Sometimes the best comedy movies are those not intended to be funny – think The Room. This is especially prevalent in the horror genre, where one misplaced line or shoddy effect can shatter a scene’s tension so abruptly that viewers can’t help but chuckle in response.
Streaming platforms offer a wide range of genres on their services, with a great number of critically acclaimed works, but also a lot of not-so-great projects. Horror seems to be a genre misunderstood or mishandled all too often, to the point where moments of great tension or suspense are shattered by the movie’s fumbles. In many cases, the movie ends up being funny instead of scary.
Updated on May 17th, 2020 by Kristen Palamara: The horror genre has become more creative and inventive in the past decade from Jordan Peele’s Get Out to Ari Aster’s Hereditary as horror movies continue to push the boundaries of what scares audiences, but then there are a lot of misfires as well. There are classically terrible horror movies that have turned into cult classics like Troll 2 and then there are some truly awful and cringe horror movies that haven’t gotten the same treatment. Here are some of the worst horror movies on Netflix and available on other streaming services.
Troll 2 (1990) on Hulu
![Hilariously Bad Horror Movies On Netflix, Hulu, & Tubi](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Troll-2-570x285.jpg)
Troll 2 is a wildly and hilariously bad horror movie that has turned into a cult classic similar to The Room. The movie surprises viewers at every turn as it follows a young kid who doesn’t want to vacation in the town of Nilbog because he’s been warned by the ghost of his grandfather that goblins live there, not trolls, but goblins.
Goblins do live there and terrorize the visitors and eventually kill and eat characters that they’ve caught. The town is odd, the acting is stiff, and the effects don’t hold up at all, but it’s a fun watch.
Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) on Hulu
![Killer Klowns from Outer Space](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Killer-Klowns-from-Outer-Space.jpg)
This cult classic is meant to be more of a comedic horror movie, but it’s still such a hilariously bad basic premise that it belongs in this category even though it most likely was meant to be funny in the first place.
The movie succeeds in balancing sci-fi, comedy, and horror with its outrageous plot of literally killer clowns from space arriving on earth and seeking to destroy humanity and cause mayhem immediately when they land.
Urban Legend (1998) on Tubi
![Jared Leto in Urban Legend](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Jared-Leto-in-Urban-Legend.jpg)
Urban Legend attempts to be a good horror movie and that attempt and overly serious nature are what makes this movie not work and actually more funny than scary.
The movie mashes together several urban legends, hence the title, and has a main character at the center of it all. She sees a pattern as people around her at her college campus are dying in specific ways and she tries to figure out how to fight back against the urban legends. The performances are actually fine and it almost competes with Scream but instead has been mostly forgotten with bad critic reviews.
Jaws 3-D (1983) on Hulu
![Jaws 3D poster](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9-Jaws-3D.jpg)
Released only a few years after the critically acclaimed Jaws was Jaws 3-D that followed a pretty similar plot to the original masterpiece.
Again, a great white shark terrorizes an ocean, this time a new aquarium that has underwater park areas for visitors to tour, but it just doesn’t nearly compare to the original. There’s not much suspense, which is where the original thrived, and the silly scenes like dolphins saving soon-to-be human victims make the sequel laughable.
Birdemic: Shock And Terror (2010) on Tubi
![Bad CGI of birds in Birdemic movie](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Birdemic-Movie.jpg)
Birdemic follows a young couple quickly falling in love and completely ignoring the odd signs that birds are about to attack their California town.
The disaster movie sees killer eagles and vultures attacking and killing people as the young couple tries to survive. It’s some of the worst CGI, especially considering its 2010 release date, and some critics refer to the movie as the worst film of all time.
House Of The Witch (2017) on Netflix
![House Of The Witch](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/house3-Cropped.jpg)
Another nonsensical horror movie, House of the Witch takes place in a house haunted by a witch. On Halloween, a group of teens decides to claim the abandoned house as theirs to party in.
Of course, as these things tend to happen, they are terrorized by the witch who wants to kill them all. Despite this scary-sounding plot, the film lacks suspense and the cast resembles that of a soap opera with performances to match. This is simply a case of the wrong people working in the wrong genre, which results in a laughable product.
Rattlesnake (2019) on Netflix
![Girl with her mother in Rattlesnake](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/rattlesnake.jpg)
One of the worst things that can happen in a horror movie – or any movie, for that matter – is for the mask of fiction to be shattered. Bad CGI is a huge contributor to the breaking of illusions, and this bad scary movie on Netflix, Rattlesnake, falls prey at every key moment.
A young girl is saved by a mysterious woman after being bitten by a rattlesnake, but the horror doesn’t end there. The girl’s mother must repay this woman, but she must do something unthinkable to do it. The concept may sound good on paper, but in reality, the film is dull, not at all thrilling, and not very horrifying, either, thanks to the CGI.
Romina (2018) on Netflix
![Actor laying on the ground in Romina](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/romina.jpg)
This Spanish slasher movie is about a group of teens who encounter a fellow classmate in the woods. What ensues is a blood-drenched smattering of violence without much meaning to it.
Instead of feeling terrified when watching this flick, viewers can only laugh at the performances and the weak plot. This film is clearly inspired by other, respected horror movies, but it misses the mark in incorporating the good aspects of these.
The Silence (2019) on Netflix
![The Silence Netflix Movie Ending Explained](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-Silence-Netflix-Movie-Ending-Explained.jpg)
Though this film is based on a 2015 novel, The Silence seems like a cheap rip-off of the successful A Quiet Place. Despite its talented cast, this horror is bland and viewers can’t help but compare it to the much superior Krasinski film.
Kiernan Shipka, Stanley Tucci, and Miranda Otto star as a family who seeks refuge in a remote oasis. The rest of the world is plagued by monsters who hunt by sound. Shipka’s character, Ally, lost her sense of hearing at the age of thirteen. One thing A Quiet Place does better is to hire an actress who actually is hearing impaired. There’s nothing worse than a film feeling like a rip-off.
The Open House (2018) on Netflix
![Dylan Minette with a flashlight in The Open House](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/open-house-shocked-e1554404977343.jpeg)
The Open House is another example of a movie that’s barely held together by the performances of its leading cast.
The ending is an incongruous, anticlimactic resolution seemingly designed to insult the viewer for spending 90 minutes of their time watching The Open House. For those looking for reasons to watch this flick, it’s at least fun to pick apart and expose its weaknesses.
The Poltergeist of Borley Forest (2013) on Tubi
![Two actors outside in the woods in American Poltergeist 2](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/American-Poltergeist-2-characters.jpg)
Released two years before the also-bad American Poltergeist, The Poltergeist of Borely Forest is sometimes sold as American Poltergeist 2.
Regardless, the somewhat sequel only succeeds the original by managing even more contemptible characters, cruder cinematography, and a less comprehensible screenplay. The Poltergeist of Borley Forest should only be viewed as an instructional on how not to make a movie, mesmerizing only in its sheer ineptitude and lack of focus. The only frightening thing about this movie is the thought that someone figured it was worth making, but at least it’s fun to laugh about.
Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018) on Netflix
![Close up of a zombie in Day of the Dead: Bloodline](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Day-of-the-Dead-Bloodline-Zombie.jpg)
Day of the Dead: Bloodline would be an abhorrent insult to the work of the late George Romero if it weren’t so enjoyably awful. If it didn’t bear the Day of the Dead namesake, Bloodline would be considered an innocent, albeit hilariously awful, stab at reinventing the overdone zombie genre.
Taken without the pretext of Romero’s genius, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Day of the Dead: Bloodline, whether or not any of it was intentional. For instance, the zombies, adorned with the entrails of their victims, bite with cataclysmic force, making human bodies explode under pressure. Ridiculousness abounds, Day of the Dead: Bloodline is a joy to watch, as long as the viewer can distinguish its namesake from history and see it for what it is: stupid fun, plain and simple.
Truth or Dare (2017) on Netflix
![Group of terrified teens in Truth or Dare](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Truth-or-Dare-Characters.jpg)
Truth or Dare (2017) shouldn’t be confused with the truly awful 2018 horror film of the same name, although it’s just as bad, if not worse. The three-word title neatly summarizes the plot, in which a small group of college kids becomes trapped in a deadly game of truth or dare.
It’s a tough situation in which to be found, for sure, but the characters act so shockingly witless that it’s hard to feel sympathetic to their predicament. There are probably a hundred different strategies one might conjure up to mitigate the consequences of the game’s cruel parameters, and not one logical move is employed by Truth or Dare‘s terminally-foolish cast of characters. Thankfully, watching them stumble into catastrophe never gets old.
Satanic (2016) on Tubi
![Actor standing in front of a pentagram on the wall in Satanic](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Satanic-Movie-2016-Pentagram.jpg)
One thing that sets the mood for a weekend at the Coachella music festival is a detour into a demon-hunt around Los Angeles. That’s the setting where our ill-fated cast of party-hungry college students finds themselves in Satanic. Soon after they discover the occult is a total buzzkill is when the fun begins.
Forget the fact that Satanic insensibly avoids showing the kill shot during death scenes, it’s hard not to smile at the relentless, generic expressions of the stupid college student stereotype, laughable CGI, and mind-numbing dialogue. Satanic gets everything so perfectly wrong that it’s just so perfectly right for a night of bad horror movie indulgence.
Most Likely to Die (2015) on Tubi
![Killer sneaking up on a woman in Most Likely to Die](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Most-Likely-to-Die-Characters.jpg)
In Most Likely to Die, a ten-year high school reunion brings together a group of former classmates for a party. Never mind the fact that a 40-year-old Perez Hilton portrays one of the classmates, who presumably are in their late 20s, this might be the least-convincing cast of characters featured in this list, largely by the fault of the awkward, contrived script.
On paper, Most Likely to Die could be written off as a generic slasher at worst, and a nostalgic throwback at best. But it’s the cringe-worthy character interactions and their impossibly dense problem-solving that makes Most Likely to Die a gleefully stupid horror movie to watch.
Haunting on Fraternity Row (2018) on Tubi
![Three friends in Haunting on Fraternity Row](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Haunting-on-Fraternity-Row-Characters.jpg)
A movie about a bunch of frat boys and sorority girls throwing “the best party in the world” in a haunted house is bound to incite hilarity, but Haunting on Fraternity Row goes above and beyond with enchantingly bad acting, unintelligible plot developments, and droll characters. Haunting on Fraternity Row pulls all the stops to entertain its audience, and succeeds in spades, just not in the way it intends.
There’s never a dull moment, every scene outpacing the last in comic narrative blunders and outrageous dialogue. To its credit, Haunting on Fraternity Row is occasionally funny on purpose, with some genuinely amusing fraternity stereotypes and mindless banter.
Friend Request (2016) on Hulu
![Three actors in the dark outside in Friend Request](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Friend-Request-Characters.jpg)
Friend Request attempts to make a socially aware statement on the perils of social media addiction but fails by assuming its audience is as vapid and insecure as its lead protagonist. The conceit itself, and the way it assumes the rapid loss of Facebook friends would make any sane person dwindle into insanity, is one feature-length joke that never stops being funny.
Intertwined with witchcraft and dark rituals, Friend Request never wants for things happening, which makes viewing its silly, melodramatic characters bumble through the messy plot that much more mindlessly enjoyable. Friend Request might be the most technically well-made entry on this list, with passable actors and direction, but its utter failure to deliver its central message with any precision is bad horror at its finest.
Jason X (2001) on Netflix
![Close up of metallic mask in Jason X](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Jason-Voorhees-in-Jason-x.jpg)
The Friday the 13th franchise, while rarely considered a touchstone of the slasher genre, is well-loved for its campy charm, iconic killer, and creative death scenes. Unfortunately, you can only make so many movies about a machete-wielding mutant hacking up inebriated teens outside a lake before the formula turns stale.
So instead of cutting its losses, the series continued into some truly bizarre territory, including one entry where Jason winds up in outer space, circa 2455. Jason X is stupid creativity at its finest, not to mention bloody hilarious. Better yet, the movie boasts some of the franchise’s most inventive kills, which include a sequence where Jason freezes a character’s head in liquid nitrogen before smashing it to smithereens