Before we celebrate the best releases of 2015, we thought we’d get the bad out of the way first in our round up of our worst films of the year. We know better than to watch the Ridiculous Six and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, so don’t expect them to be popping up here. As always we are going by UK release dates.
Regression
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Ethan Hawke’s picks in the horror genre have been on point recently (e.g. the unnerving Sinister), but Regression marked a glaring misfire for he and co-star Emma Watson. Part boring police procedural with a few bits of black magic hokum and a painfully contrived “plot twist” thrown in, Regression marked a low point in The Others‘ filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar’s career.
Captive
Stars: Kate Mara, David Oyelowo
Director: Jerry Jameson
Essentially an elongated ad for a Christian self-help book, Captive was about as generic as its title suggests with this turgid true crime home-invasion/tale of redemption feeling like an instant bargain bin favourite. How this ever got a cinematic release in the UK is anyone’s guess.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Stars: Dylan O’Brien, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Wes Ball
Wes Ball’s original Maze Runner was a savvy and semi-original hit that executed its intriguing concept with action packed gusto. This floundering sequel only serves to confuse the mythology of the first, delivering no real thrills or plot progression of note. What a waste of Patricia Clarkson.
Fantastic Four
Stars: Miles Teller, Kate Mara
Director: Josh Trank
Completely devoid of any sense of fun or wonder, this drab monochrome affair sucked the life out of the famous foursome and actually made Tim Story’s aggressively average prior flicks look like stone cold classics. A talented cast are squandered on this hollow origins tale which lacks the development and smarts to take itself as seriously as it does.
Hot Pursuit
Stars: Reece Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara
Director: Anne Fletcher
When three of the funniest ladies in the entertainment world teamed-up (That’s Vergara, Witherspoon and Fletcher), the possibilities for hilarity were endless – sadly none of these found their way into Hot Pursuit. This dumbed-down road-trip movie wastes the comic talents of its leads on shallow material driven by poking fun at their respective appearances whilst its plot feels like a rehash of every ‘on the run’ comedy.
Focus
Stars: Will Smith, Amber Heard
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Obnoxiously full of itself, Focus is a reflection of the waning star power of Will Smith. This flashy Oceans Eleven wannabe failed to steal our hearts with no chemistry between the leads and shaky plotting, despite some glamorous visuals.
The Messenger
Stars: Robert Sheehan, Joely Richardson
Director: David Blair
Turgid British supernatural thriller that follows a young man attempting to solve a murder by speaking to ghosts. The central character is such a pain in the arse and so shoddily characterised that this is a near unbearable watch.
The Hallow
Stars: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic
Director: Corin Hardy
One of two terrible Sundance horrors, The Hallow starts well as a tight home-invasion thriller but loses its footing as it ventures into the woods and attempts to open too many narrative angles. This is a very messy creature feature.
Hellions
Stars: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick
Director: Bruce McDonald
The second of our Sundance ‘horrors’, Hellions, is about as exciting as its grey colour scheme. This is lifeless genre fluff that is chaotically executed.
Entourage
Stars: Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon
Director: Doug Ellin
Fans of the television series will lap up this celebration of douchebaggery – others will need a sick bucket to endure this chauvinistic television adaptation.
The Loft
Stars: James Marsden, Karl Urban, Matthias Schoenaerts
Director: Erik Van Looy
An erotic thriller starring a wonderfully handsome male cast – it has exciting potential – but why do we find ourselves wanting to launch ourselves out of a seventh-story window like the film’s mysterious victim? Unpleasantly sleazy with no genuine shock, eroticism or thrills to be savoured, this remake of the 2008 Belgian film should have stayed unmade.
The Gallows
Stars: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown
Director: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing
In a terrible year for horror, high school set found footage horror, The Gallows had a lot to play with in its narrative centred around the adaptation of a cursed Salem witch trial play – but ultimately never amounts to much more than being a generic FF affair populated by horrible characters deserving of some nasty punishments.
Get Hard
Stars: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart
Director: Etan Coen
With staggeringly poor material, and a concept that is worn out by the first act, Get Hard is a loathsome experience with zero laughs. Hart is annoying at the best of times, but even more so when he’s in something that sets its sights on offending anyone with a pulse.
Child 44
Stars: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Child 44 should have been ripe with originality and brooding atmosphere thanks to its intriguing premise and commendable ensemble of talent – but it is far from it. Espinosa’s film is beyond tedious, getting lost in its multitude of ever-irrelevant subplots and sprawling run-time