2022 has been a pretty good year for movies overall, thanks to critical and commercial successes like Top Gun: Maverick, Nope, and The Batman. But as always, there have been quite a few stinkers, and you may have had the misfortune of seeing a few of them.
Bringing together the voices of our diverse team spanning all continents from Africa, Asia, North America and Europe, TheReviewGeek team reveals their worst picks for 2022 below. Do you agree with our picks? Or are there any other movies you think should be added to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
Hocus Pocus 2
The original Hocus Pocus didn't receive very good reviews upon release, so it has a score of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, many viewers disagreed with the reviewers, and as a result, the film gained a large following. That's probably why a sequel is finally hitting our screens nearly 30 years after the first film debuted.
The plot of Hocus Pocus 2, where two teenage girls accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to Salem, is not too different from the first film. That's partly the problem with this magic-less sequel, as the originality is nowhere to be seen, and the comedy manages to be hard to come by.
However, the film isn't poorly made, so it's not as disposable as some of the duds on this list. But this time, since the first film failed to impress many fans as well as critics, it can be considered more of a gimmick than a treat!
Men
In Alex Garland's quirky horror thriller, a young woman (Jessie Buckley) escapes to the countryside to recover from the death of her husband. Unfortunately, she doesn't get the peace and quiet she longs for as she is tormented at every turn by various men played by Rory Kinnear. Every man is as toxic as the last, and in their own way, they exhibit the kinds of behavior that have long degraded women.
Now, the concept of this movie is not bad. The film is ostensibly about the experience of women around the world, and its themes are sometimes presented in disturbing ways. But the end result just falls flat! After a decent enough opening in which Garland creates a genuine sense of unease, the film goes nowhere.
It repeatedly drives home the message that men are bad without telling a decent story (although that message is an obvious generalization), and the abstract narrative leads to an unsatisfying conclusion. In our review, we called it "an ambitious, funny movie with very little content," and if you've seen it yourself, you'll agree with us.
Predator for Satan
There are hundreds of exorcism movies in existence, but few are as powerful or frightening as William Friedkin's 1973 classic The Exorcist. For the most part, most of these movies are absolutely terrible, but there are some that manage to impress, including Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism. Admittedly, it pales in comparison to the aforementioned masterpiece, but it matches up at times with a fairly satisfying payoff.
Stamm returns to the exorcism genre with Prey For the Devil, which tells the story of a nun who fights to save the soul of a demon-possessed young girl. The film is similar to The Exorcist in this regard, although there are twists in the tale that prevent this gem of horror from being a copy. Unfortunately, these twists don't make for a good movie, because the whole thing is a big letdown.
For starters, it's not particularly scary - a fault with any horror film - and with a script that elicits more yawns than screams, you'll be praying for the film to end long before the end credits roll.
Happily ever after
The terrible title is the least of this nonsensical movie's problems! It's the fourth in the After series, and it's just as bad as the other entries, with poorly written characters, a flat plot, and a lack of emotional depth.
If you want to see a movie where two people go after each other and argue endlessly for almost the entire runtime, it's fine. But if you're looking for character development and a reason to invest in the relationship between feuding lovers Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) that form the core of this sordid tale, then you will. very disappointed.
The After movies are based on a series of erotic novels by Anna Todd, the first of which was published on Wattpad as a piece of Harry Styles fanfiction! I don't know how the narrative of his original story unfolded, but based on the films I've seen within the After franchise (which is all my shame), I'm guessing there was a lot of sex and bickering involved. !
It really is the bottom of the barrel, enjoyed only by unassuming teenagers and fans of its two stars. The fifth entry - After All - is on its way. Despite its many flaws, this should be the last film in the series, which should be good news for the remaining completists of the franchise.
The Next 365 Days
The Next 365 Days is the third in another horror film franchise that has proven popular with certain audience members despite the avalanche of negative reviews that followed each successive entry.
The films follow the relationship between Massimo, a dominant Sicilian, and Laura, a young Warsaw woman (in the first film) who is kidnapped by a venomous brute because he wants her to fall in love with him. Not a great start to a relationship, I'm sure you'll agree.
It's safe to assume that people only come to these movies for the adult scenes, of course there are plenty. But those looking for relatable characters, interesting plot developments, and an emotionally compelling story will remain wanting. This is especially true for this third film, which is the worst in the series to date and the worst movie of 2022 overall.
Thankfully, this should be the last film in this cool franchise, so you won't have to worry about another installment if you're caught off guard by someone trying to make you fall in love with the '365' saga.
Nan movie
Catherine Tate's iconic character Nan has hit the big screen this year, but we wish we hadn't disturbed her. He was fun to watch in five-minute bursts on Tate's TV show, but in the feature length, his endless yelling, swearing, and general rudeness is ultimately infuriating. Calling this farce a "comedy" is a bit of an overstatement, but the comedy is pretty low-key, because unless you consider the sight of an old woman farting in her grown-up grandson's face as the pinnacle of comic hilarity. nothing funny here.
Tate can be funny, as evidenced by her role as Donna Noble in Doctor Who, but this film is far below her talents. He has only himself to blame because he was one of the authors of this crude effort, which was later rejected by its director, Josie Rourke.
Even fans of the curmudgeonly retiree will find little to like here, as the script not only lacks laughs, but also doesn't tell a very good story. The concept is certainly promising – Nan goes on a road trip with her granddaughter to visit her dying sister – but after watching her journey, you'll regret taking the trip!
Last Seen Live
Gerard Butler is a pretty good actor, but he doesn't always choose decent movies to act in. If you've seen The Bounty Hunter, London Has Fallen, and Geostorm, you'll probably agree with that statement. And if you've seen Last Seen Alive , probably his worst movie ever, you'll agree.
The story has potential – Butler plays a man looking for his wife after she goes missing at a gas station. But unfortunately, his wife is not the only one who is missing, because the logic of the plot is also lost in this nonsense movie. The twists and turns in the story are as ridiculous as the dialogue the actors are forced to speak, and there's no doubt about it. Bad direction and wooden performances of the cast ruined it even more.
There are better movies like this – Demolition and Prisoners being two of them – so even if you've seen them before, you might as well spend your time with them, because Last Seen is not a movie that deserves to be found.
Moon Fall
Roland Emmerich's films are rarely very clever, but they're usually fun to watch. Whether it's Will Smith facing off against an alien army or Dennis Quaid battling the freezing cold of an ice age, even if most of Emmerich's films revolve around the potential extinction of the human race, we can be guaranteed a good time.
As the plot somehow revolves around a de-orbited Moon, the end of the world approaches again in Fall of the Moon. This is the catalyst for a series of natural disasters that our heroes must face. But if you're expecting impressive special effects and some exciting action scenes, you'll be disappointed.
This time, the CGI is extremely poor, and there's nothing to get the pulse racing as astronauts Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and Joe Fowler (Halle Berry) blast off into space to save us. The ridiculous twist towards the end of the movie is as stupid as the rest of the plot of this movie, so this is a disaster movie in every sense of the word!
Morbius
Morbius suffered a few delays on its way to the big screen, but hopes were still high that the finished film would be at least halfway entertaining. Unfortunately, all hopes were dashed when it finally hit theaters, as this latest film in the Spider-Verse was just as disappointing as 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage, if not more. There was potential for a dark comic book story that mixed superhero action with a dose of gothic horror, but what we got was a surprisingly bland film that failed to deliver on nearly every level.
Jared Leto stars as the half-human, half-vampire antihero of the title, and to his credit, he does the best with the poorly written material he's given. Matt Smith also gives a pretty good turn as the piece's flamboyant villain, but as Leto, he's let down by nonsensical plots, cheesy dialogue, and poorly edited set pieces.
Compared to flops like 2015's Fantastic Four and 2020's The New Mutants , probably not. But it's still bad, so unless you're happy to sit through a full 103 minute drive, it can't really be recommended.