10 Worst Thriller Motion pictures of the 2000s, Ranked

Few a long time have been as massively impactful and influential to the thriller style because the 2000s, with the beginnings of the twenty first century and the arrival of digital filmmaking lending itself to fixed top-notch thriller filmmaking. From high-stakes motion thrillers like Children of Men and Taken to meticulously calculated slow-burn thrillers like Zodiac and No Country For Old Men, the 2000s had been house to lots of the biggest thrillers of all time. Nevertheless, for each substantial and groundbreaking thriller that the last decade noticed, there have been additionally many whose fully botched executions reworked them into titles of pure infamy.

From large blockbusters that didn’t reside as much as the requirements of the last decade to low-budget disasters which might be visibly falling aside on the seams, the wide range of notoriously horrible thrillers serves as a harsh distinction to the greatness that the last decade is acknowledged for. Greater than another style, there’s a distinct artwork and magic that goes into creating an efficient thriller, discovering the proper stability between stress and intrigue to maintain audiences engaged, but these movies fully failed at discovering stated engagement amongst audiences.

10 ‘Bangkok Harmful’ (2008)

Directed by Danny Pang Fats, Oxide Pang Shun

Whereas Nicolas Cage was at all times a beloved and acclaimed actor in each thrillers and non-thrillers alike, his repute grew to become outlined as a chaotic, larger-than-life presence in below-average movies within the 2000s because of movies like Bangkok Harmful. The motion thriller sees Cage as Joe, an expert freelance murderer who has lived a secluded and secretive life as he absolutely takes in his environment earlier than going for his newest targets. Nevertheless, after befriending a road child and practically getting them killed, he begins to coach his new good friend within the lethal arts, changing into a goal of a band of killers himself within the course of.

On the very least, the idea and identify of a Nicolas Cage movie referred to as Bangkok Harmful conjures up photographs of untamed motion and a gloriously chaotic time, even when its goal high quality is low. Nevertheless, even on this entrance, Bangkok Harmful manages to fully disappoint with regards to compelling motion or stakes, changing into a generic slog that takes an excessive amount of from clichés of the period and would not do sufficient to set itself aside. It is from the worst movie that Nicolas Cage has done, however when in comparison with what the actor is able to in a thriller context, the movie is a serious disappointment.

9 ‘The Occurring’ (2008)

Directed by M. Night time Shyamalan

One of many strangest and most divisive movies in M. Night time Shyamalan‘s filmography, The Happening‘s makes an attempt at widespread worry and dread are largely minimized by its summary execution and performances. The movie sees a terrifying airborne virus touring throughout the northeastern United States, forcing these it infects right into a frenzy that forces them to finish their very own lives. In an try to flee the virus and discover a solution to how this all began, trainer Elliott Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his spouse flee from the cities into the countryside in quest of the reality.

Whereas The Occurring has an inherently terrifying idea that would simply conjure up dread and stress in a distinct execution, the movie’s unusual characterization and stilted performances remodel it into an unintentional comedy. The movie manages to continually one-up itself by way of more and more unusual and complicated plot factors, line readings, and an total unusual tone that fully detracts from its intention as a thriller.

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8 ‘I Know Who Killed Me’ (2007)

Directed by Chris Sivertson

I Know Who Killed Me follows the outcry and penalties of the loss of life of shiny younger Aubrey Fleming (Lindsay Lohan), whose torture by the hands of a sadistic serial killer fully decimates the lives of a small city. Nevertheless, Aubrey finally ends up escaping from the clutches of the serial killers, regaining consciousness in a hospital and insisting that she is just not truly Aubrey Fleming, however the true Aubrey continues to be in peril. It quickly turns into a race towards time to seek out the id of the serial killer earlier than the true Aubrey turns into his newest sufferer.

Simply one of many worst cinematic outings from Lindsay Lohan, I Know Who Killed Me has a chaotic and nonsensical plot that isn’t solely tough to comply with, however rapidly falls aside the extra it is thought of. Whereas a number of the hatred that surrounded the movie when it was launched stems from the controversies that surrounded Logan on the time, the movie itself nonetheless would not have any strengths by itself deserves. The movie makes an attempt to inform an artsy and complicated tackle a homicide thriller, however its shallow execution makes it a painful watch to take a seat via.

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7 ‘A Sound of Thunder’ (2005)

Directed by Peter Hyams

A sci-fi thriller that went via manufacturing hell and have become a infamous field workplace catastrophe, A Sound of Thunder tried to carry a large blockbuster scope to the basic 1952 brief story of the identical identify. The movie sees an organization sooner or later that gives these the expertise of a lifetime via a Time Safari, permitting wealthy folks to journey to the previous and hunt dinosaurs that might in any other case die of pure causes. Nevertheless, when one hunter finally ends up straying away from the assigned path, he causes a sequence response that has large implications for historical past.

The implications and butterfly impact of time journey are matters which have been largely explored in thrillers lengthy earlier than A Sound of Thunder hit theaters, but at the same time as a tribute to the unique brief story, the movie flounders drastically in execution. The CGI visible results are jarring even for the period they had been launched in, together with a comical misunderstanding of historical past and practically everybody on-screen giving minimal effort of their performances. Lots of the points surrounding the movie may be attributed to the various rewrites, reshoots, and manufacturing points that continually delayed the movie, making it an assured catastrophe from the start.

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6 ‘Max Payne’ (2008)

Directed by John Moore

Tailored from the critically acclaimed online game franchise, Max Payne follows the titular DEA agent whose household was murdered as part of a conspiracy. Within the seemingly infinite battle of ache and revenge that Max faces, he finds himself teaming up with an murderer on her personal quest for revenge, with the duo pressured to unravel a sequence of murders in New York Metropolis. Every extra physique seemingly finds them nearer to their very own solutions, but the retribution that they’re every in search of appears additional and additional by the day.

Whereas the Max Payne video games featured among the most beloved and defining storylines in video video games once they had been launched, the movie adaptation reworked the groundbreaking story into one more generic, cliche-ridden thriller. Even outdoors of the efficient story of the unique video games, one in every of their biggest strengths is their top-notch motion and gritty aesthetic, components which might be additionally massively butchered by the movie, leaving a uninteresting mess that could be a slog to get via. The movie is well in rivalry for being one in every of the worst video game movies ever launched.

5 ‘Primary Intuition 2’ (2006)

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones

Releasing 14 years after the unique genre-defining thriller, Primary Intuition 2 proves to be one of the vital unwarranted and deeply underwhelming sequels to have ever been launched. The movie sees Novelist Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) as soon as once more in hassle with the regulation, with Scotland Yard appointing psychiatrist Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) to guage her. Nevertheless, identical to these earlier than him, Glass can not assist however be allured by Tramell’s attraction and presence, putting the duo right into a seductive recreation of stress.

It is blatant from the very starting scenes of Primary Intuition 2 that the movie had no enterprise even being made within the first place, actively going towards and diminishing the strengths of the unique movie. It is ironic that one of many solely causes that the movie even exists is as a result of Stone sued the producers after promising her $14 million and didn’t ship when making an attempt to cancel the movie. It speaks volumes that just about no person concerned with the movie was invested in making a great movie, as an alternative treating the movie like a formality, with stated lack of ardour coming via seamlessly on-screen.

4 ‘Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever’ (2002)

Directed by Wych Kaosayananda

Probably the most infamous and worst spy movies of all time, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever has turn into notorious for being one of the vital critically disastrous films of all time, with its 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and shedding tens of millions on the field workplace. The movie follows the rivalry between FBI agent Jeremiah Ecks (Antonio Banderas) and rogue DIA agent Jane Sever (Lucy Liu), who’ve been at odds with each other in fixed mortal fight. Nevertheless, the enemies are pressured to staff as much as take down a standard enemy who plans to make use of nanobot know-how to achieve management of the world.

Loosely impressed by the favored, fast-paced motion thrillers of the ear, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever‘s lackluster execution fully fails at coming near recapturing the vitality required to make its world-spanning spy story work. Banderas and Liu are continually dealing with off towards one another with among the most soulless and underwhelming motion put to movie, all of the whereas having no chemistry with each other of their fixed screen-time collectively. Particularly when in comparison with the big selection of different efficient spy thrillers launched within the 2000s, all of which might be a greater possibility than Ecks vs. Sever.

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3 ‘S. Darko’ (2009)

Directed by Chris Fisher

Donnie Darko is likely one of the most iconic and influential thrillers not simply of the 2000s, however of all time, laying the groundwork for highly effective, thematically wealthy and psychologically inclined thrillers to reach the twenty first century. 8 years after the unique would make waves and turn into one of many biggest cult classics of all time, S. Darko would fully botch its try to comply with up on the broadly beloved basic. The movie follows the now-teenage Samantha Darko (Daveigh Chase) stranded in a small desert city, the place she finally ends up being affected by weird visions of the universe’s finish and compelled to face her demons head-on.

It was at all times going to be an not possible process to comply with up the one-of-a-kind expertise that was the unique Donnie Darko, however S. Darko goes above and past by way of failing to recapture the strengths of the unique. The movie makes an attempt to comply with an identical construction and have the identical moments and components of the unique, however these elements merely do not work the second time round, coming throughout as a lazy retread to garner good will with followers. In execution, S. Darko has nothing to supply other than components which might be downgraded from the unique, leaving it to be an odd, forgotten footnote on the unique’s legacy.

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2 ‘Curse of the Zodiac’ (2007)

Directed by Ulli Lommel

Whereas David Fincher‘s Zodiac is essentially acclaimed as top-of-the-line thrillers of the 2000s, it wasn’t the one thriller concerning the Zodiac Killer to be launched throughout the decade, as Ulli Lommel‘s Curse of the Zodiac fails at tackling the identical infamous killer. The movie follows the notorious zodiac killer as they lay waste to the residents of the San Francisco space, nonetheless looming within the darkness even a long time after his infamous killings. With the thriller of his killings nonetheless at massive, he continues his damaging methods on the folks of California.

Curse of the Zodiac may genuinely be used as a case research for a way to not create a horror thriller, with practically each resolution made in creating the movie actively making a worse viewing expertise. From nauseating shaky digicam to horrible performances full of botched line readings and a generic story that’s massively outdone by Fincher’s masterpiece, Curse of the Zodiac is a neverending show of horrible filmmaking. Lommel’s signature twists and makes an attempt to make the movie go towards the grain actively make the movie a nuisance to look at, being a painful expertise from begin to end.

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1 ‘Home of the Useless’ (2003)

Directed by Uwe Boll

Considered one of many notorious online game variations from the master of terrible adaptations, Uwe Boll, Home of the Useless stands head and shoulders above as what could possibly be his worst cinematic outing. Tailored from the basic sequence of horror video video games, the movie sees a techno rave social gathering on a costal island being interrupted by a swarm of zombies and monsters that look like approaching from all sides. With the zombies being managed by an evil entity inside the Home of the Useless, it turns into as much as a coast guard officer and a gaggle of school college students to take the entity down.

The Home of the Useless franchise has a really distinct tone and elegance that has made it a fan-favorite franchise for many years, with this fashion being fully deserted within the movie in favor of Boll’s signature fashion of lifeless, shadowy motion. The movie options all of the basic elements of Boll’s filmmaking fashion which have made his movies so notorious, with chaotic enhancing choices, exploitative use of sexual content material, and among the worst lighting ever put to movie. If it had been merely an authentic movie with all of those errors, many would not give it a second look, however it is the energetic destruction of a long-beloved online game franchise that has made Home of the Useless one of many worst thrillers of all time.

NEXT: The 10 Worst Thriller Movies of All Time, Ranked