’s methods of murder and how one might go about banishing her from the Earth left a lot to be desired, and the film relies far too heavily on the jumpscares the series has become known for, creating a by-the-numbers ebb and flow to the horror that can be almost mathematically predicted. The Nun herself is still a terrifying-looking demon, but her solo movie failed to properly flesh out her backstory or develop her creep factor further.
Lights Out
The 2016 horror movie Lights Out sees Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) face the evil entity that torments her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) with the power of literal darkness playing against her. Lights Out is director David F. Sandberg’s feature film debut, made possible by the success of his 2013 short film of the same name.
A horror movie might be perfect in every other regard, but if it isn’t scary, it can still be considered a failure. This is the fate ofLights Out, a cleverly written and conceived story that doesn’t go far enough to actually frighten its audience.The film centers on a young woman who has to protect herself and her half-brother from a vengeful spirit attached to her family.The gimmick is that the poltergeist can only manifest itself in the absence of light, making any shadow a possible threat.
Lights Outis quite creative with the ways it’s able to play with various light sources hiding or revealing the dreadful Diana, who has an enjoyable mystery to her origins to uncover.Despite all of these strengths,Lights Outsimply doesn’t find any good scares barring the opening scene, falling back on tired and predictable horror movie clichés and revealing too much of Diana’s so-so design, which works better as a silhouette. Pepper in a controversial ending, andLights Outmight have been better off staying a short film.
Before I Wake
Before I Wake is a 2016 supernatural horror film directed by Mike Flanagan. The story follows a young couple, played by Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane, who adopt an orphaned boy named Cody. They soon discover that Cody’s dreams manifest physically while he sleeps, bringing both wondrous and nightmarish consequences. The film explores themes of loss, fear, and the power of imagination.
Helmed byvisionary horror director Mike Flanagan, the success of 2016’sBefore I Wakeshould have been a done deal.The film centers on a couple who adopt a child after the death of their own son, only to learn that their new charge has supernatural abilities that allow him to manifest his dreams into reality while sleeping. This starts off as a wonderful gift, but things devolve into chaos as his nightmares seep into real life to terrorize his new parents.
A horror movie that explores dreams might have limitless potential, butBefore I Wakeis painfully limited in scope for how wide the possibilities are.
The film has some great performances, but they aren’t enough to balance out the single lame antagonist that haunts the troubled Cody’s nightmares, “The Canker Man”, who is defeated in an anticlimactic friendship-is-magic deus ex machina. WhileBefore I Wakemight have Mike Flanagan’s signature directorial mastery, it isn’t creative enough to fully mine the genius premise.
Horns
Daniel Radcliffe stars in Horns as Ig Perrish, a man who grows a pair of horns that make people confess their deepest secrets and uses them to uncover the truth about the murder of his girlfriend. The 2013 horror comedy features Max Minghella, Joe Anderson, and Juno Temple in supporting roles.
Movies based on literary source material frequently have to battle with the supposition that the latter is always better, even in cases where it isn’t true.Sadly,Hornsis definitively on the losing side of the argument, failing to recapture what made the novel by Joe Hill of the same name such a success. The story concerns a young man who becomes the prime suspect of his girlfriend’s murder despite his innocence. More importantly, he’s suddenly grown two devilish horns on his head that allow him to unearth the deepest, darkest secrets of other people.
Using these powers to attempt to prove his innocence, Daniel Radcliffe’s Ig Perrish presents an enjoyable protagonist with a rock-solid performance from theHarry Potterstar.Sadly, the performances are the only great thing aboutHorns, which fails to craft an intriguing mystery and over-relies on cheap dark humor.None of the book’s penchant for genuine depravity shines through as well in the film’s totally uneven tone, fumbling the tricky balancing act a black comedy requires.
Brightburn
The 2019 horror film Brightburn puts a dark spin on the Superman mythos by following a young boy with superhuman powers who uses them for evil instead of good. Directed by David Yarovesky and produced by James Gunn, the film stars Jackson A. Dunn, Elizabeth Banks, and David Denman.
Long before he was producing films forthe hotly-anticipated DCU, comic book savant James Gunn was throwing his name behind lesser-known superhero movies likeBrightburn.A totally original horror movie,Brightburncenters on a story similar to that of Superman, featuring a human-like alien boy crash-landing on Earth before being found and raised by a pair of loving parents.Just like Clark Kent, the young Brandon soon discovers he has incredible gifts, but uses them for evil instead of good.
“All F**ked Up”: Brightburn 2 Gets Killer Update From James Gunn
James Gunn offers a killer update to a possible Brightburn 2, revealing a disappointing reason as to why a follow-up hasn’t been created yet.
The concept of a killer child Superman is an interesting one indeed, even if multiple takes on an evil version of the hero have been done before and since. But beyond failing to establish its antagonist as truly unsettling,Brightburnmisses an interesting opportunity to question the idea of nature vs. nurture. Brandon suddenly turns evil after the ship he arrived in unlocks some hidden programming in his consciousness. However, it would’ve been far more exciting for him to have simply been a bad apple, despite how loving his foster parents might have been.
Don’t Breathe
In Don’t Breathe, three friends looking to escape their lot in life decide to act on information that could change their fortunes forever; a blind veteran with hundreds of thousands of dollars lives alone in a deserted neighborhood. When the trio decides to perform the heist on his home, who they thought to be a feeble aging man with no sight turns out to be far more dangerous and capable than they could have anticipated.
Two years beforeA Quiet Place, Don’t Breathewas already forcing its protagonists to stay silent as though their lives depended on it.The film centers on a group of dastardly criminals who invade the home of a lonesome blind man. The tables soon get turned when their victim turns off the lights, hunting down the would-be burglars one by one in his pitch-black house. Sadly, the tense cat-and-mouse chase through darkness this idea implies lasts for far too short a time.
The rest of the film’s runtime is devoted to a kidnapping which hopes to horrify via sheer shock factor.The actual scares ofDon’t Breatheare tragically weak, and the exciting core idea the film sold audiences on is done away with too soon.The movie eventually devolves into a kidnapping escape from the world’s most persistent and vicious seeing-eye dog in broad daylight. Besides that, the protagonists ofDon’t Breatheare perhaps too hard to sympathize with as their plans for home invasion are filed.
The Purge
The Purge is a dystopian horror series created by James DeMonaco. Set in a near-future America, the show follows various characters as they navigate an annual 12-hour period during which all crime, including murder, is legalized. The series explores themes of violence, social inequality, and the survival instincts of individuals in extreme situations.
Even if the original movie managed to spawn anentire universe ofThe Purgesequels, if it wasn’t for the spin-offs, the initial film would have left the titular concept tragically underdeveloped.The famous premise ofThe Purgeimagines that an increasingly fascist United States government allows its citizens to break the law with no consequences for 12 hours one night of the year. Apparently, most people end up being total psychopaths only kept in check by precious laws, and the night soon becomes a fervent rage of pent-up aggression between neighbors.
Over-the-top performances on behalf of the villains are more silly than scary, totally robbingThe Purgeof any horrific urgency.
The firstPurgemovie confines itself to being a simple home invasion thriller that doesn’t make use of the fascinating concept at all.Over-the-top performances on behalf of the villains are more silly than scary, totally robbingThe Purgeof any horrific urgency. The second film,The Purge: Anarchy, is at least able to get better mileage out of the clever concept of a lawless night.
In a Violent Nature
In a Violent Nature is a 2024 horror-slasher film written and directed by Chris Nash that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. A group of campers in the middle of the wilderness stumble across a fire watchtower and discover a locket buried beneath its charred ruins. However, by unearthing the locket, they’ve invited the wrath of its prior owner and now must survive the rampage of a supernatural killer looking to retrieve his possession.
In a Violent Natureis one of the most derivative ideas for a slasher movie ever, telling the story of the strong, silent Johnny, a reanimated corpse who slaughters a group of young partiers who disturb his grave.The novelty that makes the film interesting is the fact that Johnny himself is actually the protagonist, making the film perhaps the first slasher to ever take place largely from the perspective of the killer.Indeed,In a Violent Natureis certainly a unique idea with some creatively barbaric kills to be enjoyed for gore fans.
Sadly, where the film literally stumbles is in its pacing and editing.In addition to the camera following Johnny, it rarely cuts away as it lumbers through the forest along with him for painfully long and boring stretches at a time. Much like Johnny’s victims, huge portions of the film truly should have been left on the chopping room floor. As it stands,In a Violent Natureis surprisingly peaceful for huge swathes of its runtime despite its title.
World War Z
Based on the novel by Max Brooks, World War Z tells the story of a world ravaged by a zombie virus. Former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) braves the apocalypse in search of a cure. He is tasked with finding the point of origin of the virus to synthesize a vaccine, reluctantly doing so in exchange for his family’s safety. His search takes him around the world, where he witnesses all the devastation of the apocalypse.
World War Z, the original novel by Max Brooks, is an incredibly influential piece of zombie media that chronicles a global outbreak of flesh-eating zombies from a realistic historian’s perspective.On paper, a film adaptation of the novel should have become one of themost iconic zombie moviesever put to screen. Unfortunately, Brad Pitt’sWorld War Zopted to almost completely disregard the book of its namesake, crafting a far less interesting disaster movie that fails to live up to its potential.
Rather than follow the book’s example in following a fictionalized version of the author as he gathers reports on the global outbreak of zombies from various corners of the globe,World War Zcenters on a single character, brought to dreary life by one of Brad Pitt’s most uninspired performances ever.The zombies themselves are also quite different from the books, running together as a big tidal wave of bodies that stack up on top of one another in ridiculous proportions.The resulting bland action thriller is a pale imitation of the book’s mastery.
Antlers
From producer Guillermo Del Toro, Antlers centers on a middle-school teacher and a sheriff of a small town who realizes one of her students is experiencing horrifying encounters with an ancestral creature. Crazy Heart and Black Mass director Scott Cooper helm the film with a cast consisting of Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, and Jeremy T. Thomas.
Co-produced by the legendary Guillermo del Toro,Antlersmakes a strong case for a classic dark re-telling of a well-known folk tale. The film follows a school teacher in rural Oregon who tries to intervene in the lives of one of her students after she picks up on signs of abuse and neglect. However, it’s soon revealed that the boy isn’t just suffering from familial problems, but his being harassed by a dark spirit from Native American folklore, the Wendigo.
Antlersnever fully commits to being a psychologically-charged supernatural thriller or a classic creature feature, straddling the line between two different directions for its titular beast. As a result, it fails to exceed in either category, leaving the entire film a middling experience with too many moving parts that overshadow the simplicity of horror. Add in the lackluster First Nations representation and the fact that Wendigos don’t even have antlers in actual Native American mythology, andAntlersis a total misfire of ahorror filmdespite a promising idea.
