Summary

• Great horror movies often receive low critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, even when they are undeserving of it. Critics overlook the genre's artistic value.
• Underrated horror movies like The Tall Man and Lake Placid suffer from low Rotten Tomatoes ratings, despite their clever premises and success with audiences.
• Rotten Tomatoes ratings don't accurately reflect the quality of horror movies like Scream 4, Deep Rising, and I Come In Peace, which deserve more recognition.

Even great horror movies are sometimes saddled with terrible critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, as evidenced by a number of underrated gems. Critics are often unkind to horror movies, even when there is no real justification for it. Like comedies, horror movies have traditionally been viewed as a lower art form than dramas. Despite the critical reevaluation horror cinema has undergone in recent decades, movies from the genre are more likely to go underappreciated by reviewers.

Rotten Tomatoes provides plenty of evidence for this phenomenon, with many great horror movies lingering well below their deserved percent scores. While 2012’s The Tall Man was a clever psychological horror movie that dropped its original premise and got better with a mid-movie plot switch, viewers would never guess this from its dismal rating on the site. Similarly, even though the quirky horror-comedy Lake Placid was a hit upon its 1999 release, its Rotten Tomatoes rating would leave viewers assuming the movie was a deservedly forgotten dud. This recurring theme proves a horror movie can't be judged by its Rotten Tomatoes score alone.

10 Scream 4 - 60%

Director Wes Craven’s Scream 4 was a late addition to the acclaimed meta-slasher franchise, and after the disappointing Scream 3, it would have been no surprise if this belated follow-up flopped. However, Scream 4 reunited the director with original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williams. As a result, Craven delivered a stellar self-aware slasher in Scream 4. However, even though this funny, inventive sequel lived up to the original trilogy, the movie still only earned 60% from critics and 57% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

9 Deep Rising - 32%

Director Stephen Sommers can’t seem to catch a break. Even though the filmmaker made two classic blockbuster hybrids with 1999’s The Mummy and its sequel The Mummy Returns, his success was soon marred by the financial underperformance of 2004’s Van Helsing. Meanwhile, even though 1998’s monster movie Deep Rising was a stepping stone to bigger, better projects for Sommers, this deep sea horror adventure never received the critical love it richly deserved. For some reason, this schlocky thrill ride earned only 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.

8 I Come In Peace - 36%

1990’s I Come In Peace is one of star Dolph Lundgren’s best horror movies and a pretty solid ‘80s buddy cop comedy to boot. Any goofy sci-fi/horror mashup that stars Lundgren as a cop who hunts aliens should earn more than a mere 36% from Rotten Tomatoes. However, what makes rating particularly unfair is the fact that it doesn’t acknowledge the movie’s campy charms. I Come In Peace knows it is silly, and that goes a long way in any story about murderous alien drug dealers.

7 Urban Legend - 25%

Director Jamie Blanks’ entertaining Scream knock-off Urban Legend is a nostalgic '90s classic that somehow got a mere 25% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite a cast that includes Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Tara Reid, Joshua Jackson, and even a cameo from Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund, the stylish and agreeably silly Urban Legend couldn’t scare up any solid reviews upon release. Time has been kind to the movie, but Urban Legend’s Rotten Tomatoes rating remains an unfair indictment of a fun flick.

6 Event Horizon - 33%

Director Paul WS Anderson has made some terrible movies, as anyone who sat through 2004’s Alien vs. Predator can attest. However, there is a reason that the director was trusted with that crossover movie in the first place. 1997's Event Horizon is unsettling, smart, and deeply atmospheric, with killer performances from Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne. While its audience score of 60% is reasonable (but still very low for the Lovecraftian cult classic), its 33% critical score is entirely unfair when Event Horizon earned a TV spinoff thanks to its enduring popularity.

5 The Resurrected - 40%

1991's The Resurrected starts out like a conventional film noir, but true horror nerds will soon realize that the movie is actually a thinly veiled interpretation of a famous short story. Director Dan O’Bannon’s updated (but otherwise shockingly faithful) Lovecraft adaptation sits at a mere 40% even though The Resurrected is an underrated classic that more viewers need to seek out. The effects are shocking, the well-telegraphed twists still work, and The Resurrected manages to capture the appeal of Lovecraft's writing in a way few other adaptations have.

4 Demon Knight - 37%

Tales From the Crypt’s first theatrical movie spinoff Demon Knight puts a legitimately great supernatural spin on the Western siege movie. The popularity of TV's most successful horror anthology series allowed the show’s creators to pull out all the stops for this tale, wherein a group of mismatched civilians get between a demon hunter and his prey. The movie’s 37% rating is utterly inexplicable when director Ernest Dickerson injects endless style and visual wit into this blackly comic thrill ride. A talented cast elevates the gory, cartoonish material even further.

3 Final Destination - 36%

Final Destination’s premise is undeniably ingenious. Instead of having another masked man hack up teens with an ax, this slasher casts death itself as the movie’s villain. The Grim Reaper creates all manner of nasty accidents to kill off the unfortunate survivors of an airplane crash, resulting in a goofy, blackly hilarious slasher that plays its wacky premise entirely straight. Viewers flocked to see the Final Destination franchise, even though critics only gave the movie 36%. Audiences weren't much more generous, granting this series-spawning slasher a mere 68%.

2 Jennifer’s Body - 46%

ittedly, 2009's Jennifer’s Body has one of the higher scores listed here. However, 46% is still shockingly low for this dark, clever teen horror, particularly when paired with an even worse 35% from audiences. After a critical reevaluation recognized this cult classic as an under-appreciated gem in recent years, Jennifer’s Body was finally seen as Megan Fox’s best horror movie. However, its critical standing is still a wildly inaccurate reflection of its quality.

1 Saw - 50%

Even though 2004’s Saw spawned a lengthy franchise, started an entire horror sub-genre, and earned 84% from audiences, the original movie sits at only 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is particularly galling since, unlike some of the movies listed here, Saw is broadly viewed as an exceptionally well-made movie. Viewers might debate whether the multiplex needs a tenth Saw movie bringing back its original characters, but there is no denying that the 2004 sleeper hit was taut, original, and terrifying. However, the critical bias against horror movies means Saw earned only 50%, while Se7en sits at 83% and Silence of the Lambs boasts 95%.